Posted by: info | September 12, 2007
Insurance agents who build loyalty with strong customer relationships is becoming a lost art by traditional standards. I can remember when an insurance agent actually came to your home to discuss policy information. This was an industry standard of sorts for most of the 20Th century. Agents would come to your house to write a policy, answer questions and collect money. This practice allowed agents to build strong relationships and loyalty that couldn’t be broken. Agents new the names of the customer and their entire family. The agent was only a phone call away at any time to answer and help their customers out. These agents seemed to be very successful in helping their business write policies on home, auto and life insurance. What has happened to insurance agents?
With all this information being said, I don’t miss agents or salespeople coming to my house. However, the profession of an agent is changing and having a big impact on the insurance industry. This seems to be happening in many other professions as well. Think about the health industry for a second.
How many of you feel comfortable talking with your Dr.? These days a lot of Doctors don’t know their customers names or any personal information on them. Doctors are becoming much harder to talk with now.
A Dr. sees you, checks you out and prescribes medication or refers you to someone else. Most Doctors I have talked with lately don’t seem to have much time to answer very important questions. I can’t tell them about what is going on, how to fix it or possible side effects of drugs they prescribe. In fact many questions seem to get ignored or not addressed. This is very frustrating and it is the same way with many insurance agents.
I spend countless hours talking with insurance agents in some of the industry’s leading forums and blogs. I have seen and heard the trend of insurance agents. Most agents I have talked with or read about don’t even see their customers. They are teaching and sharing information on how they have their receptionist and assistants write the entire policy. These agents say they are too busy and hire good employees to provide insurance quotes, answer questions, have documents signed and etc…
This is not how the insurance industry was designed. State laws require anyone or company wanting to provide insurance to customers get a valid insurance license. However, many of these assistants and office personnel don’t even have a license. Many of them don’t have any insurance experience at all. A lot of these agents told me that the only time they ever meet or talk with a customer if they have a major problem such as an accident.
This is outrageous and ignorant of any insurance agent who practices in this manner. There is no wander why you see so many agents come and go. Without any loyalty or relationships built with their customers, there is no reason for a customer to stay by their side. In fact, these same agents are always complaining about customer who just call and price shop or buy a policy and leave after 6 months. Who are they to gripe about customers leaving when they haven’t even tried to help or get to know them?
Posted in: Insurance, General |
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