03/18/09 1:00pm
Hello all and welcome to the second entry in the Beelerinsurance.com blog.
Today I want to talk about something that is fresh on my mind.
Should you do business with a faceless out of town stranger?
The Story:
Just this morning I called on the proprietors of a dry cleaning business in my home town who happen to be husband and wife.
I wanted to remind them that we talked last November about Beeler Insurance quoting their personal insurance plan in April 2009.
Free No Obligation Quote 
Free No Obligation Quote
I also wanted to remind them that I invested about 3 hours of my time back in November answering questions they had about their current Home insurance policy with another carrier/agency.
I wanted them to know that I am looking forward to at least getting the opportunity to quote their plan and that I considered quoting their insurance rewarding since I had been doing business with them for over 10 years.
I knew that based on our conversations in November that they were not insurance savvy and could use the assistance of a professional agent to assist them.
I felt confident in my abilities to guide them through the rules and regulations and I also felt that the time invested in our relationship last November would uniquely position me to at least provide counsel about the amount and type of coverage they might need and provide them with a quote.
If you are in the insurance business you may know where this post is leading and if not you will see very shortly.
I knew that their renewal/expiration was 04/03/09 so I began contacting them by email the first week of March with no reply. I phoned them again 03/07/09 to remind them that I wanted to quote their plan and reached the wife. She informed me that they have been shopping with 2 out of town agents; one in Birmingham Alabama and the other in Lawrenceville GA. She went on to say that she has already received quotes from each agent and both would quotes would provide a savings of $2,000/year +.
I asked her if I could still quote her plan and expressed some concerns about omissions that many out of town agents/companies are prone to make.
She advised that she would fax the quote sheets the following week but never did.
I got tired of sitting around waiting
so I went by their place of business just today and spoke to them and reviewed the out of town quotes.
Results:
You know what I discovered?
Mistake 1:
Both out of town agents quoted the home as Masonry construction instead of the actual Frame (for you non insurance people this trick reduces the HO insurance rate by 25% BUT If the customer, not the agent, were to have a total loss claim they have had a bad day).
Mistake 2:
Both out town agents did not list an at fault accident for a 20 year old driver that was 3 years and 4 months old. However, each respective company that they were quoting rates/charges violations and accidents for a 5 year period.
RESULT:
The quoted premiums of both out of town agents will increase drastically and the $2,000 savings the prospective customer will be eroded drastically.
What's my gripe?
My first impression is to be a little offended that they didn't call on me when calling on the out of towners that don't do business with them.
You would also think this prospective customer would be grateful for learning of the out of town quoting errors and would allow me to quote their plan, right?
Wrong, this customer advised me that they would get with the out of towners to obtain updated premium quotes from them and went on to say "right now saving money is the only thing I am concerned with".
I need your help
I was quite baffled when I left the business and didn't know what to think or how to act. I am considering going back to the prospect to further discuss this with him.
Please email me at chris@beelerinsurance.com and let me know if you think I should:
- Go back to ask the customer to allow me to quote his plan after he gets the updated out of town quote?
- Go back to ask me to quote based on the same information that the out of towners quoted?
- Go back to the customers and tell them that I don't appreciate the way they treated me and that I won't use there business if the won't consider doing business with me?
- Let it go and move on the next prospect and let the prospect know of no ill will?
Thanks for taking the time to read this post and I'll have another one soon.
Chris Beeler