State of the Industry- 3 Reasons Insurance Will Never Be the Same Again

The State of the Industry3 Reasons Insurance Will Never Be the Same Again

n What Happens When Trends Are Ignored

n Changes in Insurance Consumer Behavior

n Changes in Carrier Behavior

n Changes in Risk

n A Simple Action Plan for Agents

T H E O R G A N I C G R O W T H S ER I E S

by Michael Jans | CEO Agency Revolution

www.agencyrevolution.com | 888.208.9239 | Copyright 2014 Agency Revolution, Inc. 2

Executive Summary

After McKinsey and Co. released the Agents of the Future: The Evolution of Property & Casualty Insurance Distribution report this summer, the industry reacted predictably.

First, fear and panic. My email browser lit up with messages from clients and friends who felt anxious and frightened about the projections. Then, industry strongholds (and legitimate advocates) declaring that the outsiders at McKinsey were dead wrong, didnt understandthe industry or were issuing opinions, not facts.

I have no bias for or against McKinsey. They earned their reputation the hard way. Serious research and analysis. Penetrating insights and observations. (Even when you disagree with them.) Youd have a hard time finding a serious business executive who thought they were out of touch or rash. As I read their report, I see their observations based on the very same empirical evidence available to all of us who are serious students of our own industry:

n Local agents wrote 80% of new Private Passenger Autos (PPA) in 2003. They only wrote 63% in 2010.

n Since 2005 the Independent Channels PPA market share decreased from 34% to 31% (while the Direct Channel increased from 21% to 28%).

n In 2010, 22% more quote requests were bound online than the previous year. (38.8 million online quote requests were submitted in 2010.)

So do these changes in consumer behavior signal the undoing of the agent channel? The short answer is no. And Ill explain why in this report. But does it sound the alarm bell for agents to change, re-strategize and re-assess their value proposition. The short answer is an unequivocal yes. That, too, should become clear in this report.The knee-jerk response of many industry stalwarts - advocates who I count as friends - is reactionary, inadequate and potentially dangerous, causing harm to the very constituency they intend to protect.

In this State of the Industry report you will learn about:

n The nature of disruptive trends and how other industries were revolutionized by innovative technology and trendsn The substantial and irreversible changes in insurance consumer behavior.n The changes in carrier behavior and what this means to local agents.n The impact that user based insurance (UBI) will have on the auto insurance industry and 4 trends leading to an accident-free world.n Recommended actions and strategic responses for retail agents.

There are signs now...that the economics of the traditional agent model are beginningto unravel. McKinsey & Co.


What Happens When Trends Are IgnoredIn this section well briefly review examples of how trends have disrupted otherindustries so that we can recognize similar signals in our own industry.

In a world thats changing, standing still means that youre losing ground. Since theintroduction of digital technologies, the world economy has witnessed the disruption even the destruction of numerous stable and solid industries and companies that didnt adapt to larger trends.

While its tempting for the small business owner to focus their attention on their day job the consuming tasks of running their day-to-day operation the serious entrepreneur keepsone eye on the world, monitoring trends and global changes.

Lets glance at the nature of trends and how the Old Guard mindset affected the leaders in other industries. Hopefully this will serve as a wakeup call for many agents.

Case Study: BlockbusterBlockbuster failed to recognize the trends in their industry, and their world got turnedupside down. But it couldve turned out much differently for the video store giant. In theearly 2000s they turned down a deal that would have allowed them to purchase Netflix for $50 million.

But in 2008 their CEO Jim Keyes made the famous quote in an interview with Rick Munarriz at the Motley Fool, Neither Redbox nor Netflix are even on the radar screen in terms of competition.

Two years later Blockbuster filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy after losing $1.1 billion. At that time the floundering companys value had diminished to $24 million, while Netflixs value had increased to around $13 billion. And Blockbuster just recently announced that they will be closing their last remaining 300 stores by early January 2014. Their story is a perfect example of the effect disruptive trends can have on industry giants.

Neither RedBox nor Netflix are even on the radar screen in terms of competition...Jim Keyes, Blockbuster CEO


Case Study: KodakAnother lesson about the importance of monitoring and responding to disruptive trendscomes from Kodak. Even though they created a working prototype of the first digital camera in 1975 they failed to see the writing on the wall regarding the move to digital photography.

