All Companies Aren’t Equal

Independent agents frequently fall into a trap of thinking that all of the companies they write for are essentially the same.  After all don’t they all sell an extremely similar product?  And don’t they all deliver a fairly uniform claims experience to the customer?  Yes, they do.

But there is clearly a difference as just 10 companies’ control 50% of the market. 

The top 90 carriers control 86% of the market!  And carrier premium growth is very uneven. In fact, over the last few years 20 of the top 90 insurance carriers have actually gone backwards according to industry analyst Chris Burand.  Even mighty Allstate is having difficulty with negative growth.

What does this mean for growing insurance agencies?

Carriers You Should Be Aiming For

If you are trying to grow your agency you need carriers who don’t just talk about growth but can deliver the goods.  You need companies who have great products and better pricing than others.  And, as you can see name brand recognition may not be the best gauge of that.

Obviously, if you want to grow, you need the biggest companies in the business.  Because that is who is growing.

But not all big companies are growing, or going to grow.  How do you figure out who to hitch your wagon to?

Benefits of OAA Membership

This is where belonging to SIAA becomes even more valuable.  Because collectively we have the resources to hire experts like Burand to help us understand which carriers are going to thrive and which aren’t.  That is a big key of growth!  Additionally, the productive strength of 5,000 agencies is attractive to these growth companies in a way smaller agents, clusters or groups can ever be.

Today is the best time in history to be a small agent who can deliver growth and belong to SIAA for the tremendous leverage it brings.