5 Levers to Pull to Deliver the Best Deal for Clients
By Daryl Henry
When a business hires an insurance broker, they’re doing it for one reason: They believe that a broker gives them the best chance of getting the best deal—not just this year, but over the long term. That trust is earned—and if you want to be the broker who consistently delivers, you need a plan for how you approach the marketplace.
Clients don’t simply want the lowest price. They want the most comprehensive coverage at a price they can afford. Further, they want to sleep well at night knowing you’ve learned their business, identified what could potentially bankrupt them and then gone to the market to secure the protection they truly need.
Brokers who consistently deliver results do it by pulling the same five levers:
1) Know the right carriers. Your process starts with knowing which carriers have the appetite for your client’s risk. For example, I work with a lot of home health agencies. If I take one of those accounts to a company with no desire to write that type of business, that doesn’t benefit anyone. That’s stat padding for a marketing spreadsheet.
The best brokers understand their niche well enough to know exactly which markets will be competitive before the submission ever leaves their inbox.
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2) Develop deep relationships with underwriters. Knowing the right carriers isn’t enough. The underwriters at those carriers must trust you. The truth is simple: Underwriters give their best deals to brokers who help them make money.
If you bring profitable, well-run accounts, if you’re easy to work with and if you’re transparent about timelines, claims and expectations, you’ll get callbacks, fast quotes and better terms. Relationships are built on consistency, not charisma.
3) Specialize in an industry so you can guide the process. Specialization makes you dangerous—in a good way. When you know a niche, you can anticipate underwriting issues, help clients structure their operations correctly and avoid accounts that will damage your relationships.
For example, combined home health and assisted living operations often don’t cleanly fit within admitted markets. I advise clients that this is a problem, and if they’re not comfortable with the options, I disengage before it ever goes to underwriting. Specialists sort the best prospects from the unplaceable ones before underwriters ever see them.
4) Present the deal strategically. Underwriters have a stack of submissions on their desk. They will not waste time on accounts they can’t win. Your job is to clearly explain why this client will work with you, what the underwriter must deliver to win and why this risk is worth their attention.
When you present a well-qualified, well-explained, well-positioned submission, you win more of the 50/50 balls than your competitors, even on imperfect accounts.
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5) Create leverage through competition. When you combine the first four levers, you earn something priceless: leverage.
When multiple underwriters trust you, want the business and know you bring them winners, they will compete for the accounts you submit. That’s where the best pricing and coverage terms come from. However, you cannot manufacture competition without trust, specialization and strategic presentation. This is why generalists struggle. Specialists, on the other hand, become recognizable to both clients and underwriters—and that’s when the marketplace works in your favor.
Strong brokers don’t just shop coverage. They engineer results. And when you pull these five levers consistently, you not only win new business, you retain it for years.
Daryl Henry is sales executive and managing partner at Bitner-Henry Insurance in Hagerstown, Maryland.
