Joe Bosnack, Jr., President
Katz Nassau Agency, Inc.
Debbie Hannam
President
Brokers Clearing House, Ltd.
Carrier impact
In thinking through how to streamline processes and
be more efficient, the question was asked if there were
ways for the carriers to help in bettering the system for
the agencies, advisors and the consumers.
Bosnack: “Carrier help is always appreciated and needed.
Education is a big key, back office support when problems arise
can be a differentiator, but mostly we appreciate efforts to
simplify the process. The sooner we are out of the tree killing
business with paper use, the better!”
Hannam: “The obvious answer might be that we intend to deliver
products as effectively and efficiently as possible to consumers
who desire aggressive technology for applications. While I
believe that is important, the word that resonates most with
me is partnership! We must be able to depend on the carrier’s
integrity. Life is unpredictable, but the carrier’s commitment
to deliver on its promises to policyholders must be totally
predictable and unwavering.
I also believe carriers should be careful not to put every
advisor or consumer in the same box. Everyone has a story,
and it’s our responsibility to make sure we have communicated
it correctly so the carrier can make informed decisions on
contracting an advisor or underwriting the insured.”
Phillips: “Carriers have done an excellent job at enhancing their
websites and providing training tools and resources to help
recruit and retain advisors. But I think the support a carrier
could provide is to hire better people internally; train them
more effectively; and instill a sense of what we do in the
brokerage community, our issues and pain points.
Maybe that’s a Quixotical, almost unrealistic, notion given
the multi-channel distribution world we all work in. I find our
time is increasingly spent chasing down errors, missteps, and
no-way-that-should-happen situations. It’s a time-consuming
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Perspectives
Q2 2019
Ray Phillips, President
The Brokers Source, Ltd.
James Wong, Area Executive
VP, Partners Advantage
Insurance Services, LLC.
effort that takes us away from generating revenues and laying
the groundwork for new opportunities.”
Wong: “As we better address consumer needs (product features,
benefits and customer experience) one core objective is to
deliver awareness and education on the many options available
to the independent financial professional (IFP). With this as
a backdrop, the two items that would aide our efforts would
be for carriers to share their intelligence on products relative
to competitive products. Secondly, it would be beneficial for
carriers to get underwriting/suitability reviews through a
common portal/system, ultimately bringing greater consistency
to the buying experience.”
Change — the constant denominator
With change being the constant theme in the industry,
the four leaders provided their perspectives on business
growth and ways to achieve it.
Bosnack: “Coming off last year, I decided to ‘go back to basics.’ I
am on the ground more, trying to stay in front of the producers
and helping them grow their business. More face-to-face, phone
time, etc. to help them meet goals.”
Hannam: “I don’t believe it is a big secret that the financial
planning space is where we are all seeing changes in insurance
conversations. It’s our job to better equip financial planners
by giving them the education, guidance, and means to offer
insurance services to their clients. Long term care continues to
be in urgent need of attention in the financial planning space.
The importance of protecting assets that clients have taken
years to grow should be part of an advisor’s conversation with
every client to ensure that a catastrophic LTC event doesn’t
consume those assets in a very short period.
With the partners and employees in our agency, we are well
equipped to serve this space while continuing to service all our
advisors in various capacities and helping them provide coverage
to consumers. Statistics tell us we all have a lot more work to do!”
Phillips: “I don’t think change in our agency — and maybe our
industry — comes in a sudden, flashpoint way. It’s more of an
oozing into pliable strategies, protocols and offerings. We’re
not making any ‘changes,’ per se. We are continuing to engage
the market the way it wants, by using new tools and resources
to meet the ever-changing ways our market wants to consume
our services.
Along those lines I still favor the hand-to-hand combat
approach to marketing, face-to-face meetings, workshops
and appointments. Over the last year or so I have started to
recognize that isn’t, perhaps, what the market wants from
me or my firm. We’re doing more webinars, screen shares,
recorded video sessions, etc. than I ever thought we would.
And, grudgingly, our metrics support this direction.”
Wong: “I’m a big believer in Jack Welch’s philosophy of ‘change
before you have to’ and so we are continuing our investment
into two growth areas. One is the Registered Investment
Advisory (RIA) space, both to serve as an insurance exchange
for them and Investment Advisor Representatives (IAR), and
as a professional development opportunity for insurance-only
IFP’s. The other is supporting what I consider as international
business that includes foreign national cases. Our leadership
team believes there’s great growth ahead for US dollar-based
insurance products, and with our skill set, relationships and
carrier support, we increase the odds of our ability to serve this
sophisticated marketplace.”
Consistently trending
Acknowledging that change is a constant trend raises
the importance of being nimble, as well as providing
ongoing education and marketing along with increasing
the collaboration between carriers, agencies, advisors
and consumers. As Ray Phillips stated, “We’ve started to
become an ‘insurance partner’ rather than an ‘insurance
wholesaler’ for many of the firms and agencies that
engage us.”
As the second half begins, further discussions around
efficiency, streamlined processes, and improved
communications can equate to business growth at
all levels. As Debbie Hannam summarized, “Without
insurance carriers, agencies, advisors, and consumers
working together, we have nothing.”
In order to keep ahead of the changes, look to
Tiffany Markarian’s article on social media (page 20) and
Kim Magdalein’s column regarding marketing essentials
(page 22). And, in the next issue of Perspectives in the
3rd quarter, the focus will be on technology for the
industry.
Pam Sheehan
Director of Content & Strategic Partnerships, NAILBA
[email protected]
Checking in with the independent agents
Graphs from
Use and desire for life insurance sales tools
Independent agents
Source: Independent Agent Business Placement
Preferences Survey, LIMRA, 2019.
Online access to insurance carrier 69 %
Tools to speed up the application
process (e.g. eApp, eSignature) 69 %
Client marketing and education tools
Digital support tools to help identify
appropriate solutions for my clients
Already have & use
15 %
44 %
14 %
41 %
26 %
Have now, but do not use
33 %
41 %
Do not have but want
6 %
17 %
6 %
22 %
28 %
12 %
12 %
14 %
8 %
55 %
Modeling tools on life insurance strategies
Analytical tools that help prioritize your
opportunities or leads
11 %
8 %
14 %
14 %
21 %
Do not have and do not want
www.nailba.org
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