WEBVTT
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The first place is still Gitter Dunner.
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Get her dunnerer.
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I think that one is still that's definitely made up.
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That's definitely made up.
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This is IA Forward, your playbook for sixth cents as an independent insurance agent.
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Now, here to help you knock it out of the ballpark are your hosts, Shane Tatum, Mike Basil, and Tanya Lee.
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Welcome to IA Forward.
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Mike has a gas leak in his house today, so it's just Shane and I.
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And we are wishing him all of the best and hope that nothing was up.
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Yeah, there's all kinds of like guy jokes in that statement, but I'm gonna leave that alone.
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So um, you know, let's gas leaks and we'll just probably not be able to.
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Yeah, but let's just leave that alone.
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We're your mom would fully support that.
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So absolutely.
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Yes, she would.
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Absolutely.
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And our goal is to always keep Miss Melody happy.
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Yeah, it's a it's a it's a real uh uh you know, official neighborhood gas company on call.
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So yeah, we we hope that everything works out there quickly, right?
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Yes, absolutely.
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So let's talk about the the soft market.
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Uh I remember when we started the podcast about 335 40-ish episodes ago, which that number is just astounding to me.
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But you know, about a year into the podcast, we went into this hard market.
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And I remember telling you that I hated the name of that.
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Like, could we please name it something else?
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Because it makes it hard.
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And we had this mental idea about this, right?
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And it also reminds me of eggs.
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Like you have hard-boiled eggs and you have soft-boiled eggs.
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Yeah, and so now we've come out of the hard-boiled egg market, which I really hate hard-boiled eggs, and into the soft-boiled egg market, which is what I prefer.
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But um we have some of the same problems and some and some different problems, right?
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Yep.
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Yeah.
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I mean, you know, first for clarity, let's make sure that everybody knows, you know, hard and soft when it comes to the market description, is completely an internal industry term.
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Please don't say that to your customers.
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Like they don't know what you're talking about, right?
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I don't really even know exactly what we're talking about, right?
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And maybe you don't either.
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Yeah, they don't know.
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They don't know what you're talking, they don't know what what you're saying when you say that.
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And, you know, if I think, you know, first let's let's define that a little bit.
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Um, the two before we get into the soft market discussion.
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You know, hard market means a combination of a couple of things.
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That capacity is shrinking, meaning there's less companies that have an appetite to grow, write business.
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That usually means that they're unprofitable.
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They, they, they've they're trying to figure out how to become profitable.
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Their losses are up, so claims are up.
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They're they're just not making money.
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So they tend to restrict themselves.
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Underwriting gets harder.
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Uh, you know, there's less investment money coming in to support taking on more risk.
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Um maybe there's maybe there's a better place to put your money uh from an investor standpoint.
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So institutional investors, big, big, big multi-billion dollar uh type organizations, stop you know, investing and on on the insurance side.
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Uh so it just it just makes for that perfect storm.
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And therefore, when supply demand, it's the insurance version of supply and demand.
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Um, supply shrinks are you know, basically, and so demand is up, and so the price goes up, right?
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So that is the definition of hard market.
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And the the somewhat opposite of that takes place when the market softens, when it mark the market becomes uh a softer market.
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And um, you know, what that means is there's a lot of investment coming in.
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Companies are making money, everybody wants more premium because they can invest those dollars.
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Uh, they can they're making money, so they're like, hey, let's pour this profit back into growth.
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Uh, more premium, more dollars to invest until we have claims to pay.
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And so, yeah, a lot of words, but that's, you know, lots of supply now.
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And when that happens and everybody's in the game, prices tend to flatten out or potentially go down, right?
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Which is one of the rare industries where prices can actually go down, right?
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And uh, I think this is an interesting place, it'll be an interesting place in this cycle of the soft market because we've had such inflationary pressure through this most recent hard market um that that inflationary pressure, like the cost of fixing all these high-tech cars and you know uh bumpers with a bunch of sensors in them, like that's that's not going down.
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Like the cost of repairing is not going down.
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Uh, so the loss, the loss cost is still gonna be high.
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So it's gonna be interesting.
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You know, will this be a traditional soft market?
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Uh, or will this be, you know, something different?
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Um, I do know this.
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We went really, really fast into this soft market cycle.
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I mean, like super fast.
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And uh, you know, we were just talking hard market cycles six to eight months ago, and um, we weren't really sure what was gonna happen.
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Uh, so you know, uh that type of a pivot in a market cycle is pretty rare.
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Wow.
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Okay.
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So this started with commercial, right?
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The softening of the market started with commercial.
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Yeah, I I think it was ahead.
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It was ahead of it was ahead of the the personalized market for sure.
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Um, and and yeah, so so I think that's that's probably right.
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As the market continues to soften, what changes about how we run our agencies, how we talk to clients?
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What does this mean for us?
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Yeah, it's it's actually fascinating and to me in a nerdy insurance way.
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I can't believe I just use the word fascinating to describe a hard market and a soft market that makes me feel like a big nerd.
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But um, you know, I you know what one of the things I'm I draw on is just conversation in April at our agent conference, um, our agency network conference.
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And I I uh uh in my my session that with the you know big stage session, um I talked about, you know, you wouldn't want you wouldn't want uh a hard market cycle, uh, or or would you, right?
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I I kind of left it with that, and it was a play off of uh Malcolm Gladwell's statement around um dyslexia and just some things around uh the the the the book that he's written, several books he's written.
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Um, and I think it was uh David and Goliath was where I the where I got that particular piece.
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And it was basically like how difficult, how much more difficult it can be to be profitable and grow your agency in a soft market as compared to a hard market.
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Now that sounded ludicrous at the time to uh our agents who had never been through uh a soft market.
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Like they they just didn't know any different from the market that had been here uh for the last several years.
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And uh what's really ironic about it is that when less carriers are writing business, right?
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When when less carriers are trying to grow, as long as you have some carriers writing business, which we have been fortunate to be able to maintain, um, then you have something that not everybody wants or not everybody has, right?
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And so that in and of itself makes it easier.
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Now, when everyone is wanting to write business, exclusive channel, direct channel, independent agency channel, um uh carriers, so every channel of distribution inside the industry, reinsurance prices dropping, all of these mechanical things that make up the the insurance distribution.
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When everybody's in the game, well, it's the consumer is in the better spot at that point, right?
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Like there's you can pick and choose from whoever you want because everybody's in the game.
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And you know, the statement of, well, sorry, there's a price increase.
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Unfortunately, that's the best that I got for you, that no longer works because the guy down the street may have a better price, right?
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And so you're you're you're kind of in this different place, and you're you're gonna have to shift your mindset a little bit.
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I want to talk about making sure that we don't shift our mindset too far because we can wreck ourselves if we're not careful in a in a softening market.
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Um, but now that consumers have choice, there's a really, well, it's guaranteed your book of business that you've built as an agency is going to be disrupted.
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You're going to see some turmoil, some turnover in your book of business because there's going to be some shopping.
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What can we do as agents to differentiate ourselves as we are moving from this hard market to this soft market?
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And the reason that that I ask that question is so many of our agents have spent the last, you know, decade in the last three years uh explaining to our clients what's going on.
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Why are they getting these huge, huge uh premium increases, especially when people say, well, I haven't had a claim or I haven't had a ticket or nothing's changed.
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And so now they are in the mindset with us that um we are uh button and and now they're in the mindset with us that we as the agent have increased their premiums, and then a different agent is coming in and saying, Hey, look, I can get your premiums down.
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Yeah.
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Hasn't been a good time for agents to go buy a boat, right?
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And and display it in their parking lot.
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You know, correct.
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There's just, you know, thing things that you read the room, read the room, agents, right?
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Um, and so I I think one of the things that we can do is uh make sure that you are kind of but I love the term kind of buttoning up your clients.
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Like make sure you're cross-selling.
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Um make sure you're you're you're you're looking at your book of business.
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This be on the retention side of things.
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Um make sure that you are uh you're writing, you're the full-time agent.
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That's a big thing of mine.
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Like, don't make sure you don't just have the home, right?
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Make sure you have the auto, the home, make sure you have everything.
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Pursue that within your book.
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One, there's revenue opportunity there.
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So you can afford to incentivize someone on your team, or you can afford to put your own energy into cross-sales, um, you know, becoming more share of wallet for your existing clients and making sure that you're doing that, right?
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If you're sitting there with, say, a policy per customer ratio um of 1.6, and you know, my like minimum success line is always 2.0.
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I know there's lots of agencies below that.
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Our retail agency is below that, but I have a reason for that.
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Um, you know, my target is always 2.0, but anything you can push above 2.0, it's is the better, right?
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That's just more revenue for the same servicing work.
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So make sure you're cross-selling, make sure you're you're uh you're getting as much of that client's insurance premiums that uh you can get, right?
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Because there's gonna be more churn in your monoline business.
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There's gonna be more churn in that that lower end.
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Um think about uh think about making sure you're just buttoning that up and making that client relationship more sticky by being their full-time agent, right?
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Um because the shoppers tend to be on the monoline side, the true shoppers.
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Um, and you're not able to really help them because you can't give them the companion policy discount, right?
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You can't you can't give them the discounts that the carriers are making available if you don't have all of their business uh in your book.
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Let's take me, for instance, on this one.
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So I am uh your idea of a terrible client, right?
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So I have my homeowner's policy with one agent because the fabulous folks at our home office in Huntington, Texas do not want it.
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Um, so the home office there in Texas does have my uh both of our vehicles and our boat.
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And then we have an integral partner agent in Louisiana that actually has my rental property because I love them and um I don't want to take my business from them.
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So that puts me as a part-time client with three different insurance agencies.
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If I was an average client, which I kind of sort of think I am, um, how would you handle my situation?
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So, you know, you have a unique situation, right?
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Um, but I think it's a great example because this is what happens to a lot of agents.
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Uh, a client comes to them, a prospect, prospective client comes to them, and maybe they bought a home and the mortgage company has a referral relationship with XYZ agency, sent it over.
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Uh, you ended up going the let's forget the fact that we're in Texas and you're in Florida, and that creates some trouble for our organization.
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But let's just look at this from the yeah, I mean, from from the the situation of a mortgage company referral.
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And so you end up with this agent because of the mortgage relationship that you don't really know, right?
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Like you don't really know who that agent is.
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You don't really have a great relationship with them.
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You're you're not sticky with them, and you are doing business with another agent because you work for that organization, right?
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Let's just be brutally honest, right?
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So you work for that organization and you have your car insurance and your boat insurance there.
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And then you have this other very difficult situation because you're in two difficult states with your property.
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You have this uh rental property, dwelling property that's in maybe the hardest state in the country to do business in, Louisiana, right?
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If not, if it's not Florida, if it's not Louisiana, obviously it's California, but you know, we're gonna put Florida and Louisiana uh up there in the top three or four.
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And so you have a Louisiana-based agent who handles that for you, right?
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Right.
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But let's take that picture and say you were all in my local area and I'm your agent.
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That could still happen.
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It still does happen a lot.
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And and and you know, I think it's because we do spend so much energy on the new client pursuit that we don't have a lot of energy on making sure our existing client relationships are um fully intact, fully fulfilled.
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Because this let's just think about this.
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If I came to you and said, um, you know, forget the employment relationship.
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If I came to you and said, look, we've got markets in Florida now, we got markets in Louisiana now, we can take care of all of your property in one relationship, one contact point.
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There is nothing that I can think of in my mind that you as a consumer would go, oh, I don't really like that.
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I really like three different people.
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I really want to keep three different relationships.
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Like, that is not normal.
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Like people don't do that.
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The only people that do that are the sort of what I would call older generation, maybe boomer generation business people who feel like they have to have a like the local AC, you know, air conditioning guy feels like I gotta have some of my business scattered around town because I need to have a good, you know, they're all customers.
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How can I pick one customer, right?
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There are those clients.
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That is like that is like a really tiny percentage of your book.
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Really?
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See, I thought it would be bigger than that.
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No, it's not.
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Okay, it's just not that big, especially in the metro suburban areas, right?
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Where it's like I need to spread it around for political clout, for relations my buddy, this is my friend, I don't want to.
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Hey, it's real, it's there, it's still there.
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I'm not saying it doesn't exist.
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I'm just saying that's not normal.
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That's not the majority, the supermajority, even.
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Okay.
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The majority of the people want convenience, they want a competitive price and they want convenience.
00:19:54.400 --> 00:20:07.519
And I think that is something that we could be exposed in because we've been through this hard market where we might not have been able to solve a problem, right?
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Let's just take go stick with your example.
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Why couldn't we solve your house insurance problem?
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Well, because of the hard market, unless you were based in Florida, you weren't gonna get you weren't gonna get access to right home insurance in Florida because you bought your house during the hard market for the most part, right?
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You moved into that house and we could not solve that problem.
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We're not in Florida in the Florida market, and we couldn't have even jumped into the Florida market if we would have wanted to when you bought your house.
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I think it's a great example because I think that exists in a lot of places, even in the local markets, right?
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Where someone purchased a home, uh, someone took out insurance through some resource because that's you know, their auto insurance agent couldn't handle it, couldn't do it for them.
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And, you know, here we are three, four years later, and you're still scattered.
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And I think there's a lot of that.
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I think number one, there's a whole lot of that within our books of business, and we need to kind of button that up and kind of pay attention to that.
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That's that's one thing.
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That's one item for us so far.
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You know, it's when you said that that there weren't options when I when I bought my homes, that was so true.
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Because we bought our house and we closed on our house in the middle of a hurricane coming on shore.
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So the fact that I had bound coverage the week before was the only reason we were able to close on a house.
