RESEARCH OVERVIEW
Since 2002, nearly 40,000 independent agents and brokers have participated in Deep Customer Connections' research into the working relationship between carriers and their agents and brokers. This channel is critical to providing coverage to people and businesses across North America. Our research supports the effectiveness and sustainability of that channel, positively affecting those millions of people and businesses as well as agents and carrier personnel.
history
Based on our work in the property and casualty insurance industry, we identified that how easy it is for their agents to write business with them is a critical issue for carriers. We knew that making progress on that issue would be limited because we also found that across the industry there was:
- No common understanding of the factors that contribute to making it easier for agents to write business
- No shared language carriers and agents used to describe it
- No hard data about how important it is to independent agents' buying decision
- No agreement about the relative importance of the different factors
- No tools to measure carriers' performance against those factors
To solve those problems, we developed a comprehensive model of what makes it easier for agents to place their business with one carrier over another. In 2003, we launched our first industry survey. We use other tools, such as interviews and focus groups, in our research to understand and improve the effectiveness of the carrier-agent relationship. We've also surveyed and interviewed hundreds of carrier executives. Nearly 40,000 independent agents and more than 3,000 carrier executives have participated in our research into the carrier-agent working relationship.
Methodology
Deep Customer Connections applied experience in several industries, including the property and casualty insurance industry, and developed a comprehensive model that identifies the elements of what makes it easier for agents to write business. Our model initially was validated by agents and carrier executives and has been further validated over the past seven years by the 38,000+ independent agents and 3,000+ carrier executives who have completed the survey. (Note: there are approximately 275,000 licensed independent agents in the United States, so our research represents a highly significant portion of the agency population.) Hundreds of carrier executives have sought out and used Deep Customer Connections' survey results.
Deep Customer Connections surveys independent agents and brokers to arrive at answers to the following questions:
- How important is ease of doing business to the decision of which of the carriers you represent gets your business?
- How important are each of the eleven factors that make up ease of use?
- How do the individual property and casualty carriers you represent perform against those factors?
- What are the one or two most important things carriers could do to make it easier to write business with them?
Clients make operational and resource decisions because of what they learn from Deep Customer Connections research and reports. From sustained attention to their performance, one client climbed more than 20 places in the national rankings over three years.
