Need Advice from Experienced Commercial Agents

[VaDwayne]

Another area, I think you missed is finding pain outside of price. Of course, he may very well ask the other agent if he can match your price. Buyers can lie to salespeople and still go to heaven ya know?

Find a problem outside of price, drive a wedge and you stand a much better chance. You should have established an agreement up front that if you brought a better price and/or fixed his problem, he would switch. A good sales class would work wonders for you. I know, I've been there too many damn times.

If you are worried about the situation above, I would call him and tell him I have a significant saving with a comparable product. Then say Bob, we still have one "big"hurdle, what are you going to tell your agent. It's too much for me to write here, but his reply could very well tell you a lot about whether you are wasting your time or not.

Thanks for the advice;that is the one issue that I had with this particular account. This restaurant does 20% of their business in alcohol sales, or about $150,000 a year, and it is in the heart of a big college town.

I explained to him that his agent had put him a great risk because he didn't include liquor liability coverage in his policy. I also explained that his current carrier only gave him $50,000 fire legal coverage which is very important because he is leasing in a strip mall. Erie's coverage would have increased that number to $1 million dollars.

I did ask him if he would alllow me to become his new agent if I could save him on his premium and/or give him better coverage for his premium dollar, and he said yes.

Maybe I was simply speaking with a liar who simply wanted to keep his agent honest.

 

[VolAgent]

I explained to him that his agent had put him a great risk because he didn't include liquor liability coverage in his policy. I also explained that his current carrier only gave him $50,000 fire legal coverage which is very important because he is leasing in a strip mall. Erie's coverage would have increased that number to $1 million dollars.

Reread that paragraph. "I did this, I explained that, I told him this..."

You told him all the reasons he should hire you. It sounds like he never actually told why he wanted to work with you instead.

You just did the other guy's job for him and made it that much harder for the next guy to take away this account.

 

[VaDwayne]

Reread that paragraph. "I did this, I explained that, I told him this..."

You told him all the reasons he should hire you. It sounds like he never actually told why he wanted to work with you instead.

You just did the other guy's job for him and made it that much harder for the next guy to take away this account.

Very good points, thanks

 

[the mayor]

I was used as the hammer a more than few time...especially when I was new to the business. But it still can happen.It is just too easy for the biz owner to stay where he is.

If I find holes in their policy, besides using the wedge, I try to get them to sign a Broker of Record letter( or whatever they call it in your state). I explain the purpose of the letter and that I will fix their problems.

And if they ask for me to "just fax over or drop off the quote", I will not and tell them so. Or after going over it, they want to think about it, I do not leave the quote with them. No way am I going to hand over that info to the other agent. I would rather throw it in the trash than doing either of these.I have had prospects get snippy at this and tell me it was "their" quote. I tell them,"No, it is my quote to help you. If you would like my help, I'll be glad to discuss this further".

 

[VolAgent]

And if they ask for me to "just fax over or drop off the quote", I will not and tell them so. Or after going over it, they want to think about it, I do not leave the quote with them. No way am I going to hand over that info to the other agent. I would rather throw it in the trash than doing either of these.I have had prospects get snippy at this and tell me it was "their" quote. I tell them,"No, it is my quote to help you. If you would like my help, I'll be glad to discuss this further".

Isn't that sad. They know their current agent is doing a bad job, and that they are having to do his job for them. Yet, inspite of having to get better prices from other agents, they still want to stay with who they currently have. They just want you for the lower price to give to their current agent.

 

[Bertolinoins]

I was used as the hammer a more than few time...especially when I was new to the business. But it still can happen.It is just too easy for the biz owner to stay where he is.

If I find holes in their policy, besides using the wedge, I try to get them to sign a Broker of Record letter( or whatever they call it in your state). I explain the purpose of the letter and that I will fix their problems.

And if they ask for me to "just fax over or drop off the quote", I will not and tell them so. Or after going over it, they want to think about it, I do not leave the quote with them. No way am I going to hand over that info to the other agent. I would rather throw it in the trash than doing either of these.I have had prospects get snippy at this and tell me it was "their" quote. I tell them,"No, it is my quote to help you. If you would like my help, I'll be glad to discuss this further".

I had one of those this month... I just told him my price was 15% below his Farmers agent's renewal quote and to let me know what he is going to do. He didn't know what to do.

