We have been encouraging insurance buyers and agents, over the past few years, to seek out new ways of looking at the insurance buying process. We have found that things are changing for the better in regards to the agent buyer relationship. We invite you to be part of the change that can impact our industry for years to come.
These are the values to which we continue to aspire to in 2018 and beyond.
The customer relationship involves face to face time. It takes regular contact over time to build trust and create a valued based relationship.
Knowing your client’s needs, concerns, and issues is the first step in creating a value-based relationship.
Educate your clients on how to identify, treat, and manage risk. This allows for informed decisions.
Work to become a trusted advisor. A trusted advisor becomes someone who helps with business decision and issues. A trusted advisor comes to the table with resources to help the business with legal, accounting, marketing, and human resources strategy and issues.
Find a balance in the use of technology to communicate. We understand that the modern communication technology can have its benefits, but, face to face communication is the foundation of your relationship.
Believe that there is inherent good and value in being an insurance agent. This noble profession involves protecting society from devastating losses that in the absence of insurance could not sustain itself.
Work to understand the difference between consultative and transactional. The agents value proposition is that we know and understand risk. Our true value is to help others evaluate risk and provide meaningful solutions. It goes way beyond an insurance policy.
Understand what customers really want. Your customers want creative and different ideas. They want you to have client services standards. Customers desire more, and better, communication. Finally, they want you and your team to be constantly learning.
We are making progress, but be vigilant. Don’t get sucked into the old way of thinking. Don’t be fooled by Madison Avenues selling the idea that complex risk and insurance topics can be boiled down something simple.
“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” George Bernard Shaw
Reichley insurance believes insurance is more than a transaction. Insurance involves a trusted relationship built on a promise to put people before policies. Our promise is to listen to you, identify your risks and provide solutions. Every employee has the heart of a teacher. Connect with us to experience The Reichley difference.
Perk Reichley and Bob Lilly
#insurance #riskmanagement #customerservice #busienssinsurance #selling #educating
Which Insurance Agent Is Right For You?
/in Agent, Claims, Customer Service, Insurance, RelationshipsWe want to offer you a fun way to learn why your agent is more important than your policy. We do this in the “Dear Abby” format—except it is “Dear Perk.”
Dear Perk: What does an insurance agent do? In addition, is one really needed? From – Wondering Will.
Dear Will: A good insurance agent will help you understand what kind of insurance you need, first by educating you, and then offering solutions specifically designed for your family. An agent asks you questions like, “What keeps you up at night,” or “Tell me about your lifestyle?” Without an agent, there is no one looking out after your needs. Your agent will be there for you in the event of a claim and can provide valuable advice to make sure you get the full value of your policy.
Dear Perk: Aren’t all insurance agents the same? From – All The Same Sam.
Dear Sam: No, insurance agents come in many different forms. I recommend independent agents who represent many different insurance companies. They are familiar with all types of policies from different carriers in the marketplace, and will create a better value by selecting what is best for their clients and not just selling you what products they have on hand.
Dear Perk: Our family has been blessed with great jobs that have allowed us to afford many luxury items. Do I need any special kinds of insurance? From – Very Blessed Brian.
Dear Brian: There are some very specific kinds of insurance we might recommend to people who have a high net worth. Of course, we would want to meet with you to ask a series of questions in order to educate you and create a personal insurance portfolio just for you. However, here are a few ideas to get you thinking about your insurance needs.
Have you considered:
These are just a few thoughts we have regarding the importance of your insurance agent. “We believe insurance is not a product, it’s a promise and a trusted relationship”. Please make time to hire the right agent with whom you can build a trusted relationship. Then follow their advice and direction.
Why Are Auto Insurance Premiums On The Rise?
/in Agent, Claims, InsuranceWhy Are Auto Insurance Premiums On The Rise?