Steve Sasson, the Kodak engineer who invented the digital camera presented it tomanagement they essentially said, thats cute but dont tell anyone about it. Although Kodak would remain healthy until the mid-1990s they would later fail to respond to theconsumers shift to digital photography and filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2012.Kodak failed to recognize the shift from film to digital until it was too late. Their complacency was fueled by the fact that for decades their sales and profits rose. Therefore, management continued to simply refine existing products instead of focusing on innovation. They also suffered from the Old Guard mindset that says, why fix what isnt broken?

...it was film-less photography, so managements reaction was, thats cute, but dont tell anyone about it.Steve Sasson, Kodak Engineer


Case Study: General ElectricFortune called Jack Welch the manager of the century. And The Financial Times said GeneralElectric, which Welch was the CEO of from 1981 to 2001, was the worlds most admiredcompany in 1996 and 1997. Why?

Because Welch understood industry trends. In fact Welch said it best, The best executivetoday is the executive that can see around that corner whats coming. Not when youre inthe tunnel and the train is coming right at you. Anybody can make change then. The job is to change before thats necessary, and its the hardest thing in the world.

Its easy to change a company when the fire is burning in the back of the room. Its much to change a company because you smell something or feel something coming at you [inanother direction]. And thats the challenge all of you have, is to not sit on what youre sitting on. Always be paranoid that somebody is going to take that away from you. Be thinking about the next jump. Its almost like a chess game, you think the next move before its upon you.

Its often said that Welchs brilliant leadership was not the result of so-called leadership skills or attributes like charisma or inspiration. He made keen strategic decisions based onobservable trends. As the head of GE, he sold more than 200 businesses worth over $11billion, using that capital to purchase 370 strategically located businesses.

Jack Welch, Chairman and CEO, General Electric, 1981-2001

Be thinking about the next jump. Its almost like a chess game, you think the next move before its upon you. Jack Welch, General Electric Chairman and CEO


Trend #1:Consumer Behavior Has Changed

In this section well review key takeaways from major reports by respected names in including: McKinsey & Co., J.D. Power, comScore, A.M. Best, The Independent Insurance Agents of America, and Celent. I encourage you to consider this information with an open mind and resist the urge to draw any conclusions before seeing the data.

Clearly, the consumer has gone digital, but thats not the only consumer behavior thatschanged. Theyre also thinking about insurance differently. Ill explain that in the three forces that are driving commoditization (e.g., price is the predominant advertising message today).

Well also review J.D. Powers Overall Index Score which reveals remarkably powerful insights on what it takes to thrive as a retail agent. J.D. Power asked, How likely are you to respond to a price increase? See how many consumers would shop and who would stay no matter what.

As you study this data youll notice some alarming trends. But, if you look closely, youll also see some silver linings. For example, youll see consumers are most satisfied when they interact with a local agent who uses emerging technology. So while consumer behavior is changing it does not mean that this is the end of an era for local agents. But you do need to pay attention if you want to be around in 5-10 years. Lets get right into it

What Did McKinseys Report Say?Since McKinseys report titled, Agents of the Future: The Evolution of Property andCasualty Insurance Distribution is the report that has caused the most controversy lets look at that first:

...gradual shift in the value that carriers and consumers....place on...local agents, whichis increasingly calling into question what role they will play in the future.

They go on to say

There are signs now, however, that the economics of the traditional agent model arebeginning to unravel.


But, lest we think they are a lone voice in the wilderness, lets consider what some otherrespected sources are saying too:

...emerging trends are dramatically reshaping customer expectations in the personalauto insurance market.

The internet has dramatically transformed consumer behavior and shifted theirinteraction with insurance providers, as well as their expectations of quality...

So either the most respected industry observers are all passing around the same pitcher of after school Kool-Aid, or, maybe we should pause, take stock and strategize.Local agents still continue to make up the majority of auto insurance purchasing. But as you can see from the chart on the right, overall consumers are shifting towards purchasing auto insurance through less personal outlets.

