I wanted to start a blog and I think this is a good place to start. First of all, I have a feeling not many people want to read an article every week about how much it costs to fix your car after you backed into someone at Costco last weekend or how many estimates you need to get if your roof is damaged from a hail storm. That is all important information and we will get to that at some point. But, I will start my first blog by explaining a little of what we do as insurance agents as I am guessing not many people even have a clue about what happens behind the scenes in an insurance agency throughout the day. I can’t go through everything but I will give 3 interesting facts that you may or may not realize.
Interesting Fact Number 1:
The phone can sometimes ring 30 to 40 times in a day or more once in a while even in a small insurance agency like ours. Each of our agents could also get that many emails on top of the phone calls. We answer the phone every time as quickly as possible. Only time we miss a call is if both our lines are going and a third person calls in. That happens a few times a week and we call them back as soon as we are off the phone. Why do people call or email us? Well they need help and we are there for them and we are more than happy to help them through whatever situation they are in. Some common calls would be: I bought a car and need to make a change. I refinanced my house and my mortgage company needs proof of insurance, I need a certificate of insurance for my business, I just bought some commercial equipment and need to add it to my policy, I have a contract to do work for another company can you review it to make sure I am covered properly, I need a quote for my auto and home insurance, I need a quote for my business insurance. My rate went up can you help me to lower it, I was in an accident what should I do, My roof is leaking am I covered, The insurance company inspected my home and sent me this letter can you help, I need to make a payment, I need to add a driver to my policy, Do I need Worker Comp Insurance, How much would it cost if……. There are many more but you get the idea.
Interesting Fact #2:
90% or so of those calls or emails entail work to be done that could take anywhere from 5 minutes to 5 hours based on 1 conversation. Wow, really? Yes, the world of insurance is so much more complex than you would think. All those policy changes and questions above have to be processed and sent into the insurance company and then a follow up process with the customer starts to make sure they get a prompt response. We had a business owner call in about a building he was purchasing and you might be as surprised as he was that we need to know everything about that building: Year Built, what it is made out of, what type of roof, heating, electric, plumbing it has. How many Square Feet is it. When was it updated, how old is the roof, heating, electric, plumbing. Have there been any claims? Or someone could by a commercial vehicle and it is wild but we need to actually know all the drivers who drive it and all their info, how much the truck weighs, how far you drive the truck one way from the location of your business, how many jobsites you visit on average each day, is there a loan on it.
Interesting Fact #3:
Not Everyone Loves their Insurance. Who knew? We love it and we love our customers and treat them like family. As an independent insurance agency, we have contracts with insurance companies and have to adhere to their guidelines but we work for our customers. So, a big part of our job on a daily basis is trying to explain and help understand that a rate increase from an insurance company has nothing to do with the fact that you have not ever had an accident or claim and should pay less. We have a habit of smiling before we answer the phone to try an offset the face the person on the other end of the line is making. Usually by the end of the interaction we have turned their frown upside down. Life is too short to get so upset about insurance, especially when it is something you need and will help you in the most stressful times of your life such as a fire or vehicle accident.
In addition to the facts I mentioned can you believe the insurance companies require us to bring in new customers every single month? Someday we can talk about how we do that but we will leave that for another time.
If you took the time to read this I really want to thank you!