Direct Auto Appointments

[South Fla PandC]

Hi,
I'm a newbie to the forum,but a former 30 year South Florida captive agent who sold a fairly large book of business. I recently opened an independent agency.
To deal with the apparent impossibility of a direct appointment with an auto carrier for my new agency-I had no idea it would be this difficult,with the potential client base I have-I aligned with an aggregator,and have a direct appointment with Travelers (Standard Fire) through them.
I've had to turn away probably 60-70% of potential auto customers,due to the selectivity of Travelers vs. the carrier I represented as a captive.
Does anyone have any suggestions,or gone through a similar situation?

 

[VolAgent]

Surely the aggregator can get you more direct appointments than Travelers?

That said, indy's are different. Most are going to be either non-standard or preferred and pretty niched at it. They aren't like most captives with a fairly broad appetite. You simply need more companies.

 

[South Fla PandC]

Surely the aggregator can get you more direct appointments than Travelers?

That said, indy's are different. Most are going to be either non-standard or preferred and pretty niched at it. They aren't like most captives with a fairly broad appetite. You simply need more companies.

Thanks,VolAgent-I Wish that was the case...I always thought,with a fairly large potential client base and low loss ratio that I had, auto carrier appointments would have been a breeze-apparently,not the case!

 

[VolAgent]

Thanks,VolAgent-I Wish that was the case...I always thought,with a fairly large potential client base and low loss ratio that I had, auto carrier appointments would have been a breeze-apparently,not the case!

Direct appointments are hard to get, which is why aggregators and clusters exist, as well as MGAs. But I am questioning why your aggregator can't get you more than just Travelers. An aggregator that struggles to get you appointments is of little value. Either the aggregator sucks, the market there is extremely difficult, or you're sending off warning signs to carriers.

Without knowing more it is hard to say which, my guess is the first two.