What Do the Numbers Say?You may not agree with McKinseys implications but that shouldnt stop you from looking at the numbers yourself so you can draw your own conclusion. So lets take a look at some important industry surveys and statistics so you can be armed with the facts and then decide if this industry is really being disrupted or if its all hype.

The Consumers Gone Digital: They Expect Us To Do The SameA common thread found in these studies is that the consumer has gone digital. More andmore people are using the internet to research insurance and get quotes. As you can see in Figure 1, 71% of consumers use the internet to research insurance before making apurchase. Compared to only 6% who use the Yellow Pages.


Consumers are not just spending more time researching insurance online, theyre alsorequesting more quotes online. In 2010 there were 38.8 million online quotes submitted, a 21% increase over the previous year. And of those 38.8 million quotes, 72% went to GEICO, E-surance, and Progressive (See Figure 2 below).

And what about all those consumers who have not purchased online before? Well,according to comScore in 2012, 35% said they were likely to do so. In 2009 only 30% said they were likely. Clearly, the consumer is rapidly becoming more comfortable doinginsurance business online, just as they have become comfortable doing business with other industries online.One last fact worth considering when it comes to the consumer going digital comes from comScore, The number of customers who have only interacted via digital channels in the past 12 months has nearly doubled in size, compared with 2007, and now represent approximately one in six customers. So one in six people ONLY interact with this industry online.


How Technology Affects Customer SatisfactionJ.D. Power discovered a direct-line connection between the way consumers interact with the industry and their overall level of satisfaction. Further, they identified a powerful connection between consumer satisfaction and client retention, likelihood to recommend and price elasticity.

J.D. Power identified five main ways people interact with the insurance industry.

They either have:

1. No interaction.

2. Interaction with an agent only.

3. Interaction with an agent who uses emerging technology.

4. Interaction with an agent who uses traditional technology.

5. Interaction with a non-agent only.

Then they analyzed the customer satisfaction level of each of those five ways. Can you guess which way had the highest customer satisfaction rating? If you guessed #3, agents who use emerging technology, then youd be right. This was true for both Baby Boomers, who had an overall satisfaction index score of 852, and Generation Y who scored 822. See figure 3 on previous page for more information.

J.D. Power said, ...emerging trends are dramatically reshaping customer expectations in thepersonal auto insurance market. In other words, the internet has changed consumersexpectations. Remarkably, their report did not analyze the quality of the communicationinteractions, but clearly determined that the mere use of emerging technology generatedsubstantial financial benefits for the business.


Magic of 852According to the research, an 852 Customer Satisfaction Index score will, overall, deliver areward of a 95.5% retention rate. However, a lower end score of 750 will punish the business with a meager 82% retention (see Figure 4).

What does that mean for the typical agency? It means that for every million dollars inincome, the agency would see an annual bump of $130,000 and a remarkable cumulative10-year increase of $3,694,595 by increasing their retention from 82% to 95.5%.

Maintaining a high Index Score is also important if you want your customers to refer you. For example, the research shows that if you have a score of 852 then roughly 63% of yourcustomers definitely intend to recommend you. But only 29% if your score is 750. So thebottom line is that customers are happy when you use emerging technology and whencustomers are happy you make more money. I mentioned this quote from A.M. Best earlier but its worth repeating here, The internet has dramatically transformed consumer behavior and shifted their interaction with insurance providers, as well as their expectations of quality...


Trend #2:Carrier Behavior Has Changed (And the Rise of the Direct Channel)

Consumer behavior is not the only force thats leading this industry to a tipping point. Local agents also need to be aware of major changes in carrier behavior.

One of those changes is what I call carrier personification. Theres now an advertising persona most of the major direct channel brands. The reason this is so significant is because its a signal to the retail side of the industry that carriers are increasinglywilling to develop a perceived sense of relationship directly with the consumer and bypass the agency channel altogether.


More Carriers: Well Work Directly With Customers.Their willingness to bypass the local agent is evidenced by the fact that P&C carriers went from spending $1.7 billion in advertising in 2002 to $5.9 billion in 2011 (see Figure 5). Thats an astonishing 347% increase in advertising in the last decade. Theres no other industry that Im aware of, that has seen such a significant increase in advertising in a single decade.

