Auto Insurance Profitability Is Slipping:
It does not take much to see that challenges are on the horizon for Auto Insurance as people are back driving in full force and the frequency and severity of claims are on the rise. We have been talking about these trends with our Tague Alliance members for a while now, and with the release of Progressive and Berkshire Q2 results we are seeing some confirmation of the challenging trends.  This is a message for agents that we need to understand the trends, be proactive with our clients, and try to be out in front of rate increases that will come.

Water Damage losses are extremely expensive and disruptive for our clients and cause major profitability problems for our industry. No one wins with a water damage, and the only solution is an automatic water shutoff valve.  This is a massive problem and preventing water damage will require all of us working together to get more shutoff valves installed and protecting homes. All of the insurance companies who write Home and Landlord Insurance need to consider being aggressive in supporting the deployment of automatic shutoff valves.

This is the first installment of THE MORNING C4 and explains what it is all about.  The goal is to help our Tague Alliance member agencies with ideas, tools, and resources that can help them grow their independent insurance agencies.

The second episode of THE MORNING C4 highlights a great tool that has a free version for installing a chatbot on your website.  Drift is a great chatbot, easy to install, and is cross-platform (web, app, etc.).  Insurance agency clients, and any type of client for that matter, want to be able to communicate how and when they choose.  Drift provides another easy to use tool to help our members provide the best customer experience they can.

Update – the first episode of THE MORNING C4 was about “getting stuff done” and not worrying about perfection.  In fact, perfection is the enemy of execution and one of our members, John Campbell, took the advice and got stuff done.  John from Campbell Clan Insurance listened to today’s episode on Drift and went to work getting Drift setup and on his website.  Nice work John!

As professional independent insurance agencies we forget sometimes that when we take some time to build our competency, that knowledge will lead to a higher level of confidence.  Whether it be an insurance agent who is scared to go into commercial insurance after working only in personal insurance, or an agent who wants to get into a niche but doesn’t know what they are doing.  As you make the investment in your own education and professionalism a momentum begins to build and successful outcomes are more common.  People want to buy from professionals who demonstrate they know what they are doing.  So focus effort on becoming exceedingly competent in whatever segment you choose and that will lead to higher confidence (not cockiness) which leads to more closed sales.

The fourth episode of THE MORNING C4 is all about a commercial insurance prospecting tool called miEDGE.  This tool provides the user the ability to filter and target specific niches of business and to have a deeper insight into most of the prospects in the miEDGE database.  SIAA Insurance and Tague Alliance have some fantastic pricing for ou members so check it out.

Episode five of THE MORNING C4 is all about the longstanding SIAA partner for E&O insurance, Rockwood.  SIAA Insurance just rolled out new pricing for Tague Alliance members and the other master agencies who are participating.  For our smaller members and members who are still basically in start-up mode, this new program will be highly beneficial because the cost savings are tremendous!

 

