Having been in this profession for 38 years, I have had the pleasure of meeting some wildly successful agents. They tend to have two things in common: they are good sellers and they are technically sound.By technically sound, I mean that they are policy wording nerds who are experts on policy language, forms and requirements. They actually read through policies. They understand and appreciate the nuanced distinctions of how different companies provide their coverage.
When I transitioned from underwriting to sales in 1986, we were in a hard market. Having been a large account underwriter with a major carrier proved to be a big advantage. With capacity limited and underwriters looking only at their very best opportunities, many brokers making sales based on price were out of luck. I used the expertise I had developed to go after complicated accounts and basically wrote the underwriter’s home office referral report for the underwriter. It worked.
When I met with clients to collect applications, I always requested copies of their policies as well.
A major national nonprofit that raised a significant percentage of their budget by holding 10K runs across the country had athletic event exclusion on their GL and yet was paying a premium that considered the 10 k exposure. When I pointed out how they were getting taken advantage of in this way, I was able to secure a BOR and become the sole broker on the account.
Paying attention to forms and becoming a forms expert pays off exponentially. People respect and trust expertise.