The NFL Carrier Draft

The NFL Draft. Always a time where (as Bear fans, stay out of this Taphorns) we can take a look at our team, reassess, and dream of what will be in the coming months.

The last few years, the draft has occurred during our Federal Legislative Conference. The discussion of what could be often trails into what could have been when I start discussing draft picks with my fellow agents from Illinois as well as agents from other states. I forlorn over the picks the Bears didn’t make that end up becoming prominent stars and instrumental pieces in championship teams, outside of Chicago.

This year we took it one step farther. This year we compared the NFL Draft to the insurance industry (possibly because I needed to write this article) but also because we are insurance geeks and sport and business are always great topics of conversation.

So here it is, if we had a draft of Insurance Carriers, who would you choose and why? What factors would go into the selection of those carriers.

This topic was broached to the agents at the bar, ( I mean table) and this is what was decided.

You need to have your A carriers, B Carriers C and D Carriers.

A Carrier: Always Quoted, first choice and business is always driven towards this carrier, strong base commission, good profit sharing program and relationship is something valued by all parties in the agency

B Carrier: Necessary to have based on industries/niches written, not first choice but always quoted

C Carrier: Developing a relationship, may need it to compete for business in a niche you have, may be regional, or may be a new niche that you are trying to get into.

Finally, we added a D Carrier: this is the company that every agency has, but no one knows why. They don’t get quoted, they never show up…someone should have cancelled the contract but no one ever shows up to ask for production. Often, we hold onto the contract because we know they will help that one client.

No matter what level the carrier, Relationship, Technology, Underwriting, Coverage, Claims and financial sustainability are all attributes that are valued in the carriers the agents look for and they all play an important role in our independent agent ecosystem.