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That's right.
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That's right.
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Um the other reason that for me, I I maybe it's that I'm lazy, but I just don't want to have to go through all All of the stuff that it takes to go through to move my home insurance.
00:22:04.640 --> 00:22:13.599
And that's probably the reason why, you know, we are the greatest uh business plan that exists, right?
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Because even the worst of us retain what 90%.
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Yeah.
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It's not it, it is.
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And and you know, it's not that far off of your checking account.
00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:39.599
Um, I I would say the the only thing that's more frustrating and complicated um is moving your your bank account, right?
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Changing all the auto drafts, changing the payroll, direct deposit, moving from this bank to this bank.
00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:50.160
I mean, even when banks buy banks, it's still painful.
00:22:50.240 --> 00:22:50.400
Yeah.
00:22:50.640 --> 00:22:53.200
And it's this, and they're helping a little bit.
00:22:53.440 --> 00:23:02.880
But thinking about like getting frustrated with a bank and going and, you know what, I'm changing my bank, I'm changing my banking relationship.
00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:04.640
That's a pain in the butt.
00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:06.799
And banks know that.
00:23:06.960 --> 00:23:12.640
Like banks are so sticky on their checking accounts.
00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:14.000
They they just are.
00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:21.839
And uh, you know, having someone's home insurance is very similar to me to that bank checking account.
00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:22.079
Wow.
00:23:22.319 --> 00:23:28.319
Um for whatever reason, auto insurance teams sent tends to be a little easier to move.
00:23:28.480 --> 00:23:46.480
Maybe, maybe we've just spent a lot more technology into uh maybe we've spent a whole lot more technology uh innovation in the auto realm because there's it's a bigger market, you know, it it's just easier to to deal with.
00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:54.079
Um and you know, people freak out about escrow and moving and yeah, all that stuff, right?
00:23:54.559 --> 00:24:00.079
Taxes, taxes, you know, again, all the mess that goes with it.
00:24:00.319 --> 00:24:01.599
But think about it.
00:24:01.839 --> 00:24:03.440
Think about that for a minute.
00:24:03.680 --> 00:24:13.200
If you get that home and you've already got the auto, or you maybe you've already got the auto in the boat and you get the home over, how sticky are you, right?
00:24:13.359 --> 00:24:29.359
Like people are not moving for a little bit of price increase at that point, even even though they might save a little money, they're not as just quick to move because that stickiness gets even stickier.
00:24:29.519 --> 00:24:48.160
And that's why that policy per client, I know we need to say client instead of customer more, uh, policy per client ratio going up above two, you know, approaching three, that is is really sticky within an agency's book of business.
00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:53.359
So let's talk about this from a tactical perspective.
00:24:53.519 --> 00:24:57.279
Did did that uh did that appeal to you as the military?
00:24:57.440 --> 00:24:58.960
Like, let's go make this happen.
00:24:59.279 --> 00:24:59.519
Love it.
00:24:59.599 --> 00:24:59.839
Love it.
00:25:00.079 --> 00:25:08.559
Slice hustler, like give me some uh give me some espionage, give me some hero, give me some behind the lines.
00:25:09.359 --> 00:25:12.799
So when is our 007 espionage?
00:25:12.960 --> 00:25:31.599
Like how what do we do to help not to convince someone, but to help someone understand that this extra work of moving their homeowners insurance is worth it because it's gotta be about the client.
00:25:32.559 --> 00:25:33.039
Yeah.
00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:38.960
Um, you know, I I I don't know that I have this perfect answer on this.
00:25:39.119 --> 00:25:46.720
Um, not sure that the technology is where it needs to be yet for us to make it super efficient.
00:25:46.880 --> 00:25:51.039
Um somebody, there's somebody a really good idea of how to do that.
00:25:51.119 --> 00:25:53.200
I'm sure it's coming at some point.
00:25:53.519 --> 00:25:59.440
But um I think it's I think it's back to you know, doing as much as you can do for them.
00:25:59.680 --> 00:26:02.480
Uh, you already have the relationship, right?
00:26:02.640 --> 00:26:05.839
And so it should be someone who's willing to talk to you.
00:26:06.079 --> 00:26:11.680
Um, you know, hey, I know this might be a little painful, but I think I can save you some money here.
00:26:11.839 --> 00:26:15.200
I think I can um potentially that's one thing.
00:26:15.359 --> 00:26:18.720
I think I can I can I can make this simpler for you.
00:26:18.960 --> 00:26:32.000
I think you go down that path for busy professionals, since most households in most markets are dual uh uh dual and duly employed.
00:26:32.160 --> 00:26:38.960
Um, I think that you know you can speak to the busyness of society and the busyness of people.
00:26:39.119 --> 00:26:48.240
Uh, and if they're not duly employed, um, then you got somebody as a stay-at-home parent and they're really busy, right?
00:26:48.480 --> 00:27:01.039
So um either way, you can kind of speak to the busyness and say, look, I know this is gonna be a little painful, but it's gonna be short-term painful, and I'm gonna make sure I stay on top of it, et cetera, et cetera.
00:27:01.119 --> 00:27:09.519
And I think if your team and and and you have a good process, you you go through that, you become really, really good at it.
00:27:09.759 --> 00:27:12.400
I mean, we got to do it to become really good at it, right?
00:27:12.480 --> 00:27:20.720
And so you become really good at it, and all of a sudden you've kind of separated yourself with oh, you know, that wasn't as hard as I thought it was gonna be.
00:27:20.799 --> 00:27:23.359
And, you know, this is actually gonna be good for me.
00:27:23.519 --> 00:27:26.400
And um, man, I'm gonna tell my friends.
00:27:26.559 --> 00:27:28.799
And next thing you know, you're getting client referrals.
00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:43.279
And so um that's that's the thing that I would consider to think about is slow down and make it work for that, you know, and then make it work again and then make and then get really good at it.
00:27:43.440 --> 00:28:10.400
And uh I think I think the biggest thing is just put somebody on it, like either yourself or or one of your team members to become super passionate about the reality that you've got this client already and you're missing this revenue, and you can afford to incentivize a team member to really get after this, and I think that helps as well.
00:28:12.480 --> 00:28:18.480
And always remember figure out what your people's incentives what really motivates them.
00:28:18.799 --> 00:28:22.319
That think this is one of those places that we always assume it's money.
00:28:23.359 --> 00:28:42.160
And it's not always money, sometimes it's time off, sometimes I I mean think I'm thinking back to our Christmas party this year, and and one of the giveaways that we did for the the games was an extra day off, extra day of vacation.
00:28:42.400 --> 00:28:46.480
And people got way more excited about that than anything else, right?
00:28:46.640 --> 00:28:46.960
Yeah.
00:28:47.119 --> 00:28:52.559
I mean, like I think I was wanting to like put in three or four whatever's, you know, just just for that.
00:28:52.799 --> 00:28:53.440
I'm kidding.
00:28:53.599 --> 00:28:56.480
I'm kidding, because honesty wins, and we shouldn't do those things.
00:28:56.880 --> 00:28:57.759
But it's amazing.
00:28:57.920 --> 00:29:02.720
So it could be a day off, it could be quality time between the two of you.
00:29:02.799 --> 00:29:06.480
Uh, you know, you as the the leader, mentorship time.
00:29:06.880 --> 00:29:18.319
There are so many ways to create that additional bonus compensation structure that's not necessarily money.
00:29:18.960 --> 00:29:24.319
Yeah, we just uh been having this conversation with our frontline customer service team.
00:29:24.400 --> 00:29:30.720
And uh that's a high burnout uh category in terms of uh any customer service, right?
00:29:30.880 --> 00:29:35.599
Not just insurance, but just uh customer service in general, frontline, right?
00:29:35.759 --> 00:29:46.720
The ones dealing with the the billing problem, the one dealing with the mortgage company that can't get the the clause right or the escrow right or whatever, right?
00:29:46.880 --> 00:29:57.039
And uh what happens is your frontline people get yelled at a lot because even though they're not necessarily the intended audience, uh they're the ones that catch it.
00:29:57.200 --> 00:30:08.240
And so we just had that conversation about what motivates people, what uh what incentivizes people, and and you know, days off became part of that topic.
00:30:08.319 --> 00:30:12.079
Like, hey, you know, just catching people doing things right.
00:30:12.400 --> 00:30:31.039
Um maybe it's a couple of times, maybe you're keeping a little private little uh uh tick mark of how many times you caught them doing something great, and then you just randomly say, Hey, you know, we're our staffing's good uh tomorrow, you know, why don't you just take tomorrow off?
00:30:31.119 --> 00:30:34.960
You know, not PTO, just on me, just take tomorrow off.
00:30:35.119 --> 00:30:48.400
Enjoy your enjoy your three-day weekend, like you know, stuff like that, um, especially with people in a role where that's not that easy, right?
00:30:48.559 --> 00:30:58.480
It's not a role where you would just do that, where the flexibility is not as easy because uh, you know, these are the people answering your phones all day.
00:30:58.559 --> 00:31:09.200
These are the people responding to your text messages and emails and customer interactions, and you know, um, that's something that can make a big impact on them.
00:31:10.720 --> 00:31:27.359
I remember when I was in my late 20s, one of the things that my uh supervisor would do would be one of one of our rewards would be the chance to switch roles for the day.
00:31:28.160 --> 00:31:36.880
And so, for instance, she would go and take all of my sales calls and you know, I we would take on the role as sales management.
00:31:37.119 --> 00:32:04.160
And it was incredibly symbiotic looking back from her perspective because it reminded her of the things that we were going through every day, and that's how I learned what that management leadership role looked like, and um helped me be a better leader because I could understand more of what uh what she was going through.
00:32:04.720 --> 00:32:16.319
And I always loved that because you know it did give me a change of scenery, it did give me an opportunity to be like, okay, that she's really getting it.
00:32:16.400 --> 00:32:18.000
So that might be an idea too.
00:32:18.240 --> 00:32:20.880
Yeah, no, that's that's a really good idea.
00:32:20.960 --> 00:32:31.359
And um, I've actually contemplated um stepping in and personally jumping into our service center uh for a day or a morning.
00:32:31.599 --> 00:32:45.839
Um uh things that I've I've done in the past and looked at in the past, uh, I hadn't done it in a long time, but um, you know, just you know, I don't know that anybody wants to sit in my desk all day, but um, you know, they might.
00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:52.720
Um, but you know, even if it's not switching, it's it's getting in the trenches right beside them, right?
00:32:52.880 --> 00:32:56.960
Like showing them that, hey, I want to understand, right?
00:32:57.119 --> 00:33:02.079
I want to, and then that'll teach you like what kind of stuff it'll remind you.
00:33:02.240 --> 00:33:06.559
Maybe it doesn't teach you, but it'll remind you of what that world looks like.
00:33:06.720 --> 00:33:09.119
And so I think that's a great idea.
00:33:09.440 --> 00:33:11.359
We're gonna take a quick break.
00:33:11.519 --> 00:33:18.960
When we come back, we're going to do our weekly Shane vocabulary lesson.
00:33:19.119 --> 00:33:26.079
And we will talk more about our so this when we will talk more about this soft market that we're heading into.
00:33:26.559 --> 00:33:30.799
You've found the clients, you've built relationships, you've earned their trust.
00:33:30.960 --> 00:33:33.839
Shouldn't you own the book with Integra Partner Network?
00:33:34.079 --> 00:33:37.279
You maintain 100% ownership of your book of business.
00:33:37.359 --> 00:33:41.839
Because if you're going to put in the work to build an agency, you should own what you build.
00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:46.400
Find out what ownership really means at integrapartner network.com.
00:33:46.640 --> 00:33:48.000
Hey, welcome back.
00:33:48.400 --> 00:33:51.039
Oh, I I like the addition of hay.
00:33:51.279 --> 00:33:52.000
That's kind of fun.
00:33:52.240 --> 00:33:53.119
You like you like hay?
00:33:53.359 --> 00:33:53.519
Okay.
00:33:53.839 --> 00:33:54.400
I like hey.
00:33:54.480 --> 00:33:55.039
I'm working on that.
00:33:57.039 --> 00:33:59.359
I'm working on my welcome back strategy here.
00:33:59.440 --> 00:34:00.160
I don't know.
00:34:00.480 --> 00:34:04.400
It's really, I just it's so awkward, but anyway, we're here.
00:34:04.720 --> 00:34:08.400
One day you may even graduate to welcome to IA Ford.
00:34:08.800 --> 00:34:13.760
Yeah, that would be, I doubt I ever, I doubt I ever do the full intro.
00:34:14.000 --> 00:34:17.440
That just feels that would feel like something's wrong.
00:34:17.760 --> 00:34:19.760
So oh goodness.
00:34:19.840 --> 00:34:28.559
So so on our uh last podcast, uh, Shane made a reference to uh getting stymied, right?
00:34:28.719 --> 00:34:41.760
And so I I thought that I would go in and share the actual definition of this word because this is a phrase we use, but if you ask anyone what this actually means, nobody knows, right?
00:34:42.000 --> 00:34:46.559
And so the the origin of this word actually comes out of golf.
00:34:47.920 --> 00:34:48.239
Okay.
00:34:48.639 --> 00:34:58.800
And on the pudding green, a stymie happens when an opponent's ball is directly in front of the line of your own ball in the hole.
00:34:59.039 --> 00:35:10.159
And of course, the block makes your shot a lot harder, which um leaves this to describe a real life roadblock or an obstacle.
00:35:10.480 --> 00:35:23.840
So the the meaning and usage we really use is to stop progress, making it hard to move forward and preventing someone from achieving their goal or finishing their task.
