Three More Best Practices for Insurance Agents

Jared Seyl is the Farmers Insurance district manager for Denver. Over the years, he has witnessed how his best agents and agency owners do their jobs and pursue their passions. He observed that the most successful agents follow a certain set of best practices that set them apart from the rest of the pack. Below, he lists three of these best practices.

1) Customer Empathy. For Jared Seyl, Farmers Insurance is not just out to get revenue – insurance is an advocacy that seeks to protect policyholders from things that may happen in the future. The best agents ask their clients about what motivates them and what they fear and build relationships with their clients based on mutual trust and protection. As an agent develops trust with the client, he/she discovers new opportunities to help – a life insurance policy owner might also choose to insure his home, invest in new financial products, or get insurance for the rest of his family.

2) Availability. Clients expect their insurance agents to be available when they are needed the most, whether they need to file a medical claim, have a damaged roof fixed, or just want to talk about their existing policy. With smartphones, social media, and messaging apps easily available, there are many ways for clients to get in touch with their agents, says Jared Seyl. Farmers Insurance encourages its employees to be reachable, and to let their clients know when they plan to take a break from work.

3) Trustworthiness. Jared Seyl says Farmers Insurance is known for meeting and exceeding expectations, and this is also what clients expect of their insurance agents. When an agent performs a transaction, he/she is doing so as a representative of Farmers Insurance, and each successful transaction performed correctly adds on to both his reputation and that of Farmers. Conversely, fraudulent transactions damage not just the agent’s reputation, but also the company’s as well. Even clients’ reputations are at stake, especially if they have referred new clients to the agent.