1-888-910-4747
If your retail insurance agency is currently selling insurance for freight brokers the chances are high that you are not providing them with all the coverages they need. With the steadily rising uptick in litigation against freight brokers, it’s increasingly important for them to have insurance coverages that protect them in court.
Many freight brokers are ignorant to the litigation trends that are happening in the industry and wildly unprepared for the time and financial costs of defending themselves in an auto liability case.
What’s worse, with no cap on judgment amounts, brokers across the country are going out of business from multi-million dollar judgments they cannot pay.
Freight brokers can (and should) be insured for the cost of defending themselves or paying a massive judgment.
Agents already providing primary cargo insurance for freight brokers are in a prime position to consult their clients about litigation risks and proactively recommend these lines.
It’s a win-win situation for the broker and your organization. Your broker clients get better coverage that effectively protects them against the sweeping trends of litigation and your agency has a new value-added offer with significant revenue potential.
This article will help retail insurance agents understand the appropriate steps for driving awareness and demand of these coverages with new and existing broker clients.
Drive Awareness with Sales and Marketing
One of the biggest benefits in selling niche insurance is that there is much less competition. Brokers are not looking for it actively, and niche insurance is what we label as a “blue ocean opportunity.” Blue ocean opportunities mean there is generally very little competition. In this case, the main reason is because there is low awareness in the broker market that this type of insurance exists.
Sales and marketing are key for driving awareness with your client base. Here are a few simple strategies for leveraging your sales and marketing to drum up opportunities with your brokers:
Use Email Marketing
Email marketing is a really scalable tool when it comes to warming up your clients and educating them about the industry and shifts in legislation that may motivate brokers to increase their insurance coverage. Share highlights (or low lights) about actual cases where brokers were involved.
Train Producers
Your producers are on the front lines with clients and have the highest potential for upselling. They’ll need to be up to date on the latest trends and coverages so they can seamlessly navigate the client conversation. A lot of times you won’t have to do the training yourself, since the insurer will have tools and resources for you to leverage directly.
Create a Free Offer
Consider giving something away for free that moves your client closer to a sale. Free audits and consultations are easy ways for your client to say yes without having to commit to a purchase. And that audit or consultation will provide the client with further value, making it more likely that they’ll purchase something from you.
Leverage a Through-Agent Marketing Program by Partnering with a Freight Broker Insurance Expert
The biggest hurdle when bringing in new insurance markets is coming up with the resources to train your staff and market to your clients. Don’t try to build all that in-house. It’s not scalable and a good partner will do it for you. Look for partners that have robust sales training and a through-agent marketing program. Through-agent marketing consists of marketing resources that are branded for you to share directly with your clients. Think about everything you’d need torun a campaign: emails, website pages, sales collateral. All you have to do is send it out. You are positioned as the expert and your partner does most of the work.
Use Automated Campaigns to Reduce Turnover Rates
Many retail agents find that renewing policies is harder than winning them in the first place. You might find that your initial sales process is robust and polished, but the renewal process needs work. Part of the problem might be that the value the client felt at the beginning of the year has degraded over time.
One effective way to reduce turnover, especially with “what if” policies that aren’t required, is to keep the client aware of the external conditions that are happening in the industry around them. Maintaining a regular cadence in communication with the client will be a continual reminder of the value their policy is providing.
Since this is difficult to do in-house, ask your insurance market to keep you up to date with trends, cases, and regulation that is relevant for your broker clients.
Bring on a New Revenue Stream with Very Little Time Investment
If your agency is supporting freight broker clients there’s very little you’d need to do to turn on a new revenue stream. Generally speaking, low industry awareness benefits agents by keeping competition low, as well. The main thing is just being able to tell your clients what is going on and have an insurance market available that can protect them.
Freight brokers who move agencies often lament that their previous agent didn’t understand their business. And it’s not surprising, they are a smaller group than carrier customers so agencies navigate towards providing solutions for them. However, if your agency leverages an insurance market that supports you with through-agent sales and marketing support, you can bethat expert the client needs without increasing your overhead to do it in-house.