00:35:24.079 --> 00:35:24.320
Yeah.
00:35:24.639 --> 00:35:28.079
This situation has got me stymied, right?
00:35:28.159 --> 00:35:28.400
Right.
00:35:29.440 --> 00:35:29.679
Yeah.
00:35:29.840 --> 00:35:41.679
You know, I think, and I just learned I'm getting into golf more and more and kind of reintroducing myself to golf more after a decade hiatus uh with uh club sports and children.
00:35:41.920 --> 00:35:45.760
Um, and there's actually you you described that situation.
00:35:45.920 --> 00:35:54.400
I didn't know that's what they referred to it as, but there's actually uh what's become illegal, which led to marking your ball, right?
00:35:54.559 --> 00:36:28.079
Like uh marking uh where your ball is, that where you used to, you could leave your ball, and I don't know who it was, but someone actually won a tournament because they did they took their pitching wedge and chipped over the opponent's ball and it went in to the hole and they won the tournament, and I have to look it up on who did it, but it became an illegal move, actually, is what I think I understand.
00:36:28.239 --> 00:36:38.559
And so uh to go even further, deeper and nerd out around you know, the golfing analogy and stymied and all of that.
00:36:38.800 --> 00:36:40.480
So um that's good.
00:36:40.639 --> 00:36:41.280
I like that.
00:36:41.519 --> 00:36:42.239
Yep, yeah.
00:36:42.480 --> 00:36:48.000
Some great synonyms are to thwart, which I think is a word we don't use enough.
00:36:48.159 --> 00:36:54.159
Yeah, we'll use that feed, frustrate, or obstruct, right?
00:36:54.239 --> 00:36:59.440
So yeah, so that's our our our shane vocabulary word of the day.
00:36:59.679 --> 00:37:03.199
I like this little new uh section of the podcast.
00:37:03.280 --> 00:37:05.360
Uh I do have a lot of made up words.
00:37:05.519 --> 00:37:06.800
I'm sorry, people.
00:37:07.119 --> 00:37:09.920
Um the the one, you know, some of them are not made up.
00:37:10.079 --> 00:37:13.840
My favorite one, my my fail steined, right?
00:37:14.079 --> 00:37:15.360
Or smidgen.
00:37:15.599 --> 00:37:21.440
Smidgen is not made up, it's maybe in maybe culturally in certain parts of the country, different.
00:37:21.679 --> 00:37:22.880
And that's exactly what it was.
00:37:22.960 --> 00:37:31.199
It was culturally in certain parts of the country, specifically the South Central region, like Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi.
00:37:32.079 --> 00:37:36.079
The first place is still getterdunner.
00:37:36.480 --> 00:37:37.440
Gitter Dunnerer.
00:37:37.840 --> 00:37:40.000
I think that one is still that's definitely made up.
00:37:40.159 --> 00:37:41.039
That's definitely made up.
00:37:46.079 --> 00:37:49.920
So going back into the soft boil, the soft boiled market, okay.
00:37:50.079 --> 00:37:50.559
Yeah, look at that.
00:37:50.719 --> 00:37:54.960
That's actually, and I'm renaming it, it's going to be the soft boils market.
00:37:55.440 --> 00:37:56.480
We can make that catch on.
00:37:57.280 --> 00:37:57.840
Maybe.
00:37:58.079 --> 00:38:02.719
Well, I mean, somehow we got hard market and soft market through the years, so why not?
00:38:04.000 --> 00:38:10.000
Oh, so so let's let's say it this way the soft market boils down to there.
00:38:10.159 --> 00:38:10.639
You go.
00:38:10.880 --> 00:38:12.800
What does it really boil down for us?
00:38:12.960 --> 00:38:19.039
Like, like, well, give me actual what does this mean for me?
00:38:19.199 --> 00:38:21.599
How does it change how I'm doing business?
00:38:21.920 --> 00:38:33.920
Well, I know we've been talking a lot first part of the podcast on you know, looking into your book, cross-selling, you know, really stickiness and getting more customers to be stickier for you.
00:38:34.079 --> 00:38:41.119
And um I I don't want things to get lost and say, well, he's just talking about retention.
00:38:41.360 --> 00:38:44.800
So no, that that's sales, okay.
00:38:45.039 --> 00:38:55.920
Um, I am a big believer that some portion of your book, no matter what defense you play, some portion of your book is gonna turn over.
00:38:56.000 --> 00:38:57.440
You're gonna lose some clients.
00:38:57.760 --> 00:39:24.079
And as the market gets softer, as we've gone into this, what you're gonna find is when there's more choice in the marketplace because people are wanting to grow, and some people are, you know, uh having rate decreases and and making themselves more aggressive, um, different than the hard market, when it was like, you know, nobody could really do any better, so they just stayed where they were.
00:39:24.239 --> 00:39:27.599
Retention was easy, even though prices were going up.
00:39:27.840 --> 00:39:30.800
Uh, retention is actually harder, right?
00:39:31.119 --> 00:39:37.199
And um, in a softening market, which is so crazy because it seems like it would be opposite.
00:39:37.360 --> 00:39:40.960
Um, but that is why it's super, super important.
00:39:41.760 --> 00:39:46.239
And I've been saying this around here for a little bit with our agents for a little while.
00:39:46.559 --> 00:39:50.000
Do not stop your sales engine.
00:39:50.480 --> 00:39:54.239
It is very difficult to restart your sales engine.
00:39:54.320 --> 00:39:56.559
You've got you're a sales organization.
00:39:57.280 --> 00:40:01.440
As an insurance agency, you are a sales organization, right?
00:40:01.679 --> 00:40:06.559
Some of us will say, Oh, we're about we're a service organization.
00:40:07.440 --> 00:40:10.960
Yes, service is a part of an insurance agency.
00:40:11.039 --> 00:40:16.079
Okay, serving your client is a part of the responsibility of being an insurance agency.
00:40:16.719 --> 00:40:19.280
But you don't have those clients unless you have sales.
00:40:19.519 --> 00:40:21.360
Let's just be very, very clear.
00:40:21.679 --> 00:40:23.360
Sales is first, right?
00:40:23.440 --> 00:40:26.000
We had a rainmaker podcast recently.
00:40:26.239 --> 00:40:28.400
That's why Rainmakers win, right?
00:40:28.559 --> 00:40:40.880
So you gotta stay focused on sales because you've got to understand that your existing clients are going to, they're going to be attacked to a degree.
00:40:41.039 --> 00:40:49.920
So you can't play 100% defense because your sales engine's gonna go away and you're gonna you're gonna still lose some business.
00:40:50.159 --> 00:40:52.079
So you've got to have some balance.
00:40:52.239 --> 00:40:54.559
That's the shift here, right?
00:40:55.039 --> 00:41:02.639
Is you've got to have some balance within how you go about your day, how you go about your week.
00:41:02.800 --> 00:41:05.440
Um, you've got to stay in the sales game.
00:41:05.920 --> 00:41:12.480
And that is for the more established agency with the book of business.
00:41:12.719 --> 00:41:22.480
Now, if you're a startup, if you're in your first year, maybe two years, you get to be a disruptor.
00:41:22.719 --> 00:41:25.039
Different ball game for you, right?
00:41:25.360 --> 00:41:29.360
You should be almost a hundred percent sales driven right now.
00:41:29.440 --> 00:41:38.639
You should be about disrupting uh preferably uh some of those direct channel books that maybe you maybe they still have the auto, right?
00:41:38.800 --> 00:41:54.960
Maybe you can go get that from your uh maybe you can you can be uh the the the agent that saves the day and gives the discounts and you know combines and uh really does the bundling all for once.
00:41:55.119 --> 00:42:00.079
You know, that's the talk and ads is bundle bundle, but you can do it, right?
00:42:00.239 --> 00:42:03.519
An agency can do it more than a carrier can do it, right?
00:42:03.679 --> 00:42:09.679
Because you can you can be the single point of contact for a client.
00:42:09.920 --> 00:42:23.920
And so if you're newer, you get to be foot on the gas pedal, everything you've got into sales, uh markets are open, everybody wants to write business, go, go, go.
00:42:24.320 --> 00:42:27.920
Two different approaches based on where your agency is.
00:42:29.840 --> 00:42:44.400
Throughout the hard market, some of so many people were giving us the responses when they were getting these huge rate increases of, you know, I haven't had a claim, nothing has changed, I haven't gotten a ticket, you know.
00:42:44.559 --> 00:42:48.000
Why is this going up so much?
00:42:48.639 --> 00:43:00.880
So now as we head into the soft market, how do we respond to those clients that we have been um explaining these things to over the last three years?
00:43:01.039 --> 00:43:03.360
How do we shift our language?
00:43:04.880 --> 00:43:05.679
Oh great question.
00:43:06.000 --> 00:43:07.280
Just roll your eyes at me.
00:43:07.519 --> 00:43:08.800
No, I'm thinking.
00:43:08.880 --> 00:43:13.519
Um, I'm not rolling, I'm not rolling, I'm looking up, I'm thinking.
00:43:13.679 --> 00:43:19.920
It was my it was my it was my my look off into pondering.
00:43:20.239 --> 00:43:21.119
Pondering.
00:43:21.519 --> 00:43:23.039
Uh it's a great question.
00:43:23.199 --> 00:43:23.599
I think.
00:43:23.840 --> 00:43:28.000
And you roll your eyes at me so much that I just you know, maybe I was being sensitive.
00:43:29.039 --> 00:43:34.320
I don't maybe you're interpreting my eye roll as my thinking eyes.
00:43:34.480 --> 00:43:35.119
I don't know.
00:43:35.360 --> 00:43:45.920
Um I'm big on eye contact, I but but also when I think or when I have a thought, I do tend to drift out into you know uh yonder sky.
00:43:46.079 --> 00:43:46.719
Those are your ones.
00:43:47.039 --> 00:43:47.920
Oh, yonder sky.
00:43:48.079 --> 00:43:51.840
And just so y'all know, he also has a look where he looks at me like I have three heads.
00:43:51.920 --> 00:43:52.079
Yeah.
00:43:52.239 --> 00:43:59.280
And he's very fond of all of those three heads, but there definitely is a specific look if you watch sport on the podcast.
00:43:59.519 --> 00:43:59.760
So
00:44:00.159 --> 00:44:13.679
So, you know, I I I think that part of the issue is if you're helping them, maybe they have short memories, right?
00:44:13.840 --> 00:44:20.400
I mean, they may, you know, yeah, be prepared for an eight for a customer client to call you out a little bit, you know.
00:44:20.480 --> 00:44:22.639
I thought this is why this was happening.
00:44:22.880 --> 00:44:31.440
Um, I think the tendency on the answer, um, I I think it's easier to say maybe what don't do, what we shouldn't do here.
00:44:32.239 --> 00:44:34.800
We shouldn't remarket our entire book.
00:44:35.039 --> 00:44:35.360
Okay.
00:44:35.599 --> 00:44:38.800
I think that's where I would go with that answer.
00:44:38.960 --> 00:44:49.360
Maybe that if we were in a courtroom, you know, you might have gotten an objection from, you know, the opposing attorney for leading, right?
00:44:49.440 --> 00:45:08.480
By, you know, the question is leading me down this path of, hey, how do we explain to these clients that we've been saying, you know, this is why, that all of a sudden everybody's saying how they're, you know, getting price decrease, you know, or or whatever.
00:45:09.360 --> 00:45:13.679
Their buddy over here at the other carrier is getting, you know, a savings.
00:45:13.840 --> 00:45:15.840
Why can't you give me a saving?
00:45:16.159 --> 00:45:18.159
Well, you might can.
00:45:18.800 --> 00:45:29.440
And at the end of the day, you have to kind of you have to kind of assess, is this a remarket need or is this a you're better off where you are, right?
00:45:29.920 --> 00:45:54.159
Now, I hear, I am hearing a ton of stuff in the marketplace from agents using technology tools and a lot of AI-driven tech tools that are being launched into the market to do overnight constant remarkets of the book of business of the existing clients.
00:45:55.280 --> 00:45:58.320
And that sounds cool on the surface, right?
00:45:58.480 --> 00:46:00.719
Like, okay, we're really doing this.
00:46:00.800 --> 00:46:06.239
We're not physically having to put manpower into this because AI is doing it for us.
00:46:06.800 --> 00:46:12.400
Come in the next morning, we've got these, you know, renewal offers, remarket offers.
00:46:13.440 --> 00:46:25.280
Here's the thing if you're doing that with your book and you're doing that constantly, that is a form of defense that you're playing.
00:46:25.360 --> 00:46:39.119
So you're putting all of your energy into defense on that, which I don't advocate because not every single one of those clients is going to just be in a shopping mood, be in a shopping environment.
00:46:39.280 --> 00:46:41.679
They're just not everybody's gonna be there.
00:46:41.840 --> 00:46:46.880
It is going to be some smaller percentage by the law of averages.
00:46:47.519 --> 00:46:58.719
But here's what you're doing six months, 12 months, for sure, 18 months down the road, your carriers are gonna question you.
00:46:59.280 --> 00:47:32.559
If your carriers books, if you're booked with certain carriers who uh danced with you through the hard market, and you are causing a bunch of what they would call dislocation within their books of business by being a constant shopper and churner inside your agency, because now it's easier, now AI can make it happen easier, then you're putting your carrier appointments and contracts at risk.
00:47:32.880 --> 00:47:52.239
Okay, because the carrier is not making any money at that point, and you're actually going to exacerbate, in other words, you're going to speed up, um, and you're going to amplify and potentially cause the carrier round.
