How can executives ensure their companies are doing all that they can to stand out?
Executives should work with their management team to make sure it understands the important role insurance plays to protect the company. There should not be just one person in a company that deals with the insurance while everyone else is disconnected.
The entire management team should be engaged in the role it plays and in how it can help the company stand out from an insurance perspective. Through policies, procedures and controls, executives should make sure they have everything in place to be proactive in mitigating risk.
And from a company culture standpoint, employees should know that insurance and risk management are important for their safety and for the success of the business.
In addition, executives should meet face to face with their carrier representatives, the people who underwrite the account. When you meet face to face, you get to know people better and can ask questions and gain a better understanding.
Why is it important for the whole management team to be involved?
You want them to understand the role that insurance plays so managers can look at each of their divisions and ask, ‘What are we doing to help manage and mitigate risk, to be safe and efficient, to make sure our policies, procedures and controls for our specific departments are things that will ultimately help improve our risk profile?’
Also, by creating a safer, healthier work environment, you’re going to improve morale. People will feel cared for. If you have a culture that is safety driven, employees might bring ideas or suggestions to the table. If the management team can communicate it, it can really have a positive impact on insurance from a coverage or pricing standpoint.
How can your agent help you stand out?
The agent is an important part of the relationship, the one who connects the carrier and the company. All three parties need to work together to get the best results.
Make sure that relationship extends beyond the agent to the company. A lot of people think the relationship is with the agent, that the agent can jump from carrier to carrier and that there isn’t necessarily a value in the relationship with the carrier — that it is more of a commodity to get limits and pricing. That is not the case.
You should want a long-term relationship with the carrier, as well as with your agent.
What are the benefits of being a stand-out company?
Companies that are noticeable to their carriers through their actions should expect a consistent, positive relationship with a carrier that fully understands the risk of the insured, as well as the proactive attitude of the management team to mitigate risk.
They also get better pricing than they would otherwise, and possibly better coverage, because when a carrier understands the entire scope of a business, it will be able to match the coverage they need. A company will get more flexible underwriting; it’s going to improve the bottom line.
As a result, you’re going to feel more comfortable and confident that if the worst happens, you are protected and you have people who know you and will be there for you.
Amanda Shults is chief marketing officer at Clark-Theders Insurance Agency Inc. Reach her at (513) 644-1278 or [email protected].