 

[the mayor]

Isn't that sad. They know their current agent is doing a bad job, and that they are having to do his job for them. Yet, inspite of having to get better prices from other agents, they still want to stay with who they currently have. They just want you for the lower price to give to their current agent.

Sad as hell.

One of my first cold calls was to a small accounting agency. It was double pronged: get some business and get referrals from the accountants. The owner told me he was part owner of a ocean front 30 unit condo where the premium had gone from $20K to $65K in the last 5 years with no claims.They had been with the same agent for 25 years.

We came in at $35K with better coverage and lower deduct. He wanted to take it to the board. I told him I would make the 2 hour drive on a Saturday and make the presentation and would be able to answer any questions. When I got there, the incumbent agent, who was local, was also there. We were both surprised. I had him go first and he came in at $58K. I gave my presentation, thinking I got this one nailed. How could I not win this one. They were ready to sign.

THEN....

The incumbent then , without blinking an eye, says he can beat my price by $1K ( with lesser coverage and higher deduct)....and they went with it! They said they had such a long relation and they knew him,it was extra work to move it, yada yada.

I asked them if they were going to get a $30K Xmas card from him this year.

I even called them back on Monday and offered them $5K less...eating a bunch of comission..but we'd already done the work. Why lose everything. He matched that.

The only sunshine in the story is I did get a $1800 policy out of the accountant after many calls and he has sent a few people my way. But as I'm writing this...I have steam coming out of my ears thinking about it.
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I had one of those this month... I just told him my price was 15% below his Farmers agent's renewal quote and to let me know what he is going to do. He didn't know what to do.

Well...95% of the time, instead of thinking, they'll just write a renewal check.

 

[Bertolinoins]

Sad as hell.

One of my first cold calls was to a small accounting agency. It was double pronged: get some business and get referrals from the accountants. The owner told me he was part owner of a ocean front 30 unit condo where the premium had gone from $20K to $65K in the last 5 years with no claims.They had been with the same agent for 25 years.

We came in at $35K with better coverage and lower deduct. He wanted to take it to the board. I told him I would make the 2 hour drive on a Saturday and make the presentation and would be able to answer any questions. When I got there, the incumbent agent, who was local, was also there. We were both surprised. I had him go first and he came in at $58K. I gave my presentation, thinking I got this one nailed. How could I not win this one. They were ready to sign.

THEN....

The incumbent then , without blinking an eye, says he can beat my price by $1K ( with lesser coverage and higher deduct)....and they went with it! They said they had such a long relation and they knew him,it was extra work to move it, yada yada.

I asked them if they were going to get a $30K Xmas card from him this year.

I even called them back on Monday and offered them $5K less...eating a bunch of comission..but we'd already done the work. Why lose everything. He matched that.

The only sunshine in the story is I did get a $1800 policy out of the accountant after many calls and he has sent a few people my way. But as I'm writing this...I have steam coming out of my ears thinking about it.
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Well...95% of the time, instead of thinking, they'll just write a renewal check.

Agreed... that is why I prefer to aquire established producers and agencies... growing organically is very difficult in soft market and the commercial market has been very soft for about 10 of the past 13/14 years. We had a nice little hard patch from 02-05 or 06 but otherwise it has been mush.

 

[the mayor]

Agreed... that is why I prefer to aquire established producers and agencies... growing organically is very difficult in soft market and the commercial market has been very soft for about 10 of the past 13/14 years. We had a nice little hard patch from 02-05 or 06 but otherwise it has been mush.

Oh...now you tell me!
I stepped into this industry 1 1/2 years ago. With 30 years of sales background and doing a lot of research, I knew it wouldn't be easy.
But it is definitely the hardest sales I have ever made.
But, most of the time, I'm glad I did choose this path.

 

[Bertolinoins]

Oh...now you tell me!
I stepped into this industry 1 1/2 years ago. With 30 years of sales background and doing a lot of research, I knew it wouldn't be easy.
But it is definitely the hardest sales I have ever made.
But, most of the time, I'm glad I did choose this path.

The good news is that a lot of agents are reaching retirement age and there will be a lot of account movement in the next 5 years. That... and once you do get to the critical mass... retention is easy and referrals come easier. 3-5 years of very hard work is worth it.