My father-in-law Chuck was an outstanding tradesman. He could build or fix practically anything. He came over once when I was installing a new floor. When I didn’t know how the last row would fit in, Chuck told me to stop. Everything needed to be planned out first. I remember him saying that if you get off to a good start, you’re already halfway done. Before we started, Chuck knew how the end tiles needed to be cut, and that all corners laid out with equal size tiles.
That lesson of a good start stuck with me. It certainly applies to quoting insurance. We need to know how our final quotation should end, prior to sending it to underwriting. Good agents give their underwriters a good understanding of a risk. We should reward them with the insurance when they hit our targets.
The key to building a strong rapport with our underwriters is communication. Producers need to understand what our underwriter are looking to write and what type of risks they are likely to write. In turn, us producers must find out information about the customer so that we can understand the risk and determine which of our carrier will be best for their business.
Are there stories behind some of the past losses? How much have payrolls and sales changed? Is the coverage adequate for the risk?
These are just some of the questions we may ask so that we can find the best carrier-customer relationship. Once I have retrieved all the information from the necessary, I must explain to the underwriter when the quotation is needed, so that the customer is comfortable that they can review our quotation.
One additional thing that I do to ensure clarity in communication, is I always write a detailed letter to the underwriter explaining the risk, and why I believe they should pursue this risk. A good letter to the underwriter is often the key to writing an account. This letter must be well thought out and executed. The whole sales process should be lined up before the submission is sent.
Successfully selling an account is usually the result of properly anticipating how our proposal would compare at the end of the process. Issues always come up during the sales process. But like laying tile, if you get a good start, you’re already half done.
