Future of Brokerage - Nailba

ceo insights
Perspectives is published for the
National Association of Independent
Life Brokerage Agencies
11325 Random Hills Road, Suite 110
Fairfax, VA 22030
(703) 383-3081
www.nailba.org
NAILBA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Raymond S. Phillips, Jr., CLU, LTCP
Chairman
Barbara Crowley
Chair-Elect
David Long
Secretary/ Treasurer
Dexter S. Umekubo, CLU, ChFC
Immediate Past Chairman
David P. Chittenden, CLU, ChFC, LTCP
Thomas L. Gilbert, CLU, ChFC, LTCP
Melinda S. Meyer
Jeffrey D. Mooers
Daniel E. Peterson, LLIF, LUTCF
Thomas Riekse, Jr.
James Sorebo
George C. Van Dusen IV
Stephen F. Walther
NAILBA EDITORIAL ADVISORY PANEL
Michael Cohen, CLU
Christi M. Daughenbaugh
David Johnston
Sheri Leaders
John McWilliams
Melinda S. Meyer
Jeffrey D. Mooers
Lori Payne
Laurie B. Prevette
Michael Tessler
NAILBA STAFF
Jack Chiasson, CAE
Chief Executive Officer
Kathy Allison
Director, Membership and the Foundation
Susan Klemmer
Deputy Chief Executive Officer
Susan D. Haning, CEM, CMP
Director, Business Development
Rachel C. Marineau, CMP
Manager, Meetings and Education
Meredith Maslich
Administrative Coordinator
Sarah O’Hanley
Manager, Exhibits, Sponsorships
and Advertising
John Tong
Director, Administration and Operations
Mark Valentini, MPP
Director, Government Affairs
Editor: Susan Klemmer
sklemmer@nailba.org
Advertising: Susan D. Haning, CEM, CMP
shaning@nailba.org
Design and Production: Blue House
www.bluehouse.us
Creative Director: Elinor Van Dyck
elinor@bluehouse.us
Designer: Katie Piwowarczyk
katie@bluehouse.us
Keep Offering Value
JACK CHIASSON, CAE
NAILBA CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Ihope you have all had a wonderful
summer! Vacation time
is (mostly) over, the kids are
(mostly) back in school, and I find
myself scratching my head and wondering
how the time could possibly
be passing so quickly. I’m sure I’m
not alone in this!
So, let’s talk about the future of
brokerage. In my mind, the future of
brokerage is as simple as this: Keep
offering value, and you’ll be fine.
Over the past 30 years or so,
BGAs have created a value proposition
that has become widely accepted.
Where BGAs were once
considered the “red-headed stepchildren”
(and I’ve heard worse!)
of the insurance industry, you are
now an accepted, highly respected,
and integral part of the business.
Carriers that wouldn’t even
consider talking to you all those
years ago came to see that maybe
you weren’t so “bad” after all. The
carriers’ goal (oversimplified) is—
and has been—to distribute their
products as widely as possible. YOU
made it easier for them to do so.
Over the years, you’ve not only
increased the distribution of the
carriers’ products, you’ve allowed
them to “off-load” some of their
expenses to you. You’ve been compensated
for it, of course, and
you’ve helped make them more
profitable along the way.
Times change. Product offerings
have increased, but there is
ever more research that shows that
Americans are still under-insured.
You’ve changed the way you do
things in order to better serve consumers—even
though they haven’t
always been your primary customers.
Many of you have added retail,
direct-to-consumer operations
to your business plans, and have
been incredibly successful at doing
so. You’ve found ways to both
increase your own businesses and
to distribute even more product for
the carriers. Current estimates are
that nearly a billion dollars—yes,
that’s billion with a “b”—worth of
insurance products are distributed
through the independent channel—that’s
you.
I can hear you asking, “So what
does all this have to do with the
future?”
You do things that the carriers
can’t do—or have chosen not to do.
You provide a valuable service—to
the carriers, to the agents with
whom you work, and to consumers.
To continue this success into
the future, you must continue to
provide that value. You must constantly
be on the lookout for “new
and improved” ways to demonstrate
this value every day. You must continue
do something that no one
else can do—or do as well. That is
how value is determined.
A comment that I have heard—
far too often, in my opinion—is
that when carriers can figure out a
way to do what you do in a cheaper
way, independent brokerage will be
finished. You—and we at NAILBA—
can’t let that happen. We all KNOW
that what you do is valuable; we
all just have to keep reminding everyone
else just HOW valuable it
really is!
As the organization that you
have trusted to represent your interests
and to provide educational
and networking opportunities for
you, NAILBA must continue to demonstrate
its value. As your business
changes and grows, so, too,
must NAILBA continue to change
and grow. We must be aware of the
changes in the way you operate your
businesses, and we must continually
be looking for new ways to help
keep you on the cutting edge.
We do this with our educational
offerings at the Annual Meeting
each year. Workshops are proposed
and designed by a group of NAILBA
members—people who do what you
do on a daily basis. Their day-to-day
challenges running their own businesses
helps them to understand
what BGAs need to know—where
the “gaps” are and what is changing
that you need to learn about.
For the past several years, you
have also seen that NAILBA’s Annual
Meeting General Sessions have become
more content-rich. We look
for speakers who can offer business-related
topics—on an advanced
level. We try to find those
who can help you make your plans
with an eye towards the future, and
not get mired in “that’s the way
we’ve always done it.”
As the times change, and the insurance
world changes, those that
are most able to adapt to those
changes are those that will continue
to be the most successful. NAILBA’s
mission is—and always has been—
to help you stay successful, to be
the best, most efficient, most VALU-
ABLE way to distribute insurance
products.
Keep up the good work, and I’ll
see you in Dallas in November!
www.nailba.org 11