Most people don’t think about this at the time of purchasing insurance. What they think is happening is their agent is getting them the best coverage for the lowest rate possible. But what is actually happening is their agent is only getting them the best price that their company offers. Big difference! An independent agent shops for the best coverage and best pricing through several different companies until you help decide what is the best fit. The other agents are just doing the best they can with what they have. It is like Mondo Duplantis at a local track meet here in Lafayette. Every other pole-vaulter is jumping as high as they can and every sprinter is running as fast as they can. Mondo only jumps and runs as high and as fast as he has to in order to win.
Why would your family and friends send you to some sleazy cat selling insurance out the trunk of his mom’s sedan? They wouldn’t. If your family is satisfied with the service that they received, you can bet that they aren’t dealing with some high level commercial scam artist.
Once you finish the paperwork, high performance agents know that is only the beginning. Now they can really get started with the service part of the arrangement that large insurance companies miss. You should feel as though you have a service agent waiting to help. Not an automated operator that can field your call at anytime, following a wait on hold for up to four or five minutes. I know the voice tells me that my call means a great deal to you, but my wait time and menu option navigating doesn’t really feel that way.
You should have your insurance agent's number saved in your phone. If you have to fumble through paperwork to find the right number to dial depending on the accident that occurred, you have the wrong agent. You should be able to call and have them get to work. Could you imagine getting your purse or wallet stolen and yelling at a near by police officer and before they pursue the perpetrator, they ask you a laundry list of questions that you can’t answer. Yea right! When accidents happen, leave it to the experts and rest easy.
Have you ever had a contract that right when you realized you don’t need the product or the service any longer that your “automatic renewal” just kicked in fourteen minutes before you called to cancel? Yea… that sucks. What if your agent called you and discussed the upcoming renewal and asked even more questions in order to get you a lower rate as opposed to locking you in to the same coverage and price? Well, that is what high performance agents do for their clients. You aren’t just a number to them. They know that if they exceed your expectations, you aren’t going to stray far from the reservation.
Just because we need insurance, doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t enjoy the process of buying it and having a valuable business relationship with our agents. Choose your agent wisely.
This blog post was authored by a client of Thimmesh Kastner Insurance using his real world experience with his agent Levi Kastner.
About the Author: Tyler LaFleur
Tyler LaFleur is the owner and operator of HPHI (High Performance Health Institute). HPHI is a hybrid of Functional Medicine, Health Coaching, Corporate Wellness, and Direct Primary Care.