00:47:52.320 --> 00:47:54.000
This is kind of one of my deals.
00:47:54.559 --> 00:48:02.800
Could we run quickly back into a hard market, say in less than two years?
00:48:03.760 --> 00:48:21.280
Because all the tools in the marketplace cause all the remarketing, and there's a bunch of movement from carrier to carrier, and now the carriers aren't making any money because we carriers don't typically make money on new business, they make money on renewals.
00:48:21.679 --> 00:48:30.880
And so as that book matures, things like that, you're going to end up with higher loss ratios.
00:48:31.119 --> 00:48:41.039
You're going to end up with uh a lot of issues at the carrier level because that carrier retention is going to be low.
00:48:41.280 --> 00:48:45.360
You're riding business with that carrier and you're re-marketing at renewal.
00:48:45.519 --> 00:48:53.599
If you're doing that churn, that carrier is going to look at their retention with you and they're going to go, this isn't going to cut it.
00:48:53.760 --> 00:48:55.599
We can't do business this way.
00:48:55.840 --> 00:49:06.719
And so you have this unwritten reality, sort of in baseball, the unwritten rules of the game, right?
00:49:06.880 --> 00:49:12.400
Like your pitcher hit my batter, so my pitcher's going to hit your battery.
00:49:12.480 --> 00:49:15.119
Like, you know, obviously, things like that.
00:49:15.280 --> 00:49:22.559
Like, there's unwritten rules of the game that as an agency owner you have to be mindful of.
00:49:22.880 --> 00:49:34.400
And I think that's what concerns me the most about what I see people shifting into because tools are being made available to make it even faster, right?
00:49:34.800 --> 00:49:37.840
Auto remarket, right?
00:49:38.000 --> 00:49:41.679
That's a that's a big hot topic AI tool right now.
00:49:41.920 --> 00:49:49.760
So the last major US impact hurricane season was 2024, right?
00:49:49.920 --> 00:50:00.559
And really 2020 was the last relentless uh you know landfall season, but 2024 was still, you know.
00:50:00.800 --> 00:50:03.760
So that was a year and a half ago.
00:50:03.920 --> 00:50:06.880
And you know, we're in 2026 now.
00:50:07.360 --> 00:50:18.159
We're in September, October, which is really when hurricane season exacerbates to use Shane's to use Shane's words.
00:50:18.480 --> 00:50:19.280
Word of the day.
00:50:19.519 --> 00:50:20.719
Yeah, word of the day.
00:50:20.880 --> 00:50:29.840
Um, you know, hurricane season starts in in June, but at least in the in the Gulf, it really doesn't start until Labor A.
00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:34.159
So we're in the season now, but so far things look look really good.
00:50:34.400 --> 00:50:39.920
So hurricane payouts are down in the last two to three years.
00:50:41.360 --> 00:50:51.119
There haven't been any major challenges like the Chilean mudslides, which caused some investment issues for our carriers.
00:50:51.280 --> 00:50:54.880
So things are looking up from an investment perspective.
00:50:55.199 --> 00:51:00.400
All of these things are reasons that the the market is softening.
00:51:00.800 --> 00:51:19.599
Uh what happens to this idea of a soft market if in October we have you know a giant hurricane that hits Houston or hits South Florida or even the panhandle or something up the the east coast?
00:51:19.760 --> 00:51:25.920
Like, is that something that could cut off this this soft market at the start?
00:51:26.159 --> 00:51:29.519
Or is this more of a long-term thing and that doesn't matter?
00:51:30.000 --> 00:51:34.239
I think that it's it depends on the size and where, right?
00:51:34.400 --> 00:51:52.880
If something were to hit quickly soon, um this season, for instance, uh, we're in 2026 recording here, so this season, um depending on size, it could just be a speed bump or it could be uh a shift back, right?
00:51:53.199 --> 00:52:08.639
Um I think there's enough shock absorbing right now that because 2025 was was quiet, 26 has been the quietest in something like hundreds and wood.
00:52:08.960 --> 00:52:09.199
Yeah.
00:52:09.599 --> 00:52:18.320
As far as like just you know, Atlantic hurricanes, it's and it's because of the I think El Nino and it's it's because of the weather pattern.
00:52:18.400 --> 00:52:21.119
And uh, we've had it before, we'll have it again.
00:52:21.360 --> 00:52:29.599
Um, you know, mama sound like an an old old man here, but there's nothing new under the sun, right?
00:52:29.679 --> 00:52:32.880
We've we've been through these cycles, we'll go through them again.
00:52:33.119 --> 00:52:41.840
Um and because of that quietness, like I'm hearing that from the carrier CEOs, I'm hearing that from the executive teams at the carrier levels.
00:52:42.079 --> 00:52:48.000
Uh, the the quietness is not ever, it's not forever, right?
00:52:48.159 --> 00:52:59.920
It is the it is a season of quietness, but we tend to have short memories in the insurance industry because if there's an opportunity to make money, investment comes in.
00:53:00.079 --> 00:53:05.280
Uh, we are uh a great investment opportunity for investors.
00:53:06.000 --> 00:53:17.039
And so that's making that's making money, you know, obviously pour in, uh, depending on stock market and depending on what's going on there, that also has uh can contribute to it.
00:53:17.519 --> 00:53:52.960
Now, if there is a shift and we get, you know, a a couple, we get a couple of hits, we have um we have a very heavy year next year, or uh uh when we have the next heavy year, um again, depending on where we will see if we have the stomach to sustain ourselves, or if we start seeing that pullback again, which would then lead us back into somewhat of a hardening market, right?
00:53:53.199 --> 00:54:05.599
And so um, you know, you you really have to look at the insurance industry and you really want to nerd out, you have to look at it over about a 10-year span, uh, eight to 10 year spans at a time, right?
00:54:05.679 --> 00:54:31.760
It's hard to hard to look at things in a two to three year span um because that's when you have short-term memory loss or long-term memory loss, and you think that um, oh wow, climate change, whatever, looks like looks like the world is gonna be different now, and we will not have any more hurricanes in the Atlantic or the Gulf.
00:54:32.079 --> 00:54:33.519
And you're wrong.
00:54:33.840 --> 00:54:36.000
It's not that's not gonna be the case.
00:54:36.159 --> 00:54:48.639
There's gonna be a El Nino, La Niña shift of weather pattern, and you know, whatever's keeping that pushed out is gonna weaken, and now the here they come, right?
00:54:48.800 --> 00:54:54.159
And when when waters are warm, you get a recipe for a hurricane.
00:54:54.239 --> 00:54:57.679
And so again, convective storms, same thing.
00:54:57.840 --> 00:54:59.039
We're gonna have those.
00:54:59.119 --> 00:55:02.079
We're we're predicting a a pretty harsh winter.
00:55:02.320 --> 00:55:10.159
Could see a um, we could see a uh a pretty good cold situation cause some problems.
00:55:10.320 --> 00:55:14.320
I know that's not fun, but it it's it's highly possible.
00:55:14.480 --> 00:55:27.679
Let's let's not get so zeroed in on hurricanes that we we forget that wildfire risk, convective storms, freezes, uh, they're all catastrophe.
00:55:27.840 --> 00:55:32.719
Hail, hail isn't going away, um rooftop issues.
00:55:32.960 --> 00:55:36.000
So we're gonna have we're gonna have storms, right?
00:55:36.079 --> 00:55:39.039
They they just may look a little different right now.
00:55:39.599 --> 00:55:54.000
So for those of you that are do not know what a convective storm is, because I had to just Google that, it is when a thunderstorm is driven by an upward movement of warm, moist air.
00:55:54.880 --> 00:55:58.239
Because I have never heard that term before and I grew up with a meteorologist.
00:55:58.480 --> 00:56:01.920
Torr tornadoes, straight line winds.
00:56:02.239 --> 00:56:03.599
Okay, yeah.
00:56:03.840 --> 00:56:14.559
So they've basically gotten fancy and uh, you know, and now we've just lumped all those types of storms into the term convective storm.
00:56:14.800 --> 00:56:17.760
Is this because you've been hanging out in Kansas for the last four years?
00:56:18.000 --> 00:56:19.440
No, this was before that.
00:56:19.599 --> 00:56:24.079
This is just this is this is this is what's going on inside the insurance industry.
00:56:24.239 --> 00:56:26.320
We have to come up with our own stuff.
00:56:26.639 --> 00:56:27.039
Gotcha.
00:56:27.199 --> 00:56:30.400
Because I knew that this was not a term that I use.
00:56:30.719 --> 00:56:32.159
So thank you for that.
00:56:32.800 --> 00:56:36.079
I mean, it's another one of those things where, you know.
00:56:36.800 --> 00:56:40.559
Don't use that word with your clients because they're gonna have to Google it just like I did.
00:56:40.800 --> 00:56:43.360
Don't don't look don't talk about stuff like that with your clients.
00:56:43.519 --> 00:56:48.719
Remember, we're a we're a B2B podcast, you know, we're we're talking to insurance agents.
00:56:48.800 --> 00:56:53.599
And so um it, you know, we want to make, you know, we're talking the industry language here.
00:56:53.760 --> 00:56:57.599
And hey, if you're if you don't know what that is, now you get educated on what that is.
00:56:57.679 --> 00:57:02.480
And you can sm you can sound really smart in a room of insurance executives.
00:57:02.800 --> 00:57:03.360
There we go.
00:57:03.599 --> 00:57:04.079
There we go.
00:57:04.400 --> 00:57:12.000
Since Mike is not with us today, I'm going to leave us with a quote from Nick Saban, the great Saint Nick.
00:57:12.159 --> 00:57:14.800
There's no continuum for success.
00:57:15.039 --> 00:57:18.079
Focus on the progress, not the results.
00:57:18.559 --> 00:57:19.679
Attitude to choice.
00:57:19.840 --> 00:57:20.639
Make a great one.
00:57:20.880 --> 00:57:21.519
Bye, y'all.
00:57:21.679 --> 00:57:27.840
At the Integra Partner Network, we understand that carrier access is the key to your agency's excess.
00:57:28.239 --> 00:57:32.960
That's why Integra offers direct access to operated personal and commercial carriers.
00:57:33.039 --> 00:57:39.760
And during your agency lives in today's Linux market, and with our collaborative resources carrying both.
00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:04.320
The first place is still Gitter Dunner.
00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:05.679
Get her dunnerer.
00:00:06.080 --> 00:00:08.240
I think that one is still that's definitely made up.
00:00:08.400 --> 00:00:09.359
That's definitely made up.
00:00:11.519 --> 00:00:17.679
This is IA Forward, your playbook for sixth cents as an independent insurance agent.
00:00:17.839 --> 00:00:24.879
Now, here to help you knock it out of the ballpark are your hosts, Shane Tatum, Mike Basil, and Tanya Lee.
00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:27.199
Welcome to IA Forward.
00:00:27.679 --> 00:00:31.440
Mike has a gas leak in his house today, so it's just Shane and I.
00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:38.560
And we are wishing him all of the best and hope that nothing was up.
00:00:39.759 --> 00:00:44.240
Yeah, there's all kinds of like guy jokes in that statement, but I'm gonna leave that alone.
00:00:44.399 --> 00:00:48.960
So um, you know, let's gas leaks and we'll just probably not be able to.
00:00:49.119 --> 00:00:50.560
Yeah, but let's just leave that alone.
00:00:50.799 --> 00:00:53.679
We're your mom would fully support that.
00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:55.439
So absolutely.
00:00:55.679 --> 00:00:56.479
Yes, she would.
00:00:56.640 --> 00:00:57.200
Absolutely.
00:00:57.920 --> 00:01:00.880
And our goal is to always keep Miss Melody happy.
00:01:01.119 --> 00:01:07.680
Yeah, it's a it's a it's a real uh uh you know, official neighborhood gas company on call.
00:01:07.920 --> 00:01:11.599
So yeah, we we hope that everything works out there quickly, right?
00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:13.359
Yes, absolutely.
00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:16.400
So let's talk about the the soft market.
00:01:16.799 --> 00:01:29.599
Uh I remember when we started the podcast about 335 40-ish episodes ago, which that number is just astounding to me.
00:01:29.840 --> 00:01:35.120
But you know, about a year into the podcast, we went into this hard market.
00:01:35.519 --> 00:01:39.280
And I remember telling you that I hated the name of that.
00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:43.599
Like, could we please name it something else?
00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:45.280
Because it makes it hard.
00:01:45.359 --> 00:01:48.239
And we had this mental idea about this, right?
00:01:48.480 --> 00:01:50.560
And it also reminds me of eggs.
00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:54.480
Like you have hard-boiled eggs and you have soft-boiled eggs.
00:01:54.640 --> 00:02:06.799
Yeah, and so now we've come out of the hard-boiled egg market, which I really hate hard-boiled eggs, and into the soft-boiled egg market, which is what I prefer.
00:02:07.359 --> 00:02:13.919
But um we have some of the same problems and some and some different problems, right?
00:02:14.159 --> 00:02:14.800
Yep.
00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:15.759
Yeah.
00:02:15.919 --> 00:02:29.439
I mean, you know, first for clarity, let's make sure that everybody knows, you know, hard and soft when it comes to the market description, is completely an internal industry term.
00:02:29.520 --> 00:02:31.199
Please don't say that to your customers.
00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:34.000
Like they don't know what you're talking about, right?
00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:37.439
I don't really even know exactly what we're talking about, right?
00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:39.680
And maybe you don't either.
00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:40.800
Yeah, they don't know.
00:02:40.960 --> 00:02:44.240
They don't know what you're talking, they don't know what what you're saying when you say that.
