Independent agencies must be innovative, flexible and well prepared to serve customers during a crisis. (Photo: fizkes/Shutterstock)This year has made me think about all the business continuity planning my agency has done in years past. Preparedness includes not only creating the plan but also testing the plan.
The independent agency channel is having a test of all tests in 2020, with the pandemic lockdown and a nationwide upheaval about civil rights.
Those crises present problems for every individual, family and business. They reinforce, for me, that independent agencies must be well prepared to serve customers at a time like this. We also must be innovative and flexible.
I’m proud of how my 19-person agency has adjusted and thrived during this period of uncertainty. All of my employees are working from home, and their office phones are seamlessly transferred through VoIP (voice over IP). Their computers are set up to log in remotely, and they are able to connect to their management systems, an essential resource.
With some not familiar with video conferencing, they readily learned and handled the dramatic increase in Zoom and GoToMeeting calls. Accustomed to using three monitors in the office, staff had to temporarily step down to using one. Our offshore support team in Asia, always part of our sales, marketing and service operations, smoothly stepped into their roles.
Is this any time to think about new business?
I found myself thinking about growth, even in the midst of the lockdown. Every independent agency needs to grow — through new accounts and markets as well as expanded business from existing customers. With many customers sidelined temporarily or permanently, new business is even more important to our future.
For new business, it’s always been my attitude that if you look, there’s always opportunity out there. You just keep working each day, knowing that you can make a difference in someone’s life.
But how does an agency grow while under a business continuity plan in an economy with double-digit unemployment rates? Renewals are the place to start.
We maintained our usual process of looking at renewals 90 days out. That was fairly seamless, and we were able to communicate with our clients. What became a sticking point was going back and forth with carrier underwriters. That’s where the delays and frustration occurred. We’ve had to adjust a few such relationships.
I have a standard in my agency that our team must respond to a client within two to four hours. I think a carrier should be able to respond to us by the end of the day. If that’s not happening, I’m moving to the next company.
The big thing we changed is our marketing communications on social media. For example, we began to focus on schooling and the fact that some students were going back to school and some weren’t. We sent out best practices — safety tips if your kids were staying home or returning to school. We focused on the idea that parents want to give their children the best chance of succeeding in the coming year. We also tapped material from our carrier partners about this topic and others. We wanted to give the public some nuggets to help them out.
Using a robust phone-call program in our customer relationship management system, we spent 90% of the time talking about topics other than insurance.
We were able to get to know our clients better because they were at home, and they wanted to talk to somebody, especially our older clients. They were happy to hear from us. They were happy to talk. We could go over coverages and reiterate important points.
Personal lines business went up by double digits during COVID-19 because people were buying cars with 0% interest loans, refinancing homes and buying homes. So my personal book of business is very strong right now.
Construction, landscaping and technology are still strong, too. With workers homebound, we saw a spike in repair and construction of homes, additions, patios and landscaping.
Small business BOP (business owners policy) hasn’t been strong. So we’ve thought about broadening out some lines of business till things calm down.
One opportunity for many businesses has been COVID-19 recovery programs. When our county and state announced coronavirus grants and loans, we jumped on our social media platforms to inform our customers. We told them how to apply and provided links.
We began conversations with clients with news about these programs. Many didn’t know how to get started, and I’m proud that we assisted many in applying. Some people were reluctant to participate, but I had positive conversations with them about that, too.
What we did was turn negative things into positive things.
What about claims?
We had a ton of claims coming from businesses. It’s hard to explain to somebody that coverage isn’t likely for business interruption in a pandemic. When we clearly expect the carrier won’t cover it, we tell claimants: “If you prefer our agency claim it for you, we’ll be glad to do that. But we don’t want to give false hopes.”
In July, with civil unrest in the Washington, D.C., area, there were many break-ins, lootings and fires. And there were assaults. All of that was frustrating. It was sad because businesses were starting to reopen, but civil unrest disrupted, damaged and even destroyed businesses.
Also sad were the unfortunate circumstances where people committed fraud by burning their own car or restaurant. It was desperate.
What about the community?
Through the volunteerism of individual employees and our community-giving arm, Klinger Cares, the agency pressed forward with renewed efforts. We went to Operation Second Chance to support disabled veterans. We donated meals to the police and fire departments, bought from local restaurants. In fact, we went to about 30 different restaurants to buy meals. The agency also raised money to prevent and treat child abuse since schools were closed, and there has been an uptick in abuse.
One of my favorite moments was when I was speaking with a nonprofit in our area that had to cancel its annual auto show fundraiser. I said to them: “Why don’t we do a virtual car show?” We got more than 100 people posting vehicle photos online, and people voted on which ones they liked most. We were able to raise money that way.
I always tell my staff in training, and I’ve repeated it many times this year: It’s never a good time when something bad happens. But it’s your obligation and duty to educate, inform, and let people know that you’re there for them.
Bob Klinger, CPIA, LUTCF, is the owner of Klinger Insurance Group in Germantown, Maryland, and president of AIMS (American Insurance Marketing and Sales) Society, a nonprofit association that delivers training, information and networking to increase the personal and agency sales production of property-casualty insurance agents. The opinions expressed here are the author’s own.
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