PLAYING TO WIN

Four secrets to competing successfully for sports insurance accounts

Addressing questions can be an eye-opening experience

for insureds. It’s also a perfect opportunity to showcase

your expertise, earn their trust, and shift the focus

away from competing on price alone.

By Christopher Smyth

As an agent, there’s nothing more frustrating than pouring time and energy into landing an account, only to lose out on the business. Yes, it happens, even to some of the most successful agents. But you’re playing to win. That means making sure you’re always at the top of your game—especially when it comes to sports accounts, where the competition can be sizable and the payoff equally rewarding.

With coverages and limits continuing to tighten up, we’re seeing many agents work a lot harder to bind risks. That only raises the stakes. By using proven strategies and new tools that are shaking up the traditional way of doing business, you can get a leg up on your competition and successfully build, or continue building, a profitable book of sports accounts.

1. Don’t take coverages or limits at face value. When a client is confident about the coverages and limits they need, it’s easy to take that information and run with it as you shop around. However, that may just be the coverage they’ve always had, not what they truly need. When you ask the right questions, you’ll likely uncover that their insurance needs to be right-sized based on how their organization is operating today. 

Maybe it’s a sports camp that has always had a $1 million abuse limit but really doesn’t need that much coverage and would be better off with a $25,000 limit. Or maybe it’s a gym that recently installed state-of-the-art treadmills, which would require a higher property limit. Addressing questions can be an eye-opening experience for insureds. It’s also a perfect opportunity to showcase your expertise, earn their trust, and shift the focus away from competing on price alone. 

2. Use instant quotes to speed up your business and take client service to the next level. Speed has always been a competitive advantage in the insurance world. You know better than anyone how important it is to keep the momentum going as you advise clients and quickly turn quotes around in order to lock in a deal. New instant quoting tools for sports insurance, like SportsCONNECT, enable you to deliver competitive indications for clients in minutes, any time day or night, as well as client service that further sets you apart. 

3. Bring more to the table by tapping into sports and wellness insurance experts. Whether you’re a seasoned sports insurance agent or are getting your feet wet with sports and wellness accounts, leaning on an established insurance partner that specializes in this niche can go a long way in helping you build your book. You can and should put their expertise to work to ensure your bases are covered, identify not-so-obvious growth or cost-saving opportunities and manage challenging or complex accounts.

What this looks like in action: My team and I have seen gym, fitness center, yoga studio and other sports accounts come across our desk on multiple occasions that have umbrellas in the $4 million to $5 million range for operations that we know shouldn’t require that level of coverage. We flagged this with our agent partners and were told that’s what their landlords require. Based on our experience, we coached the agents on how to go back to the landlords and negotiate the limits down to something more appropriate and palatable for the insureds. (The same holds true for camps or sports leagues that are required to name a township or city as an additional insured. Often towns have had their limit requirements in place for some time and haven’t yet updated them to be more in line with today’s environment.)

Those limits won’t budge every time, but we have helped agents lower those umbrellas by millions of dollars—adding value, saving the insureds on premium and making the agents look like the pros they are. There are plenty of other scenarios where this type of focused expertise can help you shine. 

4. Open your clients’ eyes to the big picture. Clients in the sports world want to know they’re getting the right coverage at a price they can afford. Of course, those are both key factors, but they’re not the only ones that should steer their decision. Help them think bigger picture and consider insurance partners that have an appetite broad enough to grow with them as their business grows, a track record that provides peace of mind that the carrier is not going to pull out of the market tomorrow, and claims support that won’t make them want to rip their hair out—or blame you for a frustrating experience—if a claim does arise. 

At the end of the day, winning is just as much about signing new accounts as it is keeping your clients happy over the long haul. These strategies can help you do both as you build your sports and wellness book. Now get your game face on and go for it!

The author

Christopher Smyth is the program director of Sports & Wellness Insurance, a provider of specialized sports facility insurance for more than 20 years. Built by NSM Insurance Group, Sports & Wellness is a go-to insurance market for franchise fitness facilities, large gyms, health clubs, college intramural sports, amateur/youth sports and camps, martial arts studios and other fitness accounts across the country. To learn more, visit nsmsportsinsurance.com or contact Chris at crsmyth@nsminc.com.