Submission Narratives Matter

Commerical Producers:

If you're not including a narrative about your account when you submit it to the carriers, you're a dope. Sorry. Former underwriter here - and it's absolutely true. 🤷🏼‍♀️With the shortage of insurance talent coupled with reorgs and budget cuts, underwriters have bigger loads on their plates than ever.

Put yourself in their shoes for a moment:

- You receive 7 new submissions today from your assigned agencies.

- 5 have only Accord apps, haphazardly filled out with minimal information and no loss info. 🙄

- 2 are complete, including:
➡️ Class codes and exposures
➡️ Loss runs
➡️ Thorough narrative outlining -
👉 Exactly what the account does
👉 What they don't do
👉 What makes management proactive with safety and risk control
👉 Addresses any loss trends/large losses

Which of these would you spend your time on? 🤔

You must convince the underwriter why they can write this account at a competitive price and still make money.

In short - Put a bow on it. 🎀

Commercial insurance rates are incredibly controllable by the underwriter. Sure, there are base rates the company filed for that class of business in that state, but the amount of discretionary credit available for most accounts on most lines of coverage would blow your mind.

Want the very best price? Tell the UW where they need to be and why. The better chance an UW feels they have of writing an account, the more consideration they will give.

Submitting with no narrative is the quickest way to guarantee that you not only piss off your UW, but ensure that they just look for the fastest reason to decline to get it off their desk. (Trust me, I've done it.)

Producers, you must sell twice to write new business. First, sell the prospect that you are a better option than their current agent. Second, sell the UW on why they should give you a great program to propose.

It takes time and effort to get in front of a client to earn the opportunity in the first place. Put the same amount of effort into getting a great option from your UW or you're working way harder than you need to.

The barrier to entry in insurance producing is often quite low. Many times, if you can sell, you're hired.

So take the time to send high quality submissions and you'll quickly separate yourself from the pack and find yourself at the top of the pile, getting the most consideration.

Poor submissions are often the reason behind those times when you went up against a competitor who presented a carrier that you also represent, and you found yourself griping "we've never gotten that kind of quote from xyz carrier!" 😉

I promise, it's true. 😁