Lets look at who the big ad spenders are (I think you can guess who #1 is). Well also look at the result of what that type of advertising has done in terms of acquiring market share for the top 10 private passenger auto insurers.

Well also review the auto market distribution by channel so you can see the trends over the last 15 years. And finally we will review the combined ratio by channel in order to determine which channel is most cost effective.


Big Ad Spenders (And What Its Done for Them)As you can see in Figure 6 the company who spent the most in marketing in 2011 wasGEICO. The direct insurer spent $993.8 million on marketing in 2011 (up 10% from the$902.7 million they spent in 2010). Never before has a single car insurer spent that much on marketing. GEICOs ad budget is not only high in terms of total amount spent but also in the percentage of its overall ad budget. For example, according to SNL Financial, insurers spent 2.4% on advertising on average. Whereas GEICOs ad budget represented 6.5% of the premiums it wrote in 2011. In comparison, State Farms ad budget was 1.7%.


How Much Market Share Will Money Buy?So what will $1 billion a year in advertising buy you in terms of market share? Well, see foryourself. Figure 7 shows the percentage of market share for the top 10 private passengerauto insurers in the U.S. and how its changed since 2002.

Although State Farm and Allstate maintained the #1 and #2 positions respectively, theirmarket share has diminished. Farmers went from #3 to #5. Progressive maintained their #4position but their market share increased from 5.8% to 8.4%. And of course, the biggest leap was GEICO, going from #6 at 4.8% to #3 at 9.7%, a major expansion in market share.You can expect GEICO and Progressive to continue to grow and take market share from the captive and independent channels. In fact, Warren Buffet said, There is still more than 90% of the auto insurance market left for GEICO to rake in.

Concentration of Carrier Market ShareAnother trend thats been happening over the last 15+ years is the concentration of carrier market share. In 1995 the top 10 carriers represented 58.8% of the private passenger auto market share. Fast forward to 2012 and this grew to 69.8%, an increase of 18%. Also, in 1995 the top 25 carriers represented 69.8% of the market share and in 2012 that grew to 83.6%, an increase of 19.7%. So were also seeing a significant consolidation trend amongst the top carriers.


U.S. Auto Market Distribution by ChannelSo how has this affected the captive and independent agency channels? Lets take a look.Figure 8, from A.M. Bests report on market share, compares the auto market distribution by channel based on premiums written. Starting at the bottom youll notice the independent agents market share was at 31% in 1995 and in 2012 theyre also at 31%. You may think, Oh, no real change there. But look at the middle of that chart. In 2005/2006, when the consumer was really responding aggressively to the internet as a legitimate channel for insurance, an erosion started thats continued to this day. Market share went from 34 % to 31 %, a loss of 10% of volume in 5 years. This trend will continue unless independent agents do something different (more on that later).

The captive, or exclusive agency channel has also dropped, going from 48% to 44%. So,overall, the agents share went from 80% to 73%. And of course the direct channel is whats eating away at the other two, going from 20% to 27%.


What about Homeowners and Small Commercial?Now lets take a brief look at homeowners and small commercial lines. As you can see inFigure 9 there has been a minor erosion in homeowners, so that is something to monitor.But the small commercial lines still seem to be in the sweet spot for both the captive andindependent agent, being virtually untouched by the directs. Middle market and largecommercial lines remain the safe harbor of the independent channel.

Billion Dollar Question: Who Has the Best Combined Ratio?Which distribution channel is more profitable when it comes to combined ratio? A popular argument I hear from independent and captive agents is that they do better underwriting, so carriers will always have a bias for the agent channel. And, yes, its true. The loss ratio of the independent channel (70.8) and exclusive/captive channel (74.1) is less than the direct channels loss ratio (74.2).

However, when you add expenses and compare the combined ratio of all three channels,which is what the CEO of a carrier looks at, then youll notice that the direct channel posted the lowest combined ratio of 95.0 (see Figure 9). The agency channel posted an average combined ratio of 97.3 and the exclusive/captive channel combined ratio was 98.2. And if were talking billions of dollars, an extra $2.30 out of every hundred dollars adds up fast. Which is another reason why carriers are willing to bypass the agent to increase their market share.


