The Advantages of a Big Insurance Agency
Building a successful and influential agency is a goal of many insurance agency owners. Frankly, I don’t know anyone who started their insurance agency to just barely make it, and I’m pretty sure those reading this post want to grow a large, influential, and prosperous agency.
But let’s face it, running a successful insurance agency is challenging. The market is competitive, our insurance carrier partners are advertising directly to our customers, and it’s increasingly more expensive, with lower returns on investment, to reach new customers.
If that wasn’t enough, everywhere we look, some new financial service, car dealer, or retail business that has a superficial relationship with our consumers is trying to get in on our action.
The challenges of the average agency
It’s not only challenging to develop new business, but it can be equally challenging to develop successful and profitable insurance carrier relationships. We became independent so we could have a breadth of products to offer our consumers, but the demand placed on us by our insurance carrier partners can often make us loyal to just a small few.
The average insurance agency is fighting battles on both the demand and supply fronts. Heck, we knew it was going to be tough developing new business, but we didn’t know that our insurance carrier suppliers were going to make it hard on us too!
There are only a few agencies that have enough influence to secure all the good insurance carrier appointments, demand the best commissions, and get paid generous bonuses. I guess it’s one of the benefits or perks, of being “big.”
What if you could have a large agency?
What if you could make your insurance agency immediately big? If you could get the commission deals that the “big” agencies get, that could make a real difference in your agency revenues. If you were a “big” insurance agency, you could also get the insurance carrier appointments that would allow you to target new markets, or convert more in your current marketing segments.
While you can’t obviously just become “big” overnight in literal terms … we all still need to earn our market share … you certainly can in in figurative terms, in ways that would allow you to have influence over the products your insurance agency sells. Over the past 15 years, agency partnering and aggregation have become increasingly viable options to secure better carrier appointments and commissions. So, figuratively, you can make your insurance agency “big” overnight by selecting the right partnership arrangement and positioning your insurance agency in the most influential way with the best insurance carriers in the market.
Should you consider a network?
If you are interested in joining an aggregator, partnering network, cluster, or agency access program, here are a few benefits you should look for:
- That you own your book of business
- That you maintain your independence
- That you get direct access to the insurance carriers or a clear path to access, this means you get your very own “agency code.”
- That you are provided with top-shelf training and development
- That you get business operations support and training
- That you get marketing training
- That you get your commission paid directly to your insurance agency
- That you get your insurance agency name on all issued policies
- That you get top-rate commissions
- That you get access to national and regional bonus commissions
If you feel you are getting these ten benefits, it is likely that you’re getting a pretty good deal, and you should consider becoming a member of the network.
The bottom line
There are many options for mid-size, small, and even start-up agencies. Frankly, many larger agencies have also discovered the benefits of joining agency partnering networks. If you are considering taking this path, you are in good company. Here at Agents United, we are a master SIAA insurance agency, and we’ve helped many insurance agencies achieve their goals. That’s because our members have the backing of a national group writing in excess of $6 Billion annually. That is “big,” and that provides some influence.
So, if you’re thinking of joining an agency partnering network, make sure you talk with Agents United and SIAA.
Start a New Quote
If you don’t already have your carrier credentials, make sure to submit “New Quote Service” form to your underwriter after inputting the quote.