34.3% and falling.
That’s the share of the personal lines market independent agents currently claim. And with 75% of consumers starting their search for insurance online, how do independent agents fit in to the new buying dynamic?
Over the next three weeks, IN&V will get three key perspectives on Project CAP (
www.ProjectCAP.info), the working name for the Consumer Agent Portal, LLC (CAP). Project CAP is an initiative led by the Big “I” and six independent agency carriers (Central Insurance, Main Street America, Safeco, Selective, State Auto and Westfield) to help agents regain personal lines market share.
This week, IN&V talks to agent Tom Minkler, a board member of Consumer Agent Portal, LLC, and the president of the Clark-Mortenson Agency, Inc., headquartered in Keene, N.H., about the personal lines problem and the role Project CAP can play to change the status quo.
Q: When did you notice that traditional marketing methods weren’t working in your agency? Why?
A: We have always measured where business is coming from; historically, we would lose 10% of the [personal lines] business each year and backfill it with 10% new business [like referrals]. We didn’t really work at it very hard. Around four years ago, that started to change—and it was around the same time as the national direct writers started spending millions of dollars a year in advertising. We just weren’t getting the opportunities anymore. That 10% in new business went to 8%, then 6%...the downward progression was steady. We still had 10% attrition but we weren’t getting 10% average replacement. We knew we had to think more digitally.
I knew if it was happening to me, it was happening to other agents. I thought [IIABA] was the best entity to help resolve it—I couldn’t imagine any way to resolve it on my own.
Q: How will Project CAP help?
A: I describe Project CAP not as a technology solution but more of a marketing initiative to let us have the conversations we’ve been missing out on with consumers. How do we take what we already do well and get the message out it in a different forum? Project CAP will give agents new opportunities to talk with the 70% of the market that doesn’t do business with us today in personal lines.
Q: How will Project CAP fold into an agency’s existing marketing strategy?
A: There are two equal halves. One is the Consumer Portal—a physical website for consumers [to find independent agents and get quotes]. The other half gives agents digital marketing tools, education and support so that they can play and win in the digital space. If your agency is already marketing in the digital space, Project CAP can help take you to the next level. If you’re not in the digital world, CAP will be able to help agents get started.
Q: Why is the Project CAP initiative important right now? What could it potentially mean to the market?
A: This is our market. This is our time. The independent agency channel’s market share is down to 30% in personal lines. As recently as three years ago, most agents weren’t interested in online business—they thought those consumers were tire kickers. Now, 75% of the market is doing research online. While maybe we should have started earlier, there was not the groundswell of agents saying we needed to do something.
Q: What’s your answer when agents ask you, “What’s in it for me?”
A: I let agents know that Project CAP offers many choices, ranging from a basic package that is free to Trusted Choice® agencies, to self-directed packages, to “done for you” professional services. By virtue of being an independent agent and in Trusted Choice®, agents will have new, exclusive, qualified prospects sent to them at a nominal cost. Beyond that, when 70% of the market doesn’t know how to find you, Project CAP can help position you immediately to get many more opportunities for consumers to talk to you—from filling blog content, to what do you do with your Facebook page, and much more.
This is a way for agents to win locally by competing nationally. It’s a way to gain business for their own agency while joining with other agents in a cause to recapture personal lines market share. The ability to gain back market share is unlimited; right now 70% of business isn’t with me or someone like me.
Editor’s Note: Next week, IN&V will talk to Big “I” President & CEO Bob Rusbuldt on why the association is helping to launch Project CAP—and the role of the project in the independent agency industry.