When we speak about insurance, we try to remind people that there are things you can control and things that are out of your control. It is essential to focus your attention on the actions that can help keep your auto insurance premiums as low as possible. These include; driving in a safe manner, keeping your vehicle in good repair, educating your teens through driver education, and using an independent agent to shop your auto insurance.
There are also factors that are out of your control. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, these are the factors as to why auto insurance premiums are on the rise.
There are many things you can do to keep your auto rates at the lowest level possible.
Reichley insurance believes insurance is more than a transaction. Insurance involves a trusted relationship built on a promise to put people before policies. Our promise is to listen to you, identify your risks and provide solutions. Every employee has the heart of a teacher. Connect with us to experience The Reichley difference.
Perk Reichley and Bob Lilly
#insurance #riskmanagement #autoinsurance
Why Insurance Advice Is Better Than A Policy
/in Agent, RelationshipsIf you watch any TV, you have seen the typical insurance ads that tell you their coverage is better than their competitors. Many of these ads are very clever, but they mislead the viewers into buying insurance the wrong way.
We want to offer you a different way of looking at insurance. That is, your agent should be your trusted advisor guiding through the insurance purchasing process. Insurance policies like insurance companies are all different, and you need someone you can trust to help you find the highest valued insurance, not the lowest priced insurance. What many people fail to understand is that policies or “promises” differ from company to company.
If We Ran An Insurance Ad, It Might Look Like This
Let Get Practical
What does this look like to the average insurance buyer? It starts with us asking questions and listening to you. We help you identify your needs and risks, talking about possible solutions then providing options. Sometimes we might recommend not buying insurance.
What Are the Benefits To You?
Our clients have the security and peace of mind knowing that their agent is a partner with them. They have a trusted relationship with someone who understands their individual needs and is not trying to sell them a policy, but protect their assists. Our relationship approach provides our clients with the knowledge that someone understands their needs and they have more than just an insurance product they have a valued relationship that goes beyond a policy
Give us a call and following us on: Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn
What A Trusted Advisor Does
/in Customer Service, Insurance, RelationshipsJohn told us of a prospect he had two years ago. It was a chain of three family restaurants that he had a chance to get involved with. John met with the owner and asked a series of questions to determine their needs and if John might be able to help them. It was agreed that John would provide options for insurance coverage for the restaurant chain. One request John had was that he would also be to review all the quotes and help the client select the best option. (That is the kind of service a trusted advisor does) The client agreed.
Once all the quote came in, John was able to review the one other quote and educate the client on his options. John met with the client and told the client that the other quote was a better option for him. The client about fell off his chair. John said the client asked why he recommended his competition? John said it was his moral obligation to do what is best for the client. Needless to say, the client was appreciative, and the two became more than just business acquaintances.
Forward about a year and a half; John gets a call from the restaurant owner saying he needs to meet. John arrives not sure what to expect. The owner says that the other agent has left the insurance industry and wants John to take over the account. John asked why? The owner said that in all his years in the business he has never seen anyone put the needs of the client above making money, and he wanted to do business with that person.
John was able to take the business over on a broker of record letter and has been the owners trusted advisor for the last four years.
“There is an old saying, “It is amazing what you can achieve if you are not wedded to who gets the credit.” ― David H. Maister
Reichley insurance believes insurance is more than a transaction. Insurance involves a trusted relationship built on a promise to put people before policies. Our promise is to listen to you, identify your risks and provide solutions. Every employee has the heart of a teacher. Connect with us to experience The Reichley difference.
Perk Reichley and Bob Lilly
#insurance #riskmanagement #customerservice #busienssinsurance #selling #educating
How To Develop a Great Relationship With Your Clients
/in Agent, Claims, Customer Service, Insurance, RelationshipsAgents Must Take Action
Listen To Your Clients. The best way to know and understand your clients is to ask questions then listen to them.
Spend Time With Them. Agents need to make time for their clients besides just the renewal. We recommend you find ways to touch your clients monthly, with a newsletter, card, visit, industry gathering or a personal visit.
