Agents get more than just product from Surround Insurance

Surround offers innovative products to insurance agents as well as selling scenarios, blog content, and social media support.

Agents get more than just product from Surround Insurance

We were pitching the team of a very well-run independent agency last week to explore an appointment by Surround. It was the third meeting in our sales process which means, at that point, both sides can see the value in working together. We call the third meeting "Selling Scenarios."  Basically, for 30 minutes we give the agency team a dozen new sales tactics on how they can sell Surround products to Millennials and Gen Z - think Shark Tank meets Insurtech.

Are your insurance carriers pitching new ideas to your agency?

What's great about this meeting is we pitch the agency, and they give us rapid feedback on what works for them. It's a low-pressure environment because we know at least 2-3 tactics are going to work for the agency, and they get to judge the quality of our ideas. It helps us begin the relationship from a position of trust.

At the end of the first 15 minutes, we ask the team to prioritize which tactics work best for their agency. From there, we explain how we're going to support them by providing budget, design, and creative content. Yes, we give away these ideas for free. And yes, we invest the time and resources to support the early development of our relationship.

What do agency owners think?

We've given this pitch a few times now, so we sort of know what to expect, but this meeting was different. Just before wrapping up, the Agency Owner took a moment and said in front of her entire team, "I'm impressed. You're not just trying to appoint us and then move on to the next agency once the agreement is signed. You're giving us new ideas and building a relationship. We never see that from insurance carriers, even ones we've been working with for years."

We were floored. We're new to the insurance distribution game, so we just assumed our approach was pretty standard. After all, this seemed like the most agency-centric thing to do for our potential partners. It turns out, we were wrong.  Not enough new ideas are coming out of carriers, and that's unfair to agents trying to compete against direct-to-consumer players. It's time for a change.

A sample pitch

In case you're interested, below are some of the things you get when you work with us...free of charge.

Is your carrier pitching you with new ideas?
Surround's Shark Tank style pitch for insurance agents
This is general information based on questions our customers ask us. It may not be right for your specific situation. You should get some advice from a licensed insurance agent (like us!) before you make a decision on your own insurance.