00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:48.960
And, you know, if I think, you know, first let's let's define that a little bit.
00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:54.400
Um, the two before we get into the soft market discussion.
00:02:54.639 --> 00:02:58.800
You know, hard market means a combination of a couple of things.
00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:07.520
That capacity is shrinking, meaning there's less companies that have an appetite to grow, write business.
00:03:07.680 --> 00:03:11.599
That usually means that they're unprofitable.
00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:14.800
They, they, they've they're trying to figure out how to become profitable.
00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:18.159
Their losses are up, so claims are up.
00:03:18.319 --> 00:03:20.240
They're they're just not making money.
00:03:20.479 --> 00:03:23.199
So they tend to restrict themselves.
00:03:23.439 --> 00:03:25.280
Underwriting gets harder.
00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:33.520
Uh, you know, there's less investment money coming in to support taking on more risk.
00:03:33.759 --> 00:03:39.919
Um maybe there's maybe there's a better place to put your money uh from an investor standpoint.
00:03:40.080 --> 00:03:53.039
So institutional investors, big, big, big multi-billion dollar uh type organizations, stop you know, investing and on on the insurance side.
00:03:53.199 --> 00:03:56.879
Uh so it just it just makes for that perfect storm.
00:03:57.280 --> 00:04:03.599
And therefore, when supply demand, it's the insurance version of supply and demand.
00:04:03.759 --> 00:04:11.520
Um, supply shrinks are you know, basically, and so demand is up, and so the price goes up, right?
00:04:11.599 --> 00:04:14.800
So that is the definition of hard market.
00:04:15.199 --> 00:04:25.279
And the the somewhat opposite of that takes place when the market softens, when it mark the market becomes uh a softer market.
00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:30.240
And um, you know, what that means is there's a lot of investment coming in.
00:04:30.480 --> 00:04:37.759
Companies are making money, everybody wants more premium because they can invest those dollars.
00:04:38.079 --> 00:04:43.759
Uh, they can they're making money, so they're like, hey, let's pour this profit back into growth.
00:04:43.920 --> 00:04:48.480
Uh, more premium, more dollars to invest until we have claims to pay.
00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:55.439
And so, yeah, a lot of words, but that's, you know, lots of supply now.
00:04:56.240 --> 00:05:05.040
And when that happens and everybody's in the game, prices tend to flatten out or potentially go down, right?
00:05:05.199 --> 00:05:11.120
Which is one of the rare industries where prices can actually go down, right?
00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:44.560
And uh, I think this is an interesting place, it'll be an interesting place in this cycle of the soft market because we've had such inflationary pressure through this most recent hard market um that that inflationary pressure, like the cost of fixing all these high-tech cars and you know uh bumpers with a bunch of sensors in them, like that's that's not going down.
00:05:44.720 --> 00:05:47.920
Like the cost of repairing is not going down.
00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:51.920
Uh, so the loss, the loss cost is still gonna be high.
00:05:52.160 --> 00:05:53.600
So it's gonna be interesting.
00:05:53.759 --> 00:05:56.480
You know, will this be a traditional soft market?
00:05:56.800 --> 00:06:00.480
Uh, or will this be, you know, something different?
00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:02.639
Um, I do know this.
00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:09.279
We went really, really fast into this soft market cycle.
00:06:09.519 --> 00:06:11.759
I mean, like super fast.
00:06:12.160 --> 00:06:22.000
And uh, you know, we were just talking hard market cycles six to eight months ago, and um, we weren't really sure what was gonna happen.
00:06:22.160 --> 00:06:27.600
Uh, so you know, uh that type of a pivot in a market cycle is pretty rare.
00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:28.800
Wow.
00:06:28.959 --> 00:06:29.199
Okay.
00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:32.319
So this started with commercial, right?
00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:35.360
The softening of the market started with commercial.
00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:37.120
Yeah, I I think it was ahead.
00:06:37.360 --> 00:06:41.199
It was ahead of it was ahead of the the personalized market for sure.
00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:45.680
Um, and and yeah, so so I think that's that's probably right.
00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:56.000
As the market continues to soften, what changes about how we run our agencies, how we talk to clients?
00:06:56.399 --> 00:06:58.240
What does this mean for us?
00:06:58.800 --> 00:07:03.839
Yeah, it's it's actually fascinating and to me in a nerdy insurance way.
00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:11.199
I can't believe I just use the word fascinating to describe a hard market and a soft market that makes me feel like a big nerd.
00:07:11.279 --> 00:07:23.120
But um, you know, I you know what one of the things I'm I draw on is just conversation in April at our agent conference, um, our agency network conference.
00:07:23.439 --> 00:07:41.920
And I I uh uh in my my session that with the you know big stage session, um I talked about, you know, you wouldn't want you wouldn't want uh a hard market cycle, uh, or or would you, right?
00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:58.240
I I kind of left it with that, and it was a play off of uh Malcolm Gladwell's statement around um dyslexia and just some things around uh the the the the book that he's written, several books he's written.
00:07:58.399 --> 00:08:05.600
Um, and I think it was uh David and Goliath was where I the where I got that particular piece.
00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:20.160
And it was basically like how difficult, how much more difficult it can be to be profitable and grow your agency in a soft market as compared to a hard market.
00:08:20.319 --> 00:08:28.079
Now that sounded ludicrous at the time to uh our agents who had never been through uh a soft market.
00:08:28.240 --> 00:08:34.879
Like they they just didn't know any different from the market that had been here uh for the last several years.
00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:45.679
And uh what's really ironic about it is that when less carriers are writing business, right?
00:08:45.840 --> 00:09:02.240
When when less carriers are trying to grow, as long as you have some carriers writing business, which we have been fortunate to be able to maintain, um, then you have something that not everybody wants or not everybody has, right?
00:09:02.879 --> 00:09:06.879
And so that in and of itself makes it easier.
00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:31.679
Now, when everyone is wanting to write business, exclusive channel, direct channel, independent agency channel, um uh carriers, so every channel of distribution inside the industry, reinsurance prices dropping, all of these mechanical things that make up the the insurance distribution.
00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:42.399
When everybody's in the game, well, it's the consumer is in the better spot at that point, right?
00:09:42.559 --> 00:09:48.000
Like there's you can pick and choose from whoever you want because everybody's in the game.
00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:52.159
And you know, the statement of, well, sorry, there's a price increase.
00:09:52.320 --> 00:10:00.080
Unfortunately, that's the best that I got for you, that no longer works because the guy down the street may have a better price, right?
00:10:00.240 --> 00:10:09.200
And so you're you're you're kind of in this different place, and you're you're gonna have to shift your mindset a little bit.
00:10:09.679 --> 00:10:19.039
I want to talk about making sure that we don't shift our mindset too far because we can wreck ourselves if we're not careful in a in a softening market.
00:10:19.360 --> 00:10:32.320
Um, but now that consumers have choice, there's a really, well, it's guaranteed your book of business that you've built as an agency is going to be disrupted.
00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:39.919
You're going to see some turmoil, some turnover in your book of business because there's going to be some shopping.
00:10:40.240 --> 00:10:49.120
What can we do as agents to differentiate ourselves as we are moving from this hard market to this soft market?
00:10:49.279 --> 00:11:06.320
And the reason that that I ask that question is so many of our agents have spent the last, you know, decade in the last three years uh explaining to our clients what's going on.
00:11:06.559 --> 00:11:18.639
Why are they getting these huge, huge uh premium increases, especially when people say, well, I haven't had a claim or I haven't had a ticket or nothing's changed.
00:11:18.879 --> 00:11:44.080
And so now they are in the mindset with us that um we are uh button and and now they're in the mindset with us that we as the agent have increased their premiums, and then a different agent is coming in and saying, Hey, look, I can get your premiums down.
00:11:44.480 --> 00:11:44.960
Yeah.
00:11:45.279 --> 00:11:48.559
Hasn't been a good time for agents to go buy a boat, right?
00:11:48.639 --> 00:11:50.799
And and display it in their parking lot.
00:11:51.600 --> 00:11:52.399
You know, correct.
00:11:52.720 --> 00:11:58.159
There's just, you know, thing things that you read the room, read the room, agents, right?
00:11:58.320 --> 00:12:14.240
Um, and so I I think one of the things that we can do is uh make sure that you are kind of but I love the term kind of buttoning up your clients.
00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:16.960
Like make sure you're cross-selling.
00:12:17.279 --> 00:12:21.759
Um make sure you're you're you're you're looking at your book of business.
00:12:21.919 --> 00:12:24.399
This be on the retention side of things.
00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:30.879
Um make sure that you are uh you're writing, you're the full-time agent.
00:12:30.960 --> 00:12:32.080
That's a big thing of mine.
00:12:32.240 --> 00:12:35.600
Like, don't make sure you don't just have the home, right?
00:12:35.679 --> 00:12:38.799
Make sure you have the auto, the home, make sure you have everything.
00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:40.879
Pursue that within your book.
00:12:41.039 --> 00:12:42.960
One, there's revenue opportunity there.
00:12:43.039 --> 00:13:03.279
So you can afford to incentivize someone on your team, or you can afford to put your own energy into cross-sales, um, you know, becoming more share of wallet for your existing clients and making sure that you're doing that, right?
00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:20.559
If you're sitting there with, say, a policy per customer ratio um of 1.6, and you know, my like minimum success line is always 2.0.
00:13:20.639 --> 00:13:22.480
I know there's lots of agencies below that.
00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:26.240
Our retail agency is below that, but I have a reason for that.
00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:34.960
Um, you know, my target is always 2.0, but anything you can push above 2.0, it's is the better, right?
00:13:35.039 --> 00:13:38.000
That's just more revenue for the same servicing work.
00:13:38.159 --> 00:13:49.679
So make sure you're cross-selling, make sure you're you're uh you're getting as much of that client's insurance premiums that uh you can get, right?
00:13:49.919 --> 00:13:53.360
Because there's gonna be more churn in your monoline business.
00:13:53.519 --> 00:13:57.120
There's gonna be more churn in that that lower end.
00:13:57.440 --> 00:14:08.960
Um think about uh think about making sure you're just buttoning that up and making that client relationship more sticky by being their full-time agent, right?
00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:15.840
Um because the shoppers tend to be on the monoline side, the true shoppers.
00:14:16.080 --> 00:14:23.120
Um, and you're not able to really help them because you can't give them the companion policy discount, right?
00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:32.639
You can't you can't give them the discounts that the carriers are making available if you don't have all of their business uh in your book.
00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:36.639
Let's take me, for instance, on this one.
00:14:36.799 --> 00:14:42.000
So I am uh your idea of a terrible client, right?
00:14:42.399 --> 00:14:53.759
So I have my homeowner's policy with one agent because the fabulous folks at our home office in Huntington, Texas do not want it.
00:14:54.080 --> 00:15:03.360
Um, so the home office there in Texas does have my uh both of our vehicles and our boat.
00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:17.759
And then we have an integral partner agent in Louisiana that actually has my rental property because I love them and um I don't want to take my business from them.
00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:25.279
So that puts me as a part-time client with three different insurance agencies.
00:15:25.600 --> 00:15:34.639
If I was an average client, which I kind of sort of think I am, um, how would you handle my situation?
00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:40.320
So, you know, you have a unique situation, right?
00:15:40.559 --> 00:15:47.200
Um, but I think it's a great example because this is what happens to a lot of agents.
00:15:47.360 --> 00:16:00.720
Uh, a client comes to them, a prospect, prospective client comes to them, and maybe they bought a home and the mortgage company has a referral relationship with XYZ agency, sent it over.
00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:10.480
Uh, you ended up going the let's forget the fact that we're in Texas and you're in Florida, and that creates some trouble for our organization.
00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:18.240
But let's just look at this from the yeah, I mean, from from the the situation of a mortgage company referral.
00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:24.559
And so you end up with this agent because of the mortgage relationship that you don't really know, right?
00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:26.480
Like you don't really know who that agent is.
00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:29.039
You don't really have a great relationship with them.
00:16:29.279 --> 00:16:40.000
You're you're not sticky with them, and you are doing business with another agent because you work for that organization, right?
00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:42.559
Let's just be brutally honest, right?
00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:49.039
So you work for that organization and you have your car insurance and your boat insurance there.
00:16:49.679 --> 00:16:56.639
And then you have this other very difficult situation because you're in two difficult states with your property.
00:16:56.960 --> 00:17:06.880
You have this uh rental property, dwelling property that's in maybe the hardest state in the country to do business in, Louisiana, right?
00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:17.680
If not, if it's not Florida, if it's not Louisiana, obviously it's California, but you know, we're gonna put Florida and Louisiana uh up there in the top three or four.
00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:22.799
And so you have a Louisiana-based agent who handles that for you, right?
00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:23.599
Right.
00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:32.640
But let's take that picture and say you were all in my local area and I'm your agent.
00:17:33.359 --> 00:17:35.119
That could still happen.
00:17:35.359 --> 00:17:37.920
It still does happen a lot.
00:17:38.400 --> 00:18:00.319
And and and you know, I think it's because we do spend so much energy on the new client pursuit that we don't have a lot of energy on making sure our existing client relationships are um fully intact, fully fulfilled.
00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:02.000
Because this let's just think about this.
00:18:02.160 --> 00:18:08.880
If I came to you and said, um, you know, forget the employment relationship.
00:18:09.039 --> 00:18:22.799
If I came to you and said, look, we've got markets in Florida now, we got markets in Louisiana now, we can take care of all of your property in one relationship, one contact point.
00:18:23.440 --> 00:18:32.160
There is nothing that I can think of in my mind that you as a consumer would go, oh, I don't really like that.
