4 Ways to Help Clients Get Smart About Insurance Shopping

The ongoing global pandemic has driven up costs across the board for small