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SELL INSURANCE not CANCEL POLICIES
Here's one I get probably no less than a million times a day:
Producer sends in app showing risk as a
"handyman" doing room additions (a contradiction in terms).
Shows owner only, sometimes $10,000 additional payroll for a
"helper" (aka Casual labor). Shows no sub-contracted work. My
response is this:
If applicant is doing room additions
there would be some electrical and potential plumbing work, which
requires a license - is applicant a licensed electrician and
plumber? If not, that would indicate some amount of sub-contracting,
which changes the complexion of the risk.
Not to steal from Ron Webber (but I will,
cause we're pals) but the Bottom Line here is this: think about what
exposures the applicant has and ask the questions when he's in the
office or on the phone. If he has no answer, or his answer is not
logical, is this really someone you want to write? The idea is not to
write it today and cancel it tomorrow. Put another way, the idea is to
SELL INSURANCE not CANCEL POLICIES. No one ever made a fortune in this
business by canceling policies.
A producer friend of mine called me very
excited about 9 months ago, exclaiming: "I'm going to grow my
business by telling people no!". This individual had figured out
that the $800 and $1000 premium commercial account was actually
costing him more time and headache than his larger risks - taking
focus off the lager risks where he could concentrate his efforts on
cross selling. This is done all the time in the L&H field; it
comes in the form of "do you qualify?" Today, this guy
is one of the top shelf producers - why? Because he has figured out
and applied the basic premises of success in business:
a) no one works for free
b) concentrate your efforts where they
bring the best result
Let's face it, 9 out of 10 of those little
guys that finance their $800. policy will cancel within the first 60
days. Why? Because they need a certificate of insurance for a job
they're doing. They are not interested in the coverage, just the piece
of paper that says they have coverage. When their policy cancels, you
don't hear back from them for a rewrite, follow-ups are useless and
they just cost you more in time and effort than it would have cost to
pass on him. I don't say that I won't write these smaller risks, after
all, the little businessman is the backbone of our economy. It's
important to explain coverage to the "little guy", help
him to understand what he's buying and why the coverage is as valuable
as his bank account. We all know what can happen and no one ever needs
the coverage until they don't have a policy! Its a good idea to
pre-qualify these guys and to sell them insurance up front (rather
than price) - that way the chances of keeping coverage in force are
dramatically improved. Fewer cancellations. And if you do get that
cancellation, make the "remember why you purchased this
important coverage" call - works like a charm.
Stepping down off my soap box ....
Gary P. Alexander
Gary@AlexanderFirst.com
Alexander General Agency, Inc.
phone: 678-344-1733 fax: 678-344-0878 toll free: 1-888-450-1405 |