00:18:32.319 --> 00:18:34.000
I really like three different people.
00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:36.720
I really want to keep three different relationships.
00:18:36.880 --> 00:18:38.640
Like, that is not normal.
00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:40.079
Like people don't do that.
00:18:40.240 --> 00:19:07.440
The only people that do that are the sort of what I would call older generation, maybe boomer generation business people who feel like they have to have a like the local AC, you know, air conditioning guy feels like I gotta have some of my business scattered around town because I need to have a good, you know, they're all customers.
00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:09.920
How can I pick one customer, right?
00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:12.799
There are those clients.
00:19:13.599 --> 00:19:18.480
That is like that is like a really tiny percentage of your book.
00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:19.200
Really?
00:19:19.359 --> 00:19:21.279
See, I thought it would be bigger than that.
00:19:21.519 --> 00:19:22.640
No, it's not.
00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:27.759
Okay, it's just not that big, especially in the metro suburban areas, right?
00:19:27.839 --> 00:19:35.839
Where it's like I need to spread it around for political clout, for relations my buddy, this is my friend, I don't want to.
00:19:36.400 --> 00:19:39.200
Hey, it's real, it's there, it's still there.
00:19:39.359 --> 00:19:41.119
I'm not saying it doesn't exist.
00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:44.079
I'm just saying that's not normal.
00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:47.759
That's not the majority, the supermajority, even.
00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:48.319
Okay.
00:19:48.559 --> 00:19:54.160
The majority of the people want convenience, they want a competitive price and they want convenience.
00:19:54.400 --> 00:20:07.519
And I think that is something that we could be exposed in because we've been through this hard market where we might not have been able to solve a problem, right?
00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:10.240
Let's just take go stick with your example.
00:20:10.559 --> 00:20:15.200
Why couldn't we solve your house insurance problem?
00:20:15.440 --> 00:20:29.039
Well, because of the hard market, unless you were based in Florida, you weren't gonna get you weren't gonna get access to right home insurance in Florida because you bought your house during the hard market for the most part, right?
00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:32.960
You moved into that house and we could not solve that problem.
00:20:33.279 --> 00:20:43.920
We're not in Florida in the Florida market, and we couldn't have even jumped into the Florida market if we would have wanted to when you bought your house.
00:20:44.400 --> 00:20:52.640
I think it's a great example because I think that exists in a lot of places, even in the local markets, right?
00:20:53.039 --> 00:21:06.559
Where someone purchased a home, uh, someone took out insurance through some resource because that's you know, their auto insurance agent couldn't handle it, couldn't do it for them.
00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:12.240
And, you know, here we are three, four years later, and you're still scattered.
00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:14.720
And I think there's a lot of that.
00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:23.200
I think number one, there's a whole lot of that within our books of business, and we need to kind of button that up and kind of pay attention to that.
00:21:23.440 --> 00:21:24.880
That's that's one thing.
00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:27.759
That's one item for us so far.
00:21:29.279 --> 00:21:35.279
You know, it's when you said that that there weren't options when I when I bought my homes, that was so true.
00:21:35.440 --> 00:21:39.519
Because we bought our house and we closed on our house in the middle of a hurricane coming on shore.
00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:45.759
So the fact that I had bound coverage the week before was the only reason we were able to close on a house.
00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:46.640
That's right.
00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:47.359
That's right.
00:21:47.599 --> 00:22:04.160
Um the other reason that for me, I I maybe it's that I'm lazy, but I just don't want to have to go through all All of the stuff that it takes to go through to move my home insurance.
00:22:04.640 --> 00:22:13.599
And that's probably the reason why, you know, we are the greatest uh business plan that exists, right?
00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:17.119
Because even the worst of us retain what 90%.
00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:18.480
Yeah.
00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:20.640
It's not it, it is.
00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:26.240
And and you know, it's not that far off of your checking account.
00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:39.599
Um, I I would say the the only thing that's more frustrating and complicated um is moving your your bank account, right?
00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:47.119
Changing all the auto drafts, changing the payroll, direct deposit, moving from this bank to this bank.
00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:50.160
I mean, even when banks buy banks, it's still painful.
00:22:50.240 --> 00:22:50.400
Yeah.
00:22:50.640 --> 00:22:53.200
And it's this, and they're helping a little bit.
00:22:53.440 --> 00:23:02.880
But thinking about like getting frustrated with a bank and going and, you know what, I'm changing my bank, I'm changing my banking relationship.
00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:04.640
That's a pain in the butt.
00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:06.799
And banks know that.
00:23:06.960 --> 00:23:12.640
Like banks are so sticky on their checking accounts.
00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:14.000
They they just are.
00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:21.839
And uh, you know, having someone's home insurance is very similar to me to that bank checking account.
00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:22.079
Wow.
00:23:22.319 --> 00:23:28.319
Um for whatever reason, auto insurance teams sent tends to be a little easier to move.
00:23:28.480 --> 00:23:46.480
Maybe, maybe we've just spent a lot more technology into uh maybe we've spent a whole lot more technology uh innovation in the auto realm because there's it's a bigger market, you know, it it's just easier to to deal with.
00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:54.079
Um and you know, people freak out about escrow and moving and yeah, all that stuff, right?
00:23:54.559 --> 00:24:00.079
Taxes, taxes, you know, again, all the mess that goes with it.
00:24:00.319 --> 00:24:01.599
But think about it.
00:24:01.839 --> 00:24:03.440
Think about that for a minute.
00:24:03.680 --> 00:24:13.200
If you get that home and you've already got the auto, or you maybe you've already got the auto in the boat and you get the home over, how sticky are you, right?
00:24:13.359 --> 00:24:29.359
Like people are not moving for a little bit of price increase at that point, even even though they might save a little money, they're not as just quick to move because that stickiness gets even stickier.
00:24:29.519 --> 00:24:48.160
And that's why that policy per client, I know we need to say client instead of customer more, uh, policy per client ratio going up above two, you know, approaching three, that is is really sticky within an agency's book of business.
00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:53.359
So let's talk about this from a tactical perspective.
00:24:53.519 --> 00:24:57.279
Did did that uh did that appeal to you as the military?
00:24:57.440 --> 00:24:58.960
Like, let's go make this happen.
00:24:59.279 --> 00:24:59.519
Love it.
00:24:59.599 --> 00:24:59.839
Love it.
00:25:00.079 --> 00:25:08.559
Slice hustler, like give me some uh give me some espionage, give me some hero, give me some behind the lines.
00:25:09.359 --> 00:25:12.799
So when is our 007 espionage?
00:25:12.960 --> 00:25:31.599
Like how what do we do to help not to convince someone, but to help someone understand that this extra work of moving their homeowners insurance is worth it because it's gotta be about the client.
00:25:32.559 --> 00:25:33.039
Yeah.
00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:38.960
Um, you know, I I I don't know that I have this perfect answer on this.
00:25:39.119 --> 00:25:46.720
Um, not sure that the technology is where it needs to be yet for us to make it super efficient.
00:25:46.880 --> 00:25:51.039
Um somebody, there's somebody a really good idea of how to do that.
00:25:51.119 --> 00:25:53.200
I'm sure it's coming at some point.
00:25:53.519 --> 00:25:59.440
But um I think it's I think it's back to you know, doing as much as you can do for them.
00:25:59.680 --> 00:26:02.480
Uh, you already have the relationship, right?
00:26:02.640 --> 00:26:05.839
And so it should be someone who's willing to talk to you.
00:26:06.079 --> 00:26:11.680
Um, you know, hey, I know this might be a little painful, but I think I can save you some money here.
00:26:11.839 --> 00:26:15.200
I think I can um potentially that's one thing.
00:26:15.359 --> 00:26:18.720
I think I can I can I can make this simpler for you.
00:26:18.960 --> 00:26:32.000
I think you go down that path for busy professionals, since most households in most markets are dual uh uh dual and duly employed.
00:26:32.160 --> 00:26:38.960
Um, I think that you know you can speak to the busyness of society and the busyness of people.
00:26:39.119 --> 00:26:48.240
Uh, and if they're not duly employed, um, then you got somebody as a stay-at-home parent and they're really busy, right?
00:26:48.480 --> 00:27:01.039
So um either way, you can kind of speak to the busyness and say, look, I know this is gonna be a little painful, but it's gonna be short-term painful, and I'm gonna make sure I stay on top of it, et cetera, et cetera.
00:27:01.119 --> 00:27:09.519
And I think if your team and and and you have a good process, you you go through that, you become really, really good at it.
00:27:09.759 --> 00:27:12.400
I mean, we got to do it to become really good at it, right?
00:27:12.480 --> 00:27:20.720
And so you become really good at it, and all of a sudden you've kind of separated yourself with oh, you know, that wasn't as hard as I thought it was gonna be.
00:27:20.799 --> 00:27:23.359
And, you know, this is actually gonna be good for me.
00:27:23.519 --> 00:27:26.400
And um, man, I'm gonna tell my friends.
00:27:26.559 --> 00:27:28.799
And next thing you know, you're getting client referrals.
00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:43.279
And so um that's that's the thing that I would consider to think about is slow down and make it work for that, you know, and then make it work again and then make and then get really good at it.
00:27:43.440 --> 00:28:10.400
And uh I think I think the biggest thing is just put somebody on it, like either yourself or or one of your team members to become super passionate about the reality that you've got this client already and you're missing this revenue, and you can afford to incentivize a team member to really get after this, and I think that helps as well.
00:28:12.480 --> 00:28:18.480
And always remember figure out what your people's incentives what really motivates them.
00:28:18.799 --> 00:28:22.319
That think this is one of those places that we always assume it's money.
00:28:23.359 --> 00:28:42.160
And it's not always money, sometimes it's time off, sometimes I I mean think I'm thinking back to our Christmas party this year, and and one of the giveaways that we did for the the games was an extra day off, extra day of vacation.
00:28:42.400 --> 00:28:46.480
And people got way more excited about that than anything else, right?
00:28:46.640 --> 00:28:46.960
Yeah.
00:28:47.119 --> 00:28:52.559
I mean, like I think I was wanting to like put in three or four whatever's, you know, just just for that.
00:28:52.799 --> 00:28:53.440
I'm kidding.
00:28:53.599 --> 00:28:56.480
I'm kidding, because honesty wins, and we shouldn't do those things.
00:28:56.880 --> 00:28:57.759
But it's amazing.
00:28:57.920 --> 00:29:02.720
So it could be a day off, it could be quality time between the two of you.
00:29:02.799 --> 00:29:06.480
Uh, you know, you as the the leader, mentorship time.
00:29:06.880 --> 00:29:18.319
There are so many ways to create that additional bonus compensation structure that's not necessarily money.
00:29:18.960 --> 00:29:24.319
Yeah, we just uh been having this conversation with our frontline customer service team.
00:29:24.400 --> 00:29:30.720
And uh that's a high burnout uh category in terms of uh any customer service, right?
00:29:30.880 --> 00:29:35.599
Not just insurance, but just uh customer service in general, frontline, right?
00:29:35.759 --> 00:29:46.720
The ones dealing with the the billing problem, the one dealing with the mortgage company that can't get the the clause right or the escrow right or whatever, right?
00:29:46.880 --> 00:29:57.039
And uh what happens is your frontline people get yelled at a lot because even though they're not necessarily the intended audience, uh they're the ones that catch it.
00:29:57.200 --> 00:30:08.240
And so we just had that conversation about what motivates people, what uh what incentivizes people, and and you know, days off became part of that topic.
00:30:08.319 --> 00:30:12.079
Like, hey, you know, just catching people doing things right.
00:30:12.400 --> 00:30:31.039
Um maybe it's a couple of times, maybe you're keeping a little private little uh uh tick mark of how many times you caught them doing something great, and then you just randomly say, Hey, you know, we're our staffing's good uh tomorrow, you know, why don't you just take tomorrow off?
00:30:31.119 --> 00:30:34.960
You know, not PTO, just on me, just take tomorrow off.
00:30:35.119 --> 00:30:48.400
Enjoy your enjoy your three-day weekend, like you know, stuff like that, um, especially with people in a role where that's not that easy, right?
00:30:48.559 --> 00:30:58.480
It's not a role where you would just do that, where the flexibility is not as easy because uh, you know, these are the people answering your phones all day.
00:30:58.559 --> 00:31:09.200
These are the people responding to your text messages and emails and customer interactions, and you know, um, that's something that can make a big impact on them.
00:31:10.720 --> 00:31:27.359
I remember when I was in my late 20s, one of the things that my uh supervisor would do would be one of one of our rewards would be the chance to switch roles for the day.
00:31:28.160 --> 00:31:36.880
And so, for instance, she would go and take all of my sales calls and you know, I we would take on the role as sales management.
00:31:37.119 --> 00:32:04.160
And it was incredibly symbiotic looking back from her perspective because it reminded her of the things that we were going through every day, and that's how I learned what that management leadership role looked like, and um helped me be a better leader because I could understand more of what uh what she was going through.
00:32:04.720 --> 00:32:16.319
And I always loved that because you know it did give me a change of scenery, it did give me an opportunity to be like, okay, that she's really getting it.
00:32:16.400 --> 00:32:18.000
So that might be an idea too.
00:32:18.240 --> 00:32:20.880
Yeah, no, that's that's a really good idea.
00:32:20.960 --> 00:32:31.359
And um, I've actually contemplated um stepping in and personally jumping into our service center uh for a day or a morning.
00:32:31.599 --> 00:32:45.839
Um uh things that I've I've done in the past and looked at in the past, uh, I hadn't done it in a long time, but um, you know, just you know, I don't know that anybody wants to sit in my desk all day, but um, you know, they might.
