Other agencies are generally your competition, but when you’re part of an insurance network, other agencies can also be a source of support and growth. Inter-agency collaboration can open up new doors and enable you to effectively serve every potential client.
Moving Out of Your Comfort Zone
Once you establish an agency selling certain lines of coverage, it can be hard to expand into other lines, and that can limit your growth.
This is often seen with agents who sell personal lines insurance but shy away from commercial lines. To be fair, commercial lines can be intimidating, especially if you’ve never worked with business insurance before. However, commercial lines can also be lucrative, with much higher premiums and commissions than you can expect if you still own a personal home and auto. If you refuse to touch commercial lines, you lose out on that revenue. Even worse, you risk losing your existing customers who come to you with business insurance needs. If you can’t help them, they might not stick around.
But this isn’t just an issue for personal lines agents. Agents who sell commercial insurance can also be guilty of turning down opportunities because they’re nervous about working in a new niche. For example, you might sell insurance to restaurants and retailers, but when a construction company or senior living facility comes to you for insurance, you say you can’t help.
If you have to navigate a new market completely on your own, turning down business might be necessary. The last thing you want to do is make a mistake that would leave your client without the coverage they need, risking both their business and your reputation.
However, there’s another way. Instead of turning down business or trying to take it on by yourself, you can turn to the other agencies in your network for support.
How Agencies Can Help Each Other
When you’re a part of an insurance network, you have access to markets, allowing you to take on opportunities and expand your book into new niches.
You’re also connected to a lot of other agencies, some of which have experience and expertise that you may lack. If you reach out, you may find an agent who’s willing to give you tips on how to navigate a new market or enter into a co-selling arrangement. You may even find a mentor who can truly help you take your business to new heights.
Referring Business
In some cases, you may decide that you really don’t want to take on a client because it’s simply too far out of your wheelhouse and not something that you want to tackle. However, turning away a prospective client still isn’t optimal. When you flat out refuse to help someone, you risk bad reviews or word-of-mouth warnings, and that could sway future prospects against your agency.
Another option is to refer the individual to another agency that’s better equipped to handle the need. You don’t make a sale, but you do build a reputation for being a great insurance agency to go to for help. You’ll want to make sure you’re sending the client to a good agency – otherwise this could backfire – but you can do this easily by focusing on other agencies in your network.
Help Goes Both Ways
Inter-agency collaboration is a two-way street. You can benefit from tips and mentorship from agents who are more experienced in certain niches, and you can also help other agents by providing guidance in the areas where you have more experience.
Likewise, if you collaborate with other agencies to send referral business that you can’t take on yourself, you may also find that other agencies start sending business your way. It can be especially helpful to work with other agencies with different but complementary niches. For example, maybe you’ve built a great niche serving transportation companies, but you don’t know anything about insurance for medical clinics, so you trade referrals with an agency that specializes in medical clinics but not transportation.
Are You Part of a Supportive Network?
We’re stronger together. When you’re a part of a supportive network, you gain the market access and guidance you need to seize new opportunities. Learn how you can collaboratively grow your agency with Heffernan Network.