Get Your Team Connected To Their Team. It is often a great idea to have your agency team, and your client’s associates meet to get to know each other. This can be done at a social event or something like a lunch and learn.
Do Something Without Being Asked. Agents tend to get in a mindset of insurance, stop that way of thinking. If you just finished reading a good business or management book give a copy to your client. If you are heading off to a seminar, ask your client to go with you.
Be A Problem Solver. Get educated in your client’s industry, and then you are better able to help them solves all kinds of problems other than insurance.
Be Willing To Sell Less Insurance. This a tough one for agents to get over. But a trusted relationship starts with your client believing you are interested in what is best for them, not the agent selling more insurance. There are many other risks and none risk solution to your client s issues and concerns, get educated in these and be willing to educate and inform rather than sell.
If agents started to practice these six items, clients would become more interested in sharing all of their concerns, and you will become a valued business partner.
“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”– Dale Carnegie
Reichley insurance believes insurance is more than a transaction. Insurance involves a trusted relationship built on a promise to put people before policies. Our promise is to listen to you, identify your risks and provide solutions. Every employee has the heart of a teacher. Connect with us to experience The Reichley difference.
Perk Reichley and Bob Lilly
#insurance #riskmanagement #customerservice #busienssinsurance #selling #educating
What Is Your Value Proposition?
/in Agent, Customer Service, Insurance, RelationshipsHere is what has become the “industries” value proposition
A value proposition is what makes your agency unique and explains why someone would want to do business with you.
One way an agent can help is to develop a value proposition. Your value proposition should go beyond the product pitch and go deeper into the why and how you are an agent. When you build your unique value proposition, you need to start with answering a few questions
These are not value propositions
Here is our value proposition
The benefits of redefining your value proposition are that clients will see it and it will enable you to build longer more valued relationships.
Reichley insurance believes insurance is more than a transaction. Insurance involves a trusted relationship built on a promise to put people before policies. Our promise is to listen to you, identify your risks and provide solutions. Every employee has the heart of a teacher. Connect with us to experience The Reichley difference.
Perk Reichley and Bob Lilly
#insurance #riskmanagement #customerservice #busienssinsurance #selling #educating
Make This Year Even Better Than Last Year
/in Customer Service, Insurance, RelationshipsThese are the values to which we continue to aspire to in 2018 and beyond.
The customer relationship involves face to face time. It takes regular contact over time to build trust and create a valued based relationship.
Knowing your client’s needs, concerns, and issues is the first step in creating a value-based relationship.
Educate your clients on how to identify, treat, and manage risk. This allows for informed decisions.
Work to become a trusted advisor. A trusted advisor becomes someone who helps with business decision and issues. A trusted advisor comes to the table with resources to help the business with legal, accounting, marketing, and human resources strategy and issues.
Find a balance in the use of technology to communicate. We understand that the modern communication technology can have its benefits, but, face to face communication is the foundation of your relationship.
Believe that there is inherent good and value in being an insurance agent. This noble profession involves protecting society from devastating losses that in the absence of insurance could not sustain itself.
Work to understand the difference between consultative and transactional. The agents value proposition is that we know and understand risk. Our true value is to help others evaluate risk and provide meaningful solutions. It goes way beyond an insurance policy.
Understand what customers really want. Your customers want creative and different ideas. They want you to have client services standards. Customers desire more, and better, communication. Finally, they want you and your team to be constantly learning.
We are making progress, but be vigilant. Don’t get sucked into the old way of thinking. Don’t be fooled by Madison Avenues selling the idea that complex risk and insurance topics can be boiled down something simple.
“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” George Bernard Shaw
Reichley insurance believes insurance is more than a transaction. Insurance involves a trusted relationship built on a promise to put people before policies. Our promise is to listen to you, identify your risks and provide solutions. Every employee has the heart of a teacher. Connect with us to experience The Reichley difference.