00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:52.720
Um, but you know, even if it's not switching, it's it's getting in the trenches right beside them, right?
00:32:52.880 --> 00:32:56.960
Like showing them that, hey, I want to understand, right?
00:32:57.119 --> 00:33:02.079
I want to, and then that'll teach you like what kind of stuff it'll remind you.
00:33:02.240 --> 00:33:06.559
Maybe it doesn't teach you, but it'll remind you of what that world looks like.
00:33:06.720 --> 00:33:09.119
And so I think that's a great idea.
00:33:09.440 --> 00:33:11.359
We're gonna take a quick break.
00:33:11.519 --> 00:33:18.960
When we come back, we're going to do our weekly Shane vocabulary lesson.
00:33:19.119 --> 00:33:26.079
And we will talk more about our so this when we will talk more about this soft market that we're heading into.
00:33:26.559 --> 00:33:30.799
You've found the clients, you've built relationships, you've earned their trust.
00:33:30.960 --> 00:33:33.839
Shouldn't you own the book with Integra Partner Network?
00:33:34.079 --> 00:33:37.279
You maintain 100% ownership of your book of business.
00:33:37.359 --> 00:33:41.839
Because if you're going to put in the work to build an agency, you should own what you build.
00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:46.400
Find out what ownership really means at integrapartner network.com.
00:33:46.640 --> 00:33:48.000
Hey, welcome back.
00:33:48.400 --> 00:33:51.039
Oh, I I like the addition of hay.
00:33:51.279 --> 00:33:52.000
That's kind of fun.
00:33:52.240 --> 00:33:53.119
You like you like hay?
00:33:53.359 --> 00:33:53.519
Okay.
00:33:53.839 --> 00:33:54.400
I like hey.
00:33:54.480 --> 00:33:55.039
I'm working on that.
00:33:57.039 --> 00:33:59.359
I'm working on my welcome back strategy here.
00:33:59.440 --> 00:34:00.160
I don't know.
00:34:00.480 --> 00:34:04.400
It's really, I just it's so awkward, but anyway, we're here.
00:34:04.720 --> 00:34:08.400
One day you may even graduate to welcome to IA Ford.
00:34:08.800 --> 00:34:13.760
Yeah, that would be, I doubt I ever, I doubt I ever do the full intro.
00:34:14.000 --> 00:34:17.440
That just feels that would feel like something's wrong.
00:34:17.760 --> 00:34:19.760
So oh goodness.
00:34:19.840 --> 00:34:28.559
So so on our uh last podcast, uh, Shane made a reference to uh getting stymied, right?
00:34:28.719 --> 00:34:41.760
And so I I thought that I would go in and share the actual definition of this word because this is a phrase we use, but if you ask anyone what this actually means, nobody knows, right?
00:34:42.000 --> 00:34:46.559
And so the the origin of this word actually comes out of golf.
00:34:47.920 --> 00:34:48.239
Okay.
00:34:48.639 --> 00:34:58.800
And on the pudding green, a stymie happens when an opponent's ball is directly in front of the line of your own ball in the hole.
00:34:59.039 --> 00:35:10.159
And of course, the block makes your shot a lot harder, which um leaves this to describe a real life roadblock or an obstacle.
00:35:10.480 --> 00:35:23.840
So the the meaning and usage we really use is to stop progress, making it hard to move forward and preventing someone from achieving their goal or finishing their task.
00:35:24.079 --> 00:35:24.320
Yeah.
00:35:24.639 --> 00:35:28.079
This situation has got me stymied, right?
00:35:28.159 --> 00:35:28.400
Right.
00:35:29.440 --> 00:35:29.679
Yeah.
00:35:29.840 --> 00:35:41.679
You know, I think, and I just learned I'm getting into golf more and more and kind of reintroducing myself to golf more after a decade hiatus uh with uh club sports and children.
00:35:41.920 --> 00:35:45.760
Um, and there's actually you you described that situation.
00:35:45.920 --> 00:35:54.400
I didn't know that's what they referred to it as, but there's actually uh what's become illegal, which led to marking your ball, right?
00:35:54.559 --> 00:36:28.079
Like uh marking uh where your ball is, that where you used to, you could leave your ball, and I don't know who it was, but someone actually won a tournament because they did they took their pitching wedge and chipped over the opponent's ball and it went in to the hole and they won the tournament, and I have to look it up on who did it, but it became an illegal move, actually, is what I think I understand.
00:36:28.239 --> 00:36:38.559
And so uh to go even further, deeper and nerd out around you know, the golfing analogy and stymied and all of that.
00:36:38.800 --> 00:36:40.480
So um that's good.
00:36:40.639 --> 00:36:41.280
I like that.
00:36:41.519 --> 00:36:42.239
Yep, yeah.
00:36:42.480 --> 00:36:48.000
Some great synonyms are to thwart, which I think is a word we don't use enough.
00:36:48.159 --> 00:36:54.159
Yeah, we'll use that feed, frustrate, or obstruct, right?
00:36:54.239 --> 00:36:59.440
So yeah, so that's our our our shane vocabulary word of the day.
00:36:59.679 --> 00:37:03.199
I like this little new uh section of the podcast.
00:37:03.280 --> 00:37:05.360
Uh I do have a lot of made up words.
00:37:05.519 --> 00:37:06.800
I'm sorry, people.
00:37:07.119 --> 00:37:09.920
Um the the one, you know, some of them are not made up.
00:37:10.079 --> 00:37:13.840
My favorite one, my my fail steined, right?
00:37:14.079 --> 00:37:15.360
Or smidgen.
00:37:15.599 --> 00:37:21.440
Smidgen is not made up, it's maybe in maybe culturally in certain parts of the country, different.
00:37:21.679 --> 00:37:22.880
And that's exactly what it was.
00:37:22.960 --> 00:37:31.199
It was culturally in certain parts of the country, specifically the South Central region, like Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi.
00:37:32.079 --> 00:37:36.079
The first place is still getterdunner.
00:37:36.480 --> 00:37:37.440
Gitter Dunnerer.
00:37:37.840 --> 00:37:40.000
I think that one is still that's definitely made up.
00:37:40.159 --> 00:37:41.039
That's definitely made up.
00:37:46.079 --> 00:37:49.920
So going back into the soft boil, the soft boiled market, okay.
00:37:50.079 --> 00:37:50.559
Yeah, look at that.
00:37:50.719 --> 00:37:54.960
That's actually, and I'm renaming it, it's going to be the soft boils market.
00:37:55.440 --> 00:37:56.480
We can make that catch on.
00:37:57.280 --> 00:37:57.840
Maybe.
00:37:58.079 --> 00:38:02.719
Well, I mean, somehow we got hard market and soft market through the years, so why not?
00:38:04.000 --> 00:38:10.000
Oh, so so let's let's say it this way the soft market boils down to there.
00:38:10.159 --> 00:38:10.639
You go.
00:38:10.880 --> 00:38:12.800
What does it really boil down for us?
00:38:12.960 --> 00:38:19.039
Like, like, well, give me actual what does this mean for me?
00:38:19.199 --> 00:38:21.599
How does it change how I'm doing business?
00:38:21.920 --> 00:38:33.920
Well, I know we've been talking a lot first part of the podcast on you know, looking into your book, cross-selling, you know, really stickiness and getting more customers to be stickier for you.
00:38:34.079 --> 00:38:41.119
And um I I don't want things to get lost and say, well, he's just talking about retention.
00:38:41.360 --> 00:38:44.800
So no, that that's sales, okay.
00:38:45.039 --> 00:38:55.920
Um, I am a big believer that some portion of your book, no matter what defense you play, some portion of your book is gonna turn over.
00:38:56.000 --> 00:38:57.440
You're gonna lose some clients.
00:38:57.760 --> 00:39:24.079
And as the market gets softer, as we've gone into this, what you're gonna find is when there's more choice in the marketplace because people are wanting to grow, and some people are, you know, uh having rate decreases and and making themselves more aggressive, um, different than the hard market, when it was like, you know, nobody could really do any better, so they just stayed where they were.
00:39:24.239 --> 00:39:27.599
Retention was easy, even though prices were going up.
00:39:27.840 --> 00:39:30.800
Uh, retention is actually harder, right?
00:39:31.119 --> 00:39:37.199
And um, in a softening market, which is so crazy because it seems like it would be opposite.
00:39:37.360 --> 00:39:40.960
Um, but that is why it's super, super important.
00:39:41.760 --> 00:39:46.239
And I've been saying this around here for a little bit with our agents for a little while.
00:39:46.559 --> 00:39:50.000
Do not stop your sales engine.
00:39:50.480 --> 00:39:54.239
It is very difficult to restart your sales engine.
00:39:54.320 --> 00:39:56.559
You've got you're a sales organization.
00:39:57.280 --> 00:40:01.440
As an insurance agency, you are a sales organization, right?
00:40:01.679 --> 00:40:06.559
Some of us will say, Oh, we're about we're a service organization.
00:40:07.440 --> 00:40:10.960
Yes, service is a part of an insurance agency.
00:40:11.039 --> 00:40:16.079
Okay, serving your client is a part of the responsibility of being an insurance agency.
00:40:16.719 --> 00:40:19.280
But you don't have those clients unless you have sales.
00:40:19.519 --> 00:40:21.360
Let's just be very, very clear.
00:40:21.679 --> 00:40:23.360
Sales is first, right?
00:40:23.440 --> 00:40:26.000
We had a rainmaker podcast recently.
00:40:26.239 --> 00:40:28.400
That's why Rainmakers win, right?
00:40:28.559 --> 00:40:40.880
So you gotta stay focused on sales because you've got to understand that your existing clients are going to, they're going to be attacked to a degree.
00:40:41.039 --> 00:40:49.920
So you can't play 100% defense because your sales engine's gonna go away and you're gonna you're gonna still lose some business.
00:40:50.159 --> 00:40:52.079
So you've got to have some balance.
00:40:52.239 --> 00:40:54.559
That's the shift here, right?
00:40:55.039 --> 00:41:02.639
Is you've got to have some balance within how you go about your day, how you go about your week.
00:41:02.800 --> 00:41:05.440
Um, you've got to stay in the sales game.
00:41:05.920 --> 00:41:12.480
And that is for the more established agency with the book of business.
00:41:12.719 --> 00:41:22.480
Now, if you're a startup, if you're in your first year, maybe two years, you get to be a disruptor.
00:41:22.719 --> 00:41:25.039
Different ball game for you, right?
00:41:25.360 --> 00:41:29.360
You should be almost a hundred percent sales driven right now.
00:41:29.440 --> 00:41:38.639
You should be about disrupting uh preferably uh some of those direct channel books that maybe you maybe they still have the auto, right?
00:41:38.800 --> 00:41:54.960
Maybe you can go get that from your uh maybe you can you can be uh the the the agent that saves the day and gives the discounts and you know combines and uh really does the bundling all for once.
00:41:55.119 --> 00:42:00.079
You know, that's the talk and ads is bundle bundle, but you can do it, right?
00:42:00.239 --> 00:42:03.519
An agency can do it more than a carrier can do it, right?
00:42:03.679 --> 00:42:09.679
Because you can you can be the single point of contact for a client.
00:42:09.920 --> 00:42:23.920
And so if you're newer, you get to be foot on the gas pedal, everything you've got into sales, uh markets are open, everybody wants to write business, go, go, go.
00:42:24.320 --> 00:42:27.920
Two different approaches based on where your agency is.
00:42:29.840 --> 00:42:44.400
Throughout the hard market, some of so many people were giving us the responses when they were getting these huge rate increases of, you know, I haven't had a claim, nothing has changed, I haven't gotten a ticket, you know.
00:42:44.559 --> 00:42:48.000
Why is this going up so much?
00:42:48.639 --> 00:43:00.880
So now as we head into the soft market, how do we respond to those clients that we have been um explaining these things to over the last three years?
00:43:01.039 --> 00:43:03.360
How do we shift our language?
00:43:04.880 --> 00:43:05.679
Oh great question.
00:43:06.000 --> 00:43:07.280
Just roll your eyes at me.
00:43:07.519 --> 00:43:08.800
No, I'm thinking.
00:43:08.880 --> 00:43:13.519
Um, I'm not rolling, I'm not rolling, I'm looking up, I'm thinking.
00:43:13.679 --> 00:43:19.920
It was my it was my it was my my look off into pondering.
00:43:20.239 --> 00:43:21.119
Pondering.
00:43:21.519 --> 00:43:23.039
Uh it's a great question.
00:43:23.199 --> 00:43:23.599
I think.
00:43:23.840 --> 00:43:28.000
And you roll your eyes at me so much that I just you know, maybe I was being sensitive.
00:43:29.039 --> 00:43:34.320
I don't maybe you're interpreting my eye roll as my thinking eyes.
00:43:34.480 --> 00:43:35.119
I don't know.
00:43:35.360 --> 00:43:45.920
Um I'm big on eye contact, I but but also when I think or when I have a thought, I do tend to drift out into you know uh yonder sky.
00:43:46.079 --> 00:43:46.719
Those are your ones.
00:43:47.039 --> 00:43:47.920
Oh, yonder sky.
00:43:48.079 --> 00:43:51.840
And just so y'all know, he also has a look where he looks at me like I have three heads.
00:43:51.920 --> 00:43:52.079
Yeah.
00:43:52.239 --> 00:43:59.280
And he's very fond of all of those three heads, but there definitely is a specific look if you watch sport on the podcast.
