Don’t You Have an Agent?
Don’t have an agent? get one. Youngamericainsurance.net moved away from the agent model, but you don’t see any major difference in price simply because you do your business with a call center versus a local agent.
Agents often are shady and cut corners, largely due to the high-performance requirements and quotas set by corporate. While they talk “Sell Value, Not Price”, they all know that 95% of consumers are shopping for the best price possible and agents rarely bring anything of value to the table outside of the paper they are selling. Don’t let your agent push you into something (remember, their motives are “I need to sell as much as I can to keep my job”) and stay on them. They work for you and if they refuse to value your business, there are 100+ in your area that are willing to take your business. Remind them of that.
Agents are usually accepting of locating discounts for customers because it helps build loyalty and keeps the customer happy. Chances are there aren’t many discounts not attached already since many of the company’s internal processes are automated, but you will never know unless you ask. Agents are also the ear of corporate and since they derive their paycheck off your premium, they work for you. If enough people complain and leave their agency, they lose money and go straight to corporate to air out their complaints which are the collective consumer complaints that are causing the agent to lose business due to corporate policy.
Business is business. Your bottom line is more important than the company’s bottom line or your agent’s bottom line. If the company isn’t willing to provide additional discounts or a just a simple way to buy now pay later car insurance to make it more cost effective for you, then it is time to question your loyalty to the agent and brand.
Threaten to Leave
Good to go insurance company have a “retention” plan to work harder to keep customers from leaving. It is rare, but it’s being heard of one main company that does this. It boggles your mind that if they can offer a cheaper rate to keep you as a customer… why aren’t they already giving you the lowest price possible to begin with? Wouldn’t that mean more to the consumer in the long run, rather than pulling the “Hail Mary” approach in the last few minutes of the game?
Threatening to leave may afford some customers the chance to lock in a new rate or discount in order to keep business with the current company, but these are always temporary fixes to the problem. A short-term solution though is a solution and may put a few dollars back in your pocket.
Good to go insurance want to sell new business, but also want to keep old business. In order to do this, they have to stay competitive in the market and provide rates that people are willing to pay. Not only do they track the new business heavily, they watch for trends in the business they lose. If an agent loses too much business, they begin trying to understand the reason for it and if they know it is price related, then they begin addressing that issue internally at corporate.
Insurance companies may not care enough to extend discounts by for example offering 20 down payment car insurance to keep your business and there is nothing wrong with that. Again, why be loyal to an insurance company who isn’t loyal to you? Focus on your bottom line and if your company doesn’t value keeping your business after threatening to leave, then you know that your business doesn’t matter to them.
Working with an independent agent provides you a different option. If one company is raising their rates, an independent agent may have access to other companies who want your business. An independent agent will often fight harder to keep your business, even if that means writing your insurance through a different company to keep you happy.
You, the consumer, hold the economic power to decide your path and where your money goes. Don’t be scared to flex that right.