Flip the "Insurance Pyramid"

Win more deals by changing the way you think about risk

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Whether you write commercial, benefits or work comp, protecting an employer against risk starts way before insurance. So many in our industry think of insurance as the ultimate safety net when in actuality, insurance is the least effective form of risk management. Yet, a vast majority of agents sell just insurance.

That’s not to say insurance isn’t critically important - it is. But for so many claims, the right steps would have prevented it from ever happening.

Could a work comp claim have been prevented with a stronger safefy program?

Could an employment lawsuit have been prevented by uncovering compliance gaps?

Could expensive medical claims have been prevented with an effective wellness program?

How to Truly Manage Client Risk
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This is where “flipping the pyramid” comes into play. On the left above, you’ll see the way most agents talk about risk and insurance.

The biggest piece of the puzzle is insurance—but that only helps after an incident occurs.

There’s some focus on containment of incidents that occur.

There’s just a small amount of prevention to avoid the incident in the first place.

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Our philosophy is to flip that standard pyramid, to the graphic you see above on the right.

We focus most attention and energy on preventing incidents, through safety programs, wellness initiatives, compliance support, and more.

When an incident does occur, we put a big focus on containing that incident. For a workplace injury, for example, we focus on limiting days away from work to reduce the impact on the ex-mod.

Finally, insurance is the smallest point at the bottom, there to protect for those incidents that do occur.

Why is this so important for agents?

Using this philosophy provides two enormous benefits to you as an insurance agent: client retention and prospecting success.

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You can have a much bigger impact on your client’s business when you focus on prevention. Instead of just being there to quote rates and handle claims, you become an indispensable business partner who helps the client reduce incidents, lower claims, and drive down premium costs as a result.

On the prospecting side, this is an excellent way to intrigue a prospective client and challenge the incumbent agent. I’m certainly not the first to suggest providing value beyond insurance to hook your prospects. Nowadays, nearly every agency has some kind of “value-added services” to offer employers.

The difference you’re offering is results. You’re not just giving them an HR system or a monthly newsletter. When you focus on prevention-first, with the right tools, you are impacting their employees’ health and safety, and the company’s bottom line.

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Need some additional tools in your toolbox to help clients prevent incidents and reduce their premiums? Check out our web apps made for agents, by agents, to deliver exceptional value to your clients.

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