WASHINGTON, D.C., April 15, 2016 - In his State of the Association speech at this morning's Big “I” Legislative Conference General Session Breakfast, Big “I” Chairman Randy Lanoix urged members to take their online presence seriously.
According to Lanoix, 80% of consumers who go online to buy insurance end up choosing an independent insurance agent. “We’ve got to be where they are,” he said. “They’re going to go online and shop, so you need to be online.”
Social media, Lanoix said, is a tool that independent agencies need to use to “separate yourself from the other guys.”
“Don’t get so entranced with your day-to-day operations that you miss the evolution of the industry. Be active in social media. Having a good TrustedChoice.com Advantage profile is not enough. Waiting by the phone for somebody to call is not enough,” Lanoix said.
But while consumers’ buying behaviors are changing, their expectations for service aren’t. “People still value professionalism, trusted advice and local perspectives,” Lanoix said.
Keeping up with technological changes in the insurance industry is important for not only agencies’ operations today, but also the longer term. “Aging agency owners, retiring baby boomers, are creating a pipeline for acquisitions. Many have no retirement savings other than the value of their agency,” he pointed out, citing the record number of mergers & acquisitions in 2015.
One way to prepare for the future of your agency, Lanoix advised, is to “take advantage of resources to perpetuate and recruit talent in your agency”—such as InVEST®, the nonprofit program that informs high school and college students about “all things millennials care about on their career paths,” including stability, flexibility and community involvement.
Lanoix also encouraged members to urge young agents working in their agencies to participate in such programs in order to get the word out. As president of Lanoix Insurance Agency in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, he takes recruitment seriously: “Whenever we search for somebody, we try to look for someone who wants a career, not a job.”
Finding the right allies is also crucial for survival. “Partnership with carriers have never been more important,” Lanoix said. “Independent agents need to distribute forces in innovative ways in this changing marketplace,” keeping in mind the new exposures consumers will face with the proliferation of driverless cars and cyber warfare.
Despite challenges independent agencies face, “the independent agent system remains strong the marketplace and continues to grow,” Lanoix assured the audience citing statistics from the latest Market Share Report that found independent agencies still control the majority of the property-casualty market, writing more than 58% of all premium.
As an independent agent himself, Lanoix expressed his own agency’s effort to stick around. “My agency will not end at my boys,” who have taken the reins in recent years, he said. "It’ll be here for the next generation. What are you doing to make sure your agency is around in 10 years?”