Chair of the Board's Message

Changes

“The only thing that is constant is change,” goes the old adage. That doesn’t make it easy, of course. In fact, change is disruptive to our operations, and change injects a dynamic to which we have to adapt. We like to try and plan “change,” but it is a wild card in so many ways.

If the past year proved anything, it was that we can adapt. The pandemic triggered new ways to operate our agencies, communicate with customers and carriers, and serve our communities. Let’s face it, it came down to survival.

As the world settles, it can be tempting to settle with it. But complacency won’t keep the independent agency channel competitive, and it won’t maintain our hard-earned wins of the past year. During that time, just note the explosive growth of online and mobile app auto insurance carriers and mileage-based auto insurance products. Change happened quickly, and it’s here to stay. Customers worked from home in all industries and began shopping online for all types of products, including insurance. It is no longer a predicament that is seemingly out there on our 10-year horizon.

The pace of change in 2020 was frenetic. Moving forward, we can be intentional in our adaptations. This issue of Primary Agent offers a few great places to start with tips for work-from-home productivity (page 11) and ways to speed up your agency’s receivables (page 14).

IA&B partner vendors RPost and ePayPolicy provided these resources. I encourage you to look into how their services can change your agency operations for the better. Then be sure to visit IABforME.com to learn about additional products and services aimed to support your agency, specifically Independent Market Solutions which provides you access to products through various markets.

The story of our survival and our adaptation to our environment is being written now as we deal with “change.”

Respectfully,

Craig S. Mader