Trend #3:An Accident Free World

Now, lets discuss the third major trend in our industry: moderation in risk that couldpotentially have a huge impact on private passenger auto premiums. Simply put, think ofthe impact that an accident-free world would have on the auto insurance market.

According to a recent report by the research and consulting firm, Celent, titled, A Scenario: The End of Auto Insurance: What Happens When There Are (Almost) No Accidents, there are four forces at work moving us to an accident-free world. The report describes a dramatic but likely scenario in which local and federal governments in the U.S. would encourage or regulate the use of three currently available technologies: telematics, collision avoidance and automated traffic law enforcement. Additionally, they identify an emerging technology that may receive wide adoption sooner than most people anticipate: driverless cars.

Consequently, there may be a very different world in regard to the amount of premium and the amount of risk that flows through, not only the agent channels, but the industry in general. And now is the time to prepare.


The 4 Technologies Leading To An Accident-Free WorldHeres a brief summary of the four technologies

1. Telematics: one example would be Progressives Snapshot. This is also known as UserBased Insurance (UBI). Progressive has recorded over eight billion miles in actual drivingrecords.

2. Automated Enforcement: this would be things like automatic red light cameras and stop light cameras.

3. Collision Avoidance Systems: auto manufacturers have built several different collisionavoidance systems and identified the ones that have had a significant impact on reducing the amount, and severity of accidents.

4. Robot Cars: last year, Google announced that their self-driving cars logged some 300,000 miles and that, there hasnt been a single accident under computer control.To get a better understanding of how Celent predicts The End of Auto Insurance as weknow it, see Figure 10 below. In this diagram you can see how these four technologies could theoretically go from an available technology, to voluntary adoption by the masses, to a preferred technology and finally to a technology thats mandated by legislation.

When participants in the insurance telematics industry were asked, Will user basedinsurance (UBI) impact the auto insurance industry, and if it will, how great will the impact be? 95% of those experts said that this will have a medium to large impact on the industry.


A Quick Summary of What These Trends Are Telling the Retail AgentFear, despair, panic on one end. Denial on the other. Neither extreme serves the interests of the retail agent.

Rather, we advise a sober discernment of precisely what the trends are and a seasoned and appropriate strategic response to each of them.

A very brief summary of each of the three sources of change looks like this:

Changes in consumer behavior. The consumer in every generation has gone digital.They have, so to speak, voted with their fingers, using their computers, mobile phones and mobile devices to interact with the insurance industry. The silver lining? They have made this clear: use emerging technology, and we will reward you. And those rewards are material: in retention, customer acquisition and loyalty. Note: while the majority of research focuses on the personal lines customers use of technology, our own firms research reveals that the commercial lines buyer likely spends more time researching insurance options online, having so much at stake with their purchase.

Changes in carrier behavior. The carrier community, as a whole, is moving in one direction: toward a more direct relationship with the consumer. Just as they did with the introduction of direct bill, carriers are absorbing more consumer-facing roles traditionally owned by the agent: service, sales, and, of course, underwriting. Several major carriers will continue to absorb agent market share. Others who rely on agents will likely increase their consumer connection, even expanding their direct sales channels.However, the savvy agent or broker will see a silver lining here, as well. The carriercommunity is increasingly focusing their message to the agent: your job is to get and keep good clients. As the value chain adjusts, the agents role is increasingly clear. Market. Thats your job.

Changes in risk. Potential modifications in risk could affect the entire industry top tobottom. If, in fact, we even approach an accident free world through the adoption ofaccident-prevention technology, the volume of premium dollars flowing through eachchannel could be significantly reduced. That said, its harder to find the silver lining. Thesavvy agency strategist should consider this information carefully, creating lean systemsthat deliver customer value as efficiently as possible, while pondering appropriatediversification to the agencys book of business.


A Simple Action Plan for Local AgentsWill you be like the CEO of Blockbuster and stick your head in the sand or will you choose to think like Jack Welch when he said, Be thinking about the next jump. Its almost like a chess game, you think the next move before its upon you.

