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More than ever, the lines between trusted partner and replaceable vendor are blurred by the economic realities of business.
As a result, customers now expect and demand more from anyone seeking partner status. In keeping with a longstanding tradition of understanding and anticipating client needs, Assurant Inc. recently surveyed more than 150 agents, brokers and senior decision makers to identify and rank the most pressing issues and characteristics of a valuable insurance partner in these difficult economic times.
Here’s what they said:
- Customers expect unwavering commitment to their primary business objectives versus value-added services. Seventy-two percent of respondents expect partners to help them meet profitability goals as a measure of loyalty; 78 percent reveal they expect superior customer service during and after the economic recovery.
- While respondents ranked an immediate response as the single most important characteristic, they do not expect it to take place in person. In fact, only 35 percent believe that maintaining a high level of face-time is an important characteristic for a business partner.
- Interestingly, customers do not underestimate psychological factors driving the economic recovery. While fundamentals like financial stability and trust were deemed important, maintaining a positive attitude ranked the single most important requirement for driving effective business partnerships in the future.
What does all this mean for you? Assurant Employee Benefits is committed to offering proactive solutions to help your business better perform, adapt and lead. We recognize that to maintain our partnership status, we must have the vision to identify business opportunities even in these tough economic times.
Now, and when the smoke clears, we believe our focus on being a responsive business partner, whose first priority is to serve you, will cement our partner status as we look with great potential toward the future.
