Consultative Broker Briefing - V. IV, No. 8 - "Broker" is not a Dirty Word!

The Consultative Broker™ Briefing
Volume IV, Number 8
A Free Publication of C.R. Ekern & Company
888.670.1177
www.crekern.com
Copyright, C. R. Ekern & Company, 2002

“Broker” is not a Dirty Word!

I was delighted to read that the IIAA has changed its name. The organization is now the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America. Congratulations to the IIABA for recognizing the changing dynamics of our industry. See our recent Briefing on “The Lost Art of Broking” for more on this topic.

In the five-year history of C.R. Ekern & Company, we have been on a mission: To educate, train, and inform you concerning your changing role as a consultant. We chose the trademarked term “Consultative Brokerage” to describe our methodology. Here are the reasons why:

The term “agent” refers solely to your relationship with the carrier. When a client says, “You are my agent,” that label is incorrect.
The term “broker” is a more appropriate description of your relationship with most of your larger clients. After all, don’t you really represent their best interests?
When you bring in resources to resolve client issues, you are acting as a broker. In many of these cases, it has nothing to do with the insurance policies. In these cases you are acting as a Gatekeeper of Resources.
Many sophisticated clients are much more comfortable referring to their representative as a broker. When we approach them as agents, they are confused about our role.

There is one more very important reason we chose the term Consultative Brokerage. The successful brokers of the future must demonstrate value by impacting their client’s Total Cost of Risk (TCOR.) You can do this by surveying the entire cost picture and being more than simply an insurance agent (i.e. you must be a Gatekeeper.)

Consultative Brokers are learning and practicing ways to think outside of the box. As the insurance marketplace continues to harden, you understand as a Consultative Broker that you can impact your client’s costs in many ways beyond their insurance premiums. Consultative Brokerage is about understanding and demonstrating the deployment of specialized resources, in addition to providing insurance.

If you keep reading, we will keep talking about these and other Consultative Brokerage issues!

Best regards to all Consultative Brokers,

Rob Ekern
President
C.R. Ekern & Company

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Thank you.
C.R. Ekern & Company