In today's MORNING C4 we are talking about using Fiverr for your various multi-media and digital project needs. Tague Alliance members can benefit by using the freelancers on Fiverr by getting great quality work at an affordable price. The goal of THE MORNING C4 is to help our SIAA Insurance and Tague Alliance members have the tools, tips, and resources to build their independent insurance agencies!
Tague Alliance members and all independent insurance agents need to know what their close ratios are. This is an important metric to know because it can help shape marketing strategies, training with staff, and carrier decisions. Today on THE MORNING C4 this is what we are talking about.
Tague Alliance members today on C4 I am breaking down my vlogging gear setup. Content creation and distribution have never been cheaper, easier, or more accessible than it is now. All of our independent insurance agent members should think of themselves a mini-media company. You have to build your brand and the control is in your hands. A video is such a quick and easy way to get your business name and personal brand into the market. Cheers! Tony V
We all struggle with fear, the people who are successful don't let fear cripple them! They realize that when they push through the fear of rejection, uncertainty, and every other mental barrier the real opportunities unlock. Every "no" is one step closer to a "yes"! As a member of Tague Alliance, you are not alone.
As independent insurance agency professionals, it is super important that all of us at Tague Alliance and SIAA Insurance remain current on what is going on within our industry. Today I am giving you a handful of great sources of insurance industry info. Thanks for watching THE MORNING C4! Links to websites referenced in this episode: Great source for insurance industry news can be found at the Insurance Journal website: www.insurancejournal.com The Insurance Information Institue publishes a bunch of very data-rich content that is both consumer-facing and agency/carrier-facing. Many news outlets rely on information from III.org. www.iii.org Great topics are discussed and many wonderful articles are published by the Insurance Nerds. Take a look at their website: www.insnerds.com If you are looking for a younger view on our industry and a fresher take on things, check out Agency Nation. They are not focused on a specific age demographic, but the content is produced by Millenial aged folks. So the vibe and discussions are great and the vlogs, podcasts, and articles present great points of view. www.agencynation.com Bill Wilson is an insurance industry veteran and he writes detailed and thoughtful commentary about our industry. Check him out. www.insurancecommentary.com Hope all these resources help you stay current as an insurance professional. No one but you can educate yourself!
Hola Tague Alliance Members... it has been a bit since the last Morning C4 episode. Video proposals are a little-known tool, but in our increasingly digital world, it is ever more important to brand your clients with a personalized touch and your expertise. In this video, you will learn about a couple of cool tools that can help you easily start doing video proposals. Cheers! The Tague Team
This program is worth a look. At Tague Alliance we are always on the lookout for resources that can benefit our members. Remarketing accounts that are already on the books is not the way to profitability for an agency. However, when it comes to new business production it is important to find the best market for your client as quickly as possible. Price is not the deciding factor, although it is important. Making sure you are placing your client with the best carrier at a fair rate with the most value provided is the goal. Check out Ninja Rater at www.ninjarater.com Here is some info from the Ninja Rater FAQ page: Have questions on what NinjaRater is or what it does? we'll try to tackle the most common questions here. Contact us directly if you still have questions, or EVEN BETTER, you can sign up for a free demo - no payment required! You can use our full-featured account for 30 days - for FREE! Does NinjaRater cost me anything? The first 30 days are free during the demo period. After that, we have several packages to choose from depending on what features you need. We try to keep our prices reasonable so that everyone can afford it with or without company sponsorship. How do you generate quotes, is it just the filed base rates? No, we rebuilt all of the filed logic, territory modifiers, and programmed discounts to make NinjaRater mimic actual carrier submission with the least amount of information possible. To be clear THE QUOTES GENERATED BY NINJA RATER ARE ESTIMATES and are NOT BINDABLE. We specifically did it this way so that we would not have to sacrifice speed and ask you 1,000 binary questions just to get an estimate of the pricing. How accurate is NinjaRater? Deadly Accurate. We spent considerable time testing and retesting our manufactured rate process to get it as close to the carrier website as possible. In most cases, its spot on. In others, we tried to get it within 3-5% of what the carrier would come back with if you spent the time or had access to use every carrier website. The point of these estimates is to give you a good idea where to start and which carriers are the best to approach. How fast is NinjaRater? Lightning Fast. We can't afford to waste time asking superfluous questions and asking for unnecessary information any longer. We need to get pricing information in seconds, not minutes. We thought it better to provide answers that are very close in seconds, versus perfectly accurate but take 15 minutes per website, per 25 carriers. It's impossible to get this information any faster than NinjaRater.
SIAA Insurance and Tague Alliance bring this new vendor relationship to our members. The Advisor Evolved website is packed with features from SEO to QuoteVids. We have been promoting video proposals with our members as a way to bring your personal brand to your prospects and clients. Check out the Advisor Evolved features and benefits at https://advisorevolved.com/siaa/
At Tague Alliance our independent member insurance agencies are selling and servicing thousands of personal and commercial insurance clients every year. The challenge is keeping things personal with our clients and prospects and deepening our relationships with these important people. Our business world is driven by email and we need to find a way to scale our personal touch which is difficult to do via email. Enter BombBomb Video which allows you to send very quick unedited personal emails to anyone. This brings "you" the actual brand to your clients and prospects in a way that allows them to feel connected to you as if you were having a conversation across the desk or table from each other. Check out www.bombbomb.com to learn more about this really cool tool that allows a personal touch at scale.
Auto, Home, Business, and most other forms of Property & Casualty Insurance are relationship based. Meaning, the independent insurance advisor works on behalf of their clients which requires a personal understanding of the client's needs. Given Coronavirus and all the shelter in place orders that have changed our ability to be physically together, there is no reason why you cannot maintain your personal connection to your clients by using GoToMeeting, Zoom, Skype, or another one-on-one or one-to-many online video meeting platform. These platforms allow you to scale your social connection that make you so good at being an insurance advisor, in a digital way that allows you to scale efficiently without sacrificing the personal interaction. Video allows people to see each others emotions like emphathy, care, concern, engagement, etc. If you do not already use GoToMeeting or Zoom, heavily consider doing so. We are going to be in this "new Coronavirus normal" for many months. "They" say it takes 30 days to form a new habit. So get crackin and form a new habit of using one-on-one video to engage your clients and prospects.
Meeting Mayhem...today on the The Morning C4 I am talking about how I found a better way to control my calendar and meeting scheduling. Many of you may already do this, but I have found that very few people I speak with use these simple tools to improve their work lives. I have been using this technique for well over a year and it has been a game changer for me personally. Cheers! Tony V