If you believe these trends require a strategic response, then I urge you to take action. And even though the forces at work in the industry are complex, your response to them doesnt have to be.

Turbulent times cause confusion. A common tendency is to examine the competition and copy them. For example, agents frequently look at the direct channel successfully selling on price and think that will be their winning strategy. First, attempting to out-GEICO GEICO is foolhardy. Second very briefly summarizing GEICOs successful strategy as price driven is superficial.

One model to guide strategic decision making comes from recent research conducted bythe consulting and account firm of Deloitte, published in the book The Three Rules: HowExceptional Companies Think.

The 3 RulesTwo of Deloittes directors, MichaelE. Raynor and Mumtaz Ahmed,analyzed the financial statementsof 25,000 companies that weretraded on the U.S. exchanges from1966 to 2010. From thatinformation they identified threerules of behavior of the mostsuccessful companies.

Rule #1: Be Better before CheaperIn other words, compete on value differentiators other than price. Innovation is the business of creating value. The retail agent must, increasingly, seek to add value, not just pass it on. The local agent must get out of the commodity business and find ways to delight your customers. For more information about this please email us and ask for a copy of my book, The Agency Survival Handbook at [email protected].

Rule #2: Revenue before CostThis means you need to prioritize increasing revenue over reducing cost. Carriers areincreasingly clear on their expectations of agents: get and keep good clients. That is the job of marketing, and, as other, former agency roles diminish, the agents job becomes clear: be a great marketer. For more information about how other agents have successfully grown, please email us and ask for a copy of The 10X Workbook at [email protected].


Rule #3: There Are No Other RulesYes, that is Rule #3. If you do the first two nothing else matters. It really is that simple. Now obviously the execution of these rules is complex and not easy but the big picture focus is very clear. You need to focus on innovation and marketing.

Are these rules new? They seem to substantiate on empirical evidence what the greatmanagement guru, Peter Drucker advised of 50 years ago:

Because the purpose of business is to createa customer, the business enterprise has two and only two basic functions: marketing and innovation...marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs.Peter Drucker


Conclusion.Do these trends signal the unraveling of the agent channel?A quick glance at another but related industry may give us a glimpse of the future. The travel industry relied heavily on an agent pass through distribution system. The internet and the consumers comfortable acceptance of it dramatically changed that industry. to the surprise of many observers many travel agencies benefitted richly from that disruption. While two-thirds of travel agencies were eliminated over a 15 year period, the number of air-miles written through the remaining agencies grew by an astonishing 370%.

As we look to the next 3-5 years in the insurance industry, its likely that well see feweragencies. But those who remain will be bigger, faster, more adaptable and smarter.The future belongs to those who master two skill sets: marketing and innovation.


Bibliography

McKinsey & Co. (2013). Agents of the Future: The Evolution of Property and CasualtyInsurance Distribution. Retrieved from, http://www.mckinsey.com/clientservice/Financial_Services/Knowledge_Highlights/Recent_Reports/~/media/Reports/Financial_Services/FutureAgents_V_FINAL.ashx

comScore, Inc. (2011). Online Auto Insurance Shopping Report. Retrieved from, http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Presentations_and_Whitepapers/2011/2011_Online_Auto_Insurance_Report

comScore, Inc. (2012). Online Auto Insurance Shopping Report. Retrieved from, http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Presentations_and_Whitepapers/2012/The_2012_Online_Auto_Insurance_Report

J.D. Power and Associates. (2012). Insurance Shopping Study: The Role of the Web inShopping for Insurance. Retrieved from, http://img.en25.com/Web/JDPower/12_4894_ISS_MD%20FINAL_043012.pdf

A.M. Best. (2013). Special Report: U.S. Auto Insurance - Trend Review. Distribution Trends Continue to Shift in the Private Passenger Automobile Market. Retrieved from, http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/purchase.asp?record_code=216745

Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, Inc. (2011). Property-CasualtyInsurance Market: Opportunities & Competitive Challenges For Independent Agents &Brokers. Retrieved from, http://www.independentagent.com/Resources/Research/SiteAssets/MarketShareReport/default/2013%20IIABA%20Market%20Share%20FINAL.pdf