Perk Reichley and Bob Lilly
#insurance #riskmanagement #customerservice #busienssinsurance #selling #educating
Communication Is key to Any Relationship
/in Customer Service, Insurance, RelationshipsLet us start by asking and answering the following question, “What kind of communication and service are you getting from your agent”? If all your agent does is send you a policy and an invoice, then your agent is way overpaid. There is so much more that an agent should be doing to educate and serve you. Here are a few examples of what our agents at Reichley Insurance do:
Recent J.D. Powers & Associates.com score study found consumers find agents easier to use than a black-box 800 number or a website, and still prefer to finalize their purchase through an agent whom they can visit or call. In today’s cyber world, an agent should provide that desired personal touch.
Reichley insurance believes insurance is more than a transaction. Insurance involves a trusted relationship built on a promise to put people before policies. Our promise is to listen to you, identify your risks and provide solutions. Every employee has the heart of a teacher. Connect with us to experience The Reichley difference.
Perk Reichley and Bob Lilly
#insurance #riskmanagement #customerservice #busienssinsurance #selling #educating
Insurance Is Not the Only Answer
/in Customer Service, Insurance, RelationshipsMy insurance agent friend John and I had another conversation about how agents can, and need to differentiate themselves from other agents. Last month we talked about how John uncovered an uninsured exposure and how John’s advice helped his client recover about $450,000.
John holds to the belief that the agents job should be to help the client understand and uncover risks, then design a plan to treat or manage these risks. The agent should not be quick to suggest insurance in every situation. In fact, in some cases, insurance may not even be the best option. Agents need to get out of the selling business and into the education business.
John’s most recent example involved a manufacturing business that had a small fleet of three delivery trucks. John asked the client about the costs associated with the three-vehicle fleet, which included the vehicles, maintenance, three drivers, related benefits, and finally the cost of five recent accidents over the past three years. The client identified a number of costs they were having trouble managing, these included; workers’ compensation claims, high driver turnover and a number of auto accidents.
John asked the client to consider outsourcing the delivery (mostly small packages) around the community and region. John led the client in a review, or risk analysis, of having their own drivers compared to using contracted providers. The results showed that the business would save about $12,000 annually by contracting delivery services. John worked with the client to make sure all contracts and agreement had the proper insurance language, including additional insured wording.
In this case, John actually lost revenue as the business sold their trucks and let the drivers go. However, John showed the client how a trusted business partner could add true value.
Reichley insurance believes insurance is more than a transaction. Insurance involves a trusted relationship built on a promise to put people before policies. Our promise is to listen to you, identify your risks, and provide solutions. Every Reichley employee has the heart of a teacher. Connect with us to experience The Reichley difference.
“Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value.” – Albert Einstein
How an Agent Can Go From a Vendor to a Trusted Advisor
/in Customer Service, Insurance, RelationshipsMy goal in these articles is to create a dialogue among agents and insurance buyers about the differences between being a vendor and becoming a trusted advisor. This concept starts with how insurance is viewed. Insurance cannot be viewed as a product, but rather a relationship. Insurance buyers need to understand that the insurance relationship consists of the agent, the buyer, and the insurer. The insurer does not really care about the buyer; they offer a set of products. The agent is the one who should care about the buyer, and develop a relationship through education, not selling.
You will not move from a vendor to trusted advisor overnight. Here are the stages that include a process from: vendor, credible source, problem solver, then trusted advisor. To go through these steps an agent must consider the following.
What Are the steps an agent should consider?
Reichley Insurance believes insurance is more than a transaction. Insurance involves a trusted relationship built on a promise to put people before policies. Our promise is to listen to you, identify your risks and provide solutions. Every employee has the heart of a teacher. Connect with us to experience The Reichley difference.
“The man who will use his skill and constructive imagination to see how much he can give for a dollar, instead of how little he can give for a dollar, is bound to succeed.” – Henry Ford