Independent agents are all fighting a battle everyday – a battle to make a profit in their agency. This battle is very similar for many independent agents, and we all want each other to succeed for the strength of our industry.
Carriers and insurance companies are trying to grow their businesses and as independent agents, we are part of their growing process. We, independent agents, are willing and want to help the carriers and insurance companies grow, but it makes the battle for profitability a bit harder on us. We want to be able to partner with the carriers to make this growth happen, but somehow they end up with all the power in the relationship.
Carriers are going to have a lot of power, there is no way around that. We have to meet customer needs AND the carriers needs to grow our books and create a profit. Carriers aren’t the owners of our businesses, and not responsible for our results. However, the way they use their power in the “partnership” can bring a burden on the agent that is tough to carry. There has to be something the independent agency can do to help bring some balance to their situation.
What’s Missing?
We need something, some kind of tool, that gives us back some power.
We need that seat at the table the independent agency principal had in the past.
We need that seat now more than ever, but unfortunately many agency principals today are settling for these paths instead:
1) Selling out to large national firms
2) Giving up their independence by joining an aggregator of some kind.
These don’t seem to be the best options out there – they lead to the loss of independence and we don’t want that. We need a solution that doesn’t give up on what we have worked so hard over a lifetime to create.
As things stand now, we aren’t magically going back to the good old days. The problem is too big for that and independent agents need more options. Here at Secured Advantage we think we have found a solution. It doesn’t require a loss of independence or giving up control. It does help win the battle for profitability. We will cover that in part 2 of this piece, but you can click here to read that now. The Real Battle for Profitability: Part 2 – The Solution