C.R. Ekern & Company: Consultative Broker Briefing

Consultative Brokerage is the business style and methodology required to attract and retain larger accounts. As the insurance marketplace continues to change, it is necessary that brokerages and their production talent differentiate themselves outside of the commodity. The Consultative Brokerage method allows this to occur by leading the producer and their organization through a sales process that features client issues and resources. The ultimate goal is to elevate the brokerage firm by demonstrating their unique value proposition by using Total Cost of Risk.

Like many popular books, and national programs, is Consultative Brokerage just a selling strategy?

Consultative Brokerage is much more than a selling strategy. It is a methodology that creates a platform inside our client firms. This platform becomes the culture and the basis for new business and revenue retention. The success is based upon utilizing the specific resources of each brokerage organization. By working from the Consultative Brokerage model, these firms are able to build a sustainable differentiation that can be replicated throughout their organization. The result is an organic growth in larger account production.

How does consultative brokerage affect the relationship between the buyer and the seller?

Consultative Brokerage changes the relationship between these two parties. Traditionally insurance brokers sometimes work in an adversary relationship with their prospects and even clients. This adversarial relationship occurs when they enter into the traditional “transactional purchase.” Rather than make the relationship about the product, a Consultative Broker demonstrates to the buyer how they help the buyer reduce their costs on their balance sheet. All parties understand that in many cases the insurance premiums are the smallest part of the buyer’s costs.

What are the major benefits of learning & adopting the Consultative Brokerage methodology in our firm?

Here are just a few of the major benefits in establishing the Consultative Brokerage Platform inside an insurance brokerage or carrier.

It creates the proper environment for larger account production by focusing on the buyers most important and costly issues.
It provides the producers with a platform by which they can create a number of higher level prospects.
It gives the organization a yardstick and methodology to help determine when and how to apply resources.
In a softening marketplace, it shifts the buyer’s judgment from price to cost. This allows our clients to demonstrate their quantifiable value proposition.
It provides Consultative Brokerages with a basis of Conceptual Presentations and Stewardship Reports.

Of course we could go on and discuss many other benefits including the higher profitability of larger accounts and improved retention. Or we could feature how our clients have recaptured the return on investment of resource overhead. We might even tell you about the elevated internal staff development as these firms consistently work on larger accounts. But, all of that might sound like bragging . . . So check out these testimonials and we will let someone else tell you!

Consultative Brokerage and C. R. Ekern & Company is not for everyone. We don’t want it to be. We only work with those firms that are serious about “changing their game” and making it to the” next level”. We do understand that there are three distinct types of agency/brokerages: the Evolving Agency with revenues of under $7 million, the regional brokerage with revenues less than $25 million, and what we call Super Regional Brokerages with multiple locations and revenues above $25 million. Each of these types of organizations generate issues specific to their profitable development. All of our clients, however, share one common thread; They are serious about their development as a business organization committed to serving and attracting quality clients.