MRL #097- Why "One Agent" Is Best For The Insured (Most Of The Time)

Rewind to 2018.

The local agency I worked for had just been acquired by one of the national firms.

Per usual, the national firm parachuted in 3 of their best to reassure us everything was going to be okay.

And per usual, they had ideas about winning new business that ran contrary to our’s.

The biggest being:

“We don’t quote.”

The older agents in our office were perplexed to say the least.

“What do you mean you don’t quote?”

“It’s not in my best interest, or the insured’s best interest to have multiple agents involved. We want to be hired, not ‘allowed’ to quote. But, don’t worry about it. Once you understand why, you’ll come around to it.”

This was a difficult concept for many in the office to grasp.

But after further explanation, seeing the process in action, and having success with it, many (not all) of us came around to the idea.

Now, you too may be sitting there scratching your head in disbelief, thinking:

“How can working with only one agent be in the best interest of the insured?”

Don’t worry.

You’ll come around to it.

That’s exactly what I intend to lay out for you in this letter.

So, let’s get started.

Why “One Agent” Is Best For The Insured (Most Of The Time)

Before I get too far, let me first address the elephant in the room.

Yes, I realize there are exceptions to the rule.

I do not pretend that every agent is equal in service, technical ability, or market access.

I’m painting with a broad brush here.

There is a time when it makes sense for insureds to quote with multiple agents—when a prospective agent has access to a market the incumbnet does not.

But that does not negate the fact that—in our humble but correction opinion—the optimal way for insureds to choose their agent is through an agent selection process not quoting.

If a prospective agent does not have a new market—and does not surpass the incumbent’s service or technical ability—then it serves no purpose to involve them as it only muddies the process for everyone.

Make sense?

Ok, with that said, for the purpose of making my point, we will assume from this point forward that all possible agents involved are equal.

Let’s begin.

It Saves The Insured Time

Working with one agent means saying goodbye to duplicative work, and hello to time savings.

One agent means:

No more fielding calls from, and meeting with multiple agents throughout the year.

No more answering a million different underwriting questions from multiple agents at renewal time.

No more trying to compare apples to oranges from multiple agents at proposal time.

One agent means less work, less confusion, and less headaches for the insured.

It Saves The Insured Money

Everybody knows “competition” drives cost down.

The problem is:

The average insured tries to achieve this by pitting agent against agent—often times 3 or more agents against each other.

Quoting this way does create “competition”—but not where the real leverage lies.

Real leverage is found at the carrier level.

By working with one agent the insured enables maximum leverage in the market by pitting carrier against carrier.

Thus, yielding the best the market has to offer.

It Saves The Insured’s Ass Business

When an insured only works with one agent, it allows that agent to truly get to know the unique needs of their business.

This results in a better overall program for 3 reasons:

1. Better Coverage

One agent means minimizing gaps and overlaps in coverage.

2. Better Service

One agent means more accountability to the insured.

3. Better Advisement

One agent means more proactive strategies now and as the business evolves.

Using one agent allows for the insured to gain a trusted advisor, not just another vendor or middleman.

It Gives Back Control To The Insured

Working with one agent means the insured gets to choose their agent, not the carriers.

When multiple agents are involved it means “a race to the marketplace”.

The best agent is not neccessarily guaranteed the best market.

Often times the best agent loses because they were left with suboptimal options, while the worse agent wins because they secured the best markets first.

This means carriers are essentially choosing the insured’s agent for them.

But by choosing to only work with one agent, the right agent, the agent vetted and chosen by them, the insured decides who he/she works with.

Thus, giving them back control over agent selection.

In Closing

This may seem a bit in depth, and possibly overkill.

But, it’s for a purpose:

To be able to sell the “one agent” model you must first understand why it’s in the insured’s best interest (most of the time).

You must understand it inside and out so you can articulate the benefits to them.

The “one agent” model is the backbone of our selling philosophy at Max Revenue.

From our very first call we are setting the frame of “hiring one agent.”

We do not ask to quote.

We ask if they’re interested in due diligence.

And they will only agree to it if/when you and the insured both understand why it’s in their best interest.

If you’d like to learn more about our process and how to do what we talked about above, you can do that here.

Ok, that’s enough for now.

Next week we tackle:

“Why ‘One Agent’ Is Best For You (All Of The Time)”.

Thanks for reading.

Kick ass take names,

Maximus F. Revenue IV

(Micah & Trey)