Celent. (2012). A Scenario: The End of Auto Insurance: What Happens When There Are(Almost) No Accidents. Retrieved from, http://www.celent.com/reports/scenario-end-autoinsurance


Acknowledgements & GratitudeMy job, as I see it, is to look deeply at the insurance industry and tell the truth as I see it. Ideally, if I see a problem and that is not a difficulty these days I can find or create a solution, package it and deliver it. (Or, more likely, the members of my team at Agency Revolution will create that solution.) Hopefully, it shows up on the desk or in the lives of people who share similar values and want to fight for the retail delivery system (or maybe just fight for their own agency). Best of all, it may show up with some elegance, and, God willing, some beauty, too.

As they say at the Oscars, I have too many people to thank and apologize to those I missed. But, at the very least, I must acknowledge:

n Jeff Yates, who provided an inspriration to everyone who fought this good fight. Enjoy your retirement, my friend.

n Kathy Gorman, who has pushed me to deliver my best, and doesnt hold back if I can get better.

n Mark LaLonde, who remains one of New Englands relentless warriors for good.

n Tom Reid and Deb Ambrose, who help Canadian brokers grab the future of their dreams.

n Kitty Ambers, who has asked me on repeated occasions, to say something that matters. I hope I fulfilled.

n And, last, but not least, my friend and proofreader of many years, Mary Ann Jestel, who quietly but gently spotted my numerous errors. You, too, enjoy your retirement. (I hope I didnt wear you out!)


Michael Jansis the CEO and Founder of Agency Revolution. Independent Agent Magazine called him the Insurance Marketing Maven, and Professional Agent Magazine called him a marketing genius. His clients often call him the Millionaire Maker because of the powerful marketing and

business strategies he delivers to insurance agencies.

He has created, or consulted on, marketing campaigns for 213 different insurance niches. Michael has coached, trained and consulted with more than

11,000 agency principals over the last 20 years and is a popular speaker at industry events. He is the author of The P&C Marketing Bible, The CSR Money Bible, The Agents Road Map, The Agency Survival Handbook and over 37 courses, programs and workshops on marketing and business strategy for insurance agents.

Michael was the Executive Vice President of the Professional Insurance Agents in Oregon,Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska for seven years. And he ran the fastest growingaffiliate of The Certified Insurance Counselor Program. Prior to that he was the ExecutiveDirector of several non-profits in the areas of poverty eradication, refugee resettlement and community action.

His company, Agency Revolution, provides digital marketing solutions to insurance agencies and employs over 30 people in Bend, OR.

Agency Revolution actively supports the work of Meals On Wheels, which was founded by Michaels father, Paul Jans, in 1955.

For more information...Michaels State of the Industry Address was first delivered at the 2013 Insurance Marketing Boot Camp in a live, two hour presentation. To find out how you can get a copy of this presentation, please call 800-606-0477.

To schedule a free demo of the Agency Revolution Digital Marketing System visit:www.agencyrevolution.com/request-demo

You can also connect with us on:

Facebook (Company Page): www.facebook.com/AgencyRevolution

Facebook (Michaels Page): www.facebook.com/MichaelJansOnline LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/michaeljans


What industry leaders say about Michael Jans:

You can trust Michael Jans to tell the truth. Especially when we dont want to hear it. As much as it hurts, pay attention. The future of the agency force depends on it. Brian Barrick, Nonprofit Insurance Services, PA

Michael Jans looks the insurance industry square in the eye - and tells the truth. Agents would be wise to listen.Ely Kaplansky, Kaplansky Insurance Agency, MA

Michael Jans isnt just the best marketer in the insurance industry. Hes our best philosopher. Pay attention to what he is saying.Jeff Rounds, Libke Insurance, WA

Nobody looks deeper into the soul of the insurance industry than Michael Jans.Tammy Leseuer, Bancorp Insurance, OR

When I met Michael he was known as the bad boy of insurance marketing. Now he is the good guy for insurance success.Keith A. Savino, Warwick Resource Group LLC, NY

Take charge of your future.Schedule Your Demo Now.Call 888.208.9239 or visit www.agencyrevolution.com

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State of the Industry- 3 Reasons Insurance Will Never Be the Same Again

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