Agency to Sell Insurance

When Terry Aki first took over the insurance agency he now owns five years ago, he struggled with how to differentiate his firm.

But now he has come up with a solution. “The solution is to stop offering solutions,” said Aki.

His firm, Boston-based Boston P/C Insurance Problem Solutions, was about to launch a new solution for contractors when Aki sensed a problem. “A bell went off,” recalls Aki.

That was the customer doorbell. Another walk-in customer was looking for personal hand lotion and eye rinse. “But your signs says you sell solutions,” the woman complained.

Aki said that since he has switched to talking about insurance, customers actually take his calls. “I think they finally understand what I do,” he said.

Agency consultant Pepper van Eyetrick said Aki is courting trouble by letting customers know what he really does. “Eventually, he will need to present a value-added proposition that includes enterprise risk management, ancillary limits analysis and elevated hyperlocal services,” said van Eyetrick. “Or he might need an errors and omissions solution himself.”