00:43:59.519 --> 00:43:59.760
So
00:44:00.159 --> 00:44:13.679
So, you know, I I I think that part of the issue is if you're helping them, maybe they have short memories, right?
00:44:13.840 --> 00:44:20.400
I mean, they may, you know, yeah, be prepared for an eight for a customer client to call you out a little bit, you know.
00:44:20.480 --> 00:44:22.639
I thought this is why this was happening.
00:44:22.880 --> 00:44:31.440
Um, I think the tendency on the answer, um, I I think it's easier to say maybe what don't do, what we shouldn't do here.
00:44:32.239 --> 00:44:34.800
We shouldn't remarket our entire book.
00:44:35.039 --> 00:44:35.360
Okay.
00:44:35.599 --> 00:44:38.800
I think that's where I would go with that answer.
00:44:38.960 --> 00:44:49.360
Maybe that if we were in a courtroom, you know, you might have gotten an objection from, you know, the opposing attorney for leading, right?
00:44:49.440 --> 00:45:08.480
By, you know, the question is leading me down this path of, hey, how do we explain to these clients that we've been saying, you know, this is why, that all of a sudden everybody's saying how they're, you know, getting price decrease, you know, or or whatever.
00:45:09.360 --> 00:45:13.679
Their buddy over here at the other carrier is getting, you know, a savings.
00:45:13.840 --> 00:45:15.840
Why can't you give me a saving?
00:45:16.159 --> 00:45:18.159
Well, you might can.
00:45:18.800 --> 00:45:29.440
And at the end of the day, you have to kind of you have to kind of assess, is this a remarket need or is this a you're better off where you are, right?
00:45:29.920 --> 00:45:54.159
Now, I hear, I am hearing a ton of stuff in the marketplace from agents using technology tools and a lot of AI-driven tech tools that are being launched into the market to do overnight constant remarkets of the book of business of the existing clients.
00:45:55.280 --> 00:45:58.320
And that sounds cool on the surface, right?
00:45:58.480 --> 00:46:00.719
Like, okay, we're really doing this.
00:46:00.800 --> 00:46:06.239
We're not physically having to put manpower into this because AI is doing it for us.
00:46:06.800 --> 00:46:12.400
Come in the next morning, we've got these, you know, renewal offers, remarket offers.
00:46:13.440 --> 00:46:25.280
Here's the thing if you're doing that with your book and you're doing that constantly, that is a form of defense that you're playing.
00:46:25.360 --> 00:46:39.119
So you're putting all of your energy into defense on that, which I don't advocate because not every single one of those clients is going to just be in a shopping mood, be in a shopping environment.
00:46:39.280 --> 00:46:41.679
They're just not everybody's gonna be there.
00:46:41.840 --> 00:46:46.880
It is going to be some smaller percentage by the law of averages.
00:46:47.519 --> 00:46:58.719
But here's what you're doing six months, 12 months, for sure, 18 months down the road, your carriers are gonna question you.
00:46:59.280 --> 00:47:32.559
If your carriers books, if you're booked with certain carriers who uh danced with you through the hard market, and you are causing a bunch of what they would call dislocation within their books of business by being a constant shopper and churner inside your agency, because now it's easier, now AI can make it happen easier, then you're putting your carrier appointments and contracts at risk.
00:47:32.880 --> 00:47:52.239
Okay, because the carrier is not making any money at that point, and you're actually going to exacerbate, in other words, you're going to speed up, um, and you're going to amplify and potentially cause the carrier round.
00:47:52.320 --> 00:47:54.000
This is kind of one of my deals.
00:47:54.559 --> 00:48:02.800
Could we run quickly back into a hard market, say in less than two years?
00:48:03.760 --> 00:48:21.280
Because all the tools in the marketplace cause all the remarketing, and there's a bunch of movement from carrier to carrier, and now the carriers aren't making any money because we carriers don't typically make money on new business, they make money on renewals.
00:48:21.679 --> 00:48:30.880
And so as that book matures, things like that, you're going to end up with higher loss ratios.
00:48:31.119 --> 00:48:41.039
You're going to end up with uh a lot of issues at the carrier level because that carrier retention is going to be low.
00:48:41.280 --> 00:48:45.360
You're riding business with that carrier and you're re-marketing at renewal.
00:48:45.519 --> 00:48:53.599
If you're doing that churn, that carrier is going to look at their retention with you and they're going to go, this isn't going to cut it.
00:48:53.760 --> 00:48:55.599
We can't do business this way.
00:48:55.840 --> 00:49:06.719
And so you have this unwritten reality, sort of in baseball, the unwritten rules of the game, right?
00:49:06.880 --> 00:49:12.400
Like your pitcher hit my batter, so my pitcher's going to hit your battery.
00:49:12.480 --> 00:49:15.119
Like, you know, obviously, things like that.
00:49:15.280 --> 00:49:22.559
Like, there's unwritten rules of the game that as an agency owner you have to be mindful of.
00:49:22.880 --> 00:49:34.400
And I think that's what concerns me the most about what I see people shifting into because tools are being made available to make it even faster, right?
00:49:34.800 --> 00:49:37.840
Auto remarket, right?
00:49:38.000 --> 00:49:41.679
That's a that's a big hot topic AI tool right now.
00:49:41.920 --> 00:49:49.760
So the last major US impact hurricane season was 2024, right?
00:49:49.920 --> 00:50:00.559
And really 2020 was the last relentless uh you know landfall season, but 2024 was still, you know.
00:50:00.800 --> 00:50:03.760
So that was a year and a half ago.
00:50:03.920 --> 00:50:06.880
And you know, we're in 2026 now.
00:50:07.360 --> 00:50:18.159
We're in September, October, which is really when hurricane season exacerbates to use Shane's to use Shane's words.
00:50:18.480 --> 00:50:19.280
Word of the day.
00:50:19.519 --> 00:50:20.719
Yeah, word of the day.
00:50:20.880 --> 00:50:29.840
Um, you know, hurricane season starts in in June, but at least in the in the Gulf, it really doesn't start until Labor A.
00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:34.159
So we're in the season now, but so far things look look really good.
00:50:34.400 --> 00:50:39.920
So hurricane payouts are down in the last two to three years.
00:50:41.360 --> 00:50:51.119
There haven't been any major challenges like the Chilean mudslides, which caused some investment issues for our carriers.
00:50:51.280 --> 00:50:54.880
So things are looking up from an investment perspective.
00:50:55.199 --> 00:51:00.400
All of these things are reasons that the the market is softening.
00:51:00.800 --> 00:51:19.599
Uh what happens to this idea of a soft market if in October we have you know a giant hurricane that hits Houston or hits South Florida or even the panhandle or something up the the east coast?
00:51:19.760 --> 00:51:25.920
Like, is that something that could cut off this this soft market at the start?
00:51:26.159 --> 00:51:29.519
Or is this more of a long-term thing and that doesn't matter?
00:51:30.000 --> 00:51:34.239
I think that it's it depends on the size and where, right?
00:51:34.400 --> 00:51:52.880
If something were to hit quickly soon, um this season, for instance, uh, we're in 2026 recording here, so this season, um depending on size, it could just be a speed bump or it could be uh a shift back, right?
00:51:53.199 --> 00:52:08.639
Um I think there's enough shock absorbing right now that because 2025 was was quiet, 26 has been the quietest in something like hundreds and wood.
00:52:08.960 --> 00:52:09.199
Yeah.
00:52:09.599 --> 00:52:18.320
As far as like just you know, Atlantic hurricanes, it's and it's because of the I think El Nino and it's it's because of the weather pattern.
00:52:18.400 --> 00:52:21.119
And uh, we've had it before, we'll have it again.
00:52:21.360 --> 00:52:29.599
Um, you know, mama sound like an an old old man here, but there's nothing new under the sun, right?
00:52:29.679 --> 00:52:32.880
We've we've been through these cycles, we'll go through them again.
00:52:33.119 --> 00:52:41.840
Um and because of that quietness, like I'm hearing that from the carrier CEOs, I'm hearing that from the executive teams at the carrier levels.
00:52:42.079 --> 00:52:48.000
Uh, the the quietness is not ever, it's not forever, right?
00:52:48.159 --> 00:52:59.920
It is the it is a season of quietness, but we tend to have short memories in the insurance industry because if there's an opportunity to make money, investment comes in.
00:53:00.079 --> 00:53:05.280
Uh, we are uh a great investment opportunity for investors.
00:53:06.000 --> 00:53:17.039
And so that's making that's making money, you know, obviously pour in, uh, depending on stock market and depending on what's going on there, that also has uh can contribute to it.
00:53:17.519 --> 00:53:52.960
Now, if there is a shift and we get, you know, a a couple, we get a couple of hits, we have um we have a very heavy year next year, or uh uh when we have the next heavy year, um again, depending on where we will see if we have the stomach to sustain ourselves, or if we start seeing that pullback again, which would then lead us back into somewhat of a hardening market, right?
00:53:53.199 --> 00:54:05.599
And so um, you know, you you really have to look at the insurance industry and you really want to nerd out, you have to look at it over about a 10-year span, uh, eight to 10 year spans at a time, right?
00:54:05.679 --> 00:54:31.760
It's hard to hard to look at things in a two to three year span um because that's when you have short-term memory loss or long-term memory loss, and you think that um, oh wow, climate change, whatever, looks like looks like the world is gonna be different now, and we will not have any more hurricanes in the Atlantic or the Gulf.
00:54:32.079 --> 00:54:33.519
And you're wrong.
00:54:33.840 --> 00:54:36.000
It's not that's not gonna be the case.
00:54:36.159 --> 00:54:48.639
There's gonna be a El Nino, La Niña shift of weather pattern, and you know, whatever's keeping that pushed out is gonna weaken, and now the here they come, right?
00:54:48.800 --> 00:54:54.159
And when when waters are warm, you get a recipe for a hurricane.
00:54:54.239 --> 00:54:57.679
And so again, convective storms, same thing.
00:54:57.840 --> 00:54:59.039
We're gonna have those.
00:54:59.119 --> 00:55:02.079
We're we're predicting a a pretty harsh winter.
00:55:02.320 --> 00:55:10.159
Could see a um, we could see a uh a pretty good cold situation cause some problems.
00:55:10.320 --> 00:55:14.320
I know that's not fun, but it it's it's highly possible.
00:55:14.480 --> 00:55:27.679
Let's let's not get so zeroed in on hurricanes that we we forget that wildfire risk, convective storms, freezes, uh, they're all catastrophe.
00:55:27.840 --> 00:55:32.719
Hail, hail isn't going away, um rooftop issues.
00:55:32.960 --> 00:55:36.000
So we're gonna have we're gonna have storms, right?
00:55:36.079 --> 00:55:39.039
They they just may look a little different right now.
00:55:39.599 --> 00:55:54.000
So for those of you that are do not know what a convective storm is, because I had to just Google that, it is when a thunderstorm is driven by an upward movement of warm, moist air.
00:55:54.880 --> 00:55:58.239
Because I have never heard that term before and I grew up with a meteorologist.
00:55:58.480 --> 00:56:01.920
Torr tornadoes, straight line winds.
00:56:02.239 --> 00:56:03.599
Okay, yeah.
00:56:03.840 --> 00:56:14.559
So they've basically gotten fancy and uh, you know, and now we've just lumped all those types of storms into the term convective storm.
00:56:14.800 --> 00:56:17.760
Is this because you've been hanging out in Kansas for the last four years?
00:56:18.000 --> 00:56:19.440
No, this was before that.
00:56:19.599 --> 00:56:24.079
This is just this is this is this is what's going on inside the insurance industry.
00:56:24.239 --> 00:56:26.320
We have to come up with our own stuff.
00:56:26.639 --> 00:56:27.039
Gotcha.
00:56:27.199 --> 00:56:30.400
Because I knew that this was not a term that I use.
00:56:30.719 --> 00:56:32.159
So thank you for that.
00:56:32.800 --> 00:56:36.079
I mean, it's another one of those things where, you know.
00:56:36.800 --> 00:56:40.559
Don't use that word with your clients because they're gonna have to Google it just like I did.
00:56:40.800 --> 00:56:43.360
Don't don't look don't talk about stuff like that with your clients.
00:56:43.519 --> 00:56:48.719
Remember, we're a we're a B2B podcast, you know, we're we're talking to insurance agents.
00:56:48.800 --> 00:56:53.599
And so um it, you know, we want to make, you know, we're talking the industry language here.
00:56:53.760 --> 00:56:57.599
And hey, if you're if you don't know what that is, now you get educated on what that is.
00:56:57.679 --> 00:57:02.480
And you can sm you can sound really smart in a room of insurance executives.
00:57:02.800 --> 00:57:03.360
There we go.
00:57:03.599 --> 00:57:04.079
There we go.
00:57:04.400 --> 00:57:12.000
Since Mike is not with us today, I'm going to leave us with a quote from Nick Saban, the great Saint Nick.
00:57:12.159 --> 00:57:14.800
There's no continuum for success.
00:57:15.039 --> 00:57:18.079
Focus on the progress, not the results.
00:57:18.559 --> 00:57:19.679
Attitude to choice.
00:57:19.840 --> 00:57:20.639
Make a great one.
00:57:20.880 --> 00:57:21.519
Bye, y'all.
00:57:21.679 --> 00:57:27.840
At the Integra Partner Network, we understand that carrier access is the key to your agency's excess.
00:57:28.239 --> 00:57:32.960
That's why Integra offers direct access to operated personal and commercial carriers.
00:57:33.039 --> 00:57:39.760
And during your agency lives in today's Linux market, and with our collaborative resources carrying both.
