Have Insurance Agents Forgotten Why They Exist?

Selling an “Apples To Apples” policy is like refinancing a mortgage at the same interest rate. It’s a huge waste of paperwork and the only person that benefits is the broker.

The agent that sold the first insurance policy carved into an ancient Babylonian stone almost 4000 years ago must have been pretty savvy. How could anyone, especially before the dot com boom, place an insurance policy without an existing dec page to scan into their Agency Management System? Did they call up the other empires and see what type of deductibles they were using?

Then why do we do this today?

I like to refer to my early years as an agent as the “Dec Page Hunting Years”. I thought I existed entirely to keep more cash in the pockets of my clients. I was equipped with nothing more than an expensive and complicated Dropbox-like application (my AMS) and a briefcase filled with carrier-branded notepads and pens. When I walked into a meeting I had one goal - to bring home the decs. Admittedly, this actually worked sometimes. Although I’d eventually lose most of them as soon as they saw one of those catchy television ads with an animal mascot who can talk.

I wasn’t doing my job.

Insurance agents exist to help the client determine how much of their own risk they are willing to take. Our product is a legal contract designed to hedge against financial loss. The client needs to understand that every missing coverage is a life changing bet, and the casino isn’t going to let you off the hook just because you didn’t understand the odds.

How do they increase their chances?

Buy more insurance.

Remember why we’re here. Don’t sell apples to apples. Increase their odds.