Independent insurance agents get a vote of trustworthiness from small business owners
We’d like to share with you a few excerpts from a letter we recently received from ACT Executive Director, Jeff Yates that speaks to the level of trust small business owners have for independent insurance agents and highlights what factors are most important to them in working with an agent.
The figures Yates references are taken from a recent survey of 501 small business owners (with less than 30 employees) conducted by The Pert Group and sponsored by Hanover Insurance.
On Trust:
A majority of the small business owners surveyed found their insurance agents to be trustworthy – the highest percentage of any of the types of financial services firm identified: 48% more than banks, 97% more than healthcare companies, and 295% more than stock brokers.
Those surveyed trust P&C carriers: 25% more than banks, 66% more than healthcare companies and 150% more than stock brokers.
On Overall Influence Factors:
Small business owners said that trustworthiness was the most important factor they look for from their property insurance agents. The top factors were:
- Trustworthiness 86%
- Competitive pricing 82%
- Responsiveness 81%
- Value 79%
The above information is good news for independent agents and good news for SIS as well because we work hard empower your agents and customer service reps with technology that can improve their responsiveness, help them track conversations and emails, facilitate personalized mailings and build a foundation of trust with their clients and prospects.
Features like Search Navigation, Contact and Client and Policy Management for example, put the information you and your reps need at your fingertips, enabling you to respond to your customers quickly and efficiently. Outlook integration streamlines your workflow by pulling your Outlook communications into your agency management system. New streamlined features include the ability to sync recurring appointments, add an entire email folder to Partner XE at one time, tag emails with a category when bringing into XE and more.
As one of our clients, Kevin O*Brien, so aptly put it, “Independent insurance agencies are sales and service organizations. When a system takes care of those little tasks it gives us the time we need to interact with current and potential clients. The key is having the right agency management system that lets us interact more with clients – like Partner XE does.”
We are consistently working on enhancements to make sure your Partner XE agency management system enables you to give the highest level of service possible and appreciate our clients’ feedback. If you would like to get involved in one of the National Association of SIS Partner Agents (NASPA) work groups to provide the SIS team with user input and suggestions on on-going product enhancements please contact John Heinszat [email protected] or(636) 946-2266.
