Agency Marketing Technology

Finding a market
for small commercial

Web sites and online services can help
make small commercial accounts profitable

Steve Anderson

The systems you put in place and the services you utilize will go a long way to making small commercial accounts profitable for your agency.

In our January 2005 column, we discussed how small commercial accounts could be a profitable book of business for an agency if management changed its attitude about this type of account. One of the keys is to fully automate both the sales and service activities associated with these accounts. Some third-party organizations enable agents working on a piece of small commercial business to complete a single application that will generate quotes from multiple carriers.

This column will provide information about some of the sites that offer this capability. The list of sites is not comprehensive. If there are other services available that you are using (successfully or not so successfully), we would like to know about your experiences. Please send us an e-mail with the information.

AgentSecure.com
This service was originally created by an independent agency in Ft. Worth, Texas, and offers agents access to small commercial insurance products. They currently provide access to: AIG, Chubb, CNA, The Hartford, Progressive, Safeco and Zurich. To be able to quote using this site, the agency needs to submit a membership application. Once the membership application is approved (over 95% are approved), you will be able to make a submission and obtain a quote.

To get a quote you go to the site and complete an application online. The application process is customized so you answer only questions that pertain to the specific characteristics of the account. The system will also tell you which carriers have an appetite for the particular class of business you are submitting. From that list you choose the carriers from whom you want a quote. An acknowledgement of your submission is posted on the agency-specific “dashboard” and the status of the submission is updated as it works through the process.

Automated quotes from carriers with real-time connections are returned and posted on the dashboard in as little as 30 seconds. The actual quote may be returned as an e-mail or as a PDF file with an official formatted quote included. Manual quotes from carriers without a real-time connection are returned within one business day in most cases. The manual quotes are actually handled by in-house underwriters. Once the quote is accepted by the client, the policy is issued by AgentSecure and forwarded. As this is a broker arrangement, the policy is issued with AgentSecure as the agent of record.

For those agencies that already have an agency contract with one of the above companies, another service, BrokerSecure, is available. BrokerSecure uses the same technology platform to process the quote as described above. The difference is that the policy is issued with your agency code for those carriers with whom you have a contract. This allows you to streamline the quote process with your existing carriers.

InsuranceNoodle.com
InsuranceNoodle offers a process similar to the one described above. The companies they use include: AIG, Chubb, CNA, Encompass (limited number of states), The Hartford, Philadelphia, Markel, St. Paul Travelers, Safeco, Zurich, and XL Insurance (for EPLI). An online application is completed and submitted to the carriers that have an interest in the class. InsuranceNoodle offers a one- to four-day turnaround for receiving quotes back from the companies.

Superioraccess.com
Superior Access Insurance Services (SAIS) is a managing general agency that offers wholesale insurance products, goods and services to agents and brokers across the country. They began operations in 1995 with personal lines fire as their primary market. Their Internet strategy evolved from an initial offering of workers compensation insurance. SuperiorAccess.com now provides agents with a single Web site to access company markets, instant Internet-based quoting for each program, proposal generation, and other products and services (such as MVRs).

ProgramBusiness.com
The question often comes up: What about unique accounts that don’t fit a BOP program? That is the niche that ProgramBusiness.com fills. ProgramBusiness.com provides two services. The first is a search engine that allows an agent to find a market for a certain type of business. The database for these searches comes from their sister company, National Marketing Services, and offers a listing of coverages and programs organized by state and licensed managing underwriter.

ProgramBusiness.com also provides a “Trading Floor”—an online submission tool that allows the agency to post information about the account it is seeking coverage for and wait for a response. In other words, an underwriter who is interested in the account calls the agent as opposed to the agent seeking out and calling the underwriter. Because this process reduces the amount of time an agency needs to find a market interested in the account, it allows agencies to profitably handle accounts that they would not work on in the past.

Mexicaninsuranceonline.com
U.S. agents can use this site to provide insurance coverages to U.S. clients traveling in Mexico or to commercial clients with business interests in Mexico. The site allows you to issue policies that are agency-billed in the traditional way. For a short-term Mexican auto insurance policy agency clients can link to Mexican Insurance Online from the agency Web site to get a quote, purchase, and then print a policy. Your agency code is automatically embedded in the link and you get immediate credit for the sale. Throughout the purchasing process your agency name, e-mail/Web site addresses, and phone numbers will pop up to assist the client. Upon completion of the sale, the client is immediately returned to your Web site.

The sites mentioned above are just a sample of the sites that are available to anyone who would want to start an agency. They provide the products, and in many cases, the back-office services, that will help any agency (new or old) concentrate on selling to prospects and clients.

Publishers, such as The Rough Notes Company, Inc., (www.roughnotes.com) also offer online products to assist in this effort. For instance, a subscription to The Agency OnLine provides you access to a paper-free library of information. Among the products included are: reference and research materials on policies and forms, commercial lines and personal lines risk surveys, as well as a directory of markets for excess and surplus and specialty coverages for more than 660 categories.

The potential

There is potential for profit in small commercial accounts. As personal lines accounts have been in the past, small commercial accounts can be the bread and butter revenue for an agency. While the premiums are smaller on such accounts, when you lose one, it doesn’t hurt nearly as much as losing a large account. And, like personal lines, small commercial accounts must be handled infrequently and efficiently in order to be profitable. The systems you put in place and the services you utilize will go a long way to making small commercial accounts profitable for your agency. *

The author
Steve Anderson has been a licensed insurance agent for more than 25 years. He helps agents maximize productivity and profits using practical technology. He can be reached at (615) 599-0085; e-mails are welcome at steve@SteveAnderson.com or visit his Web site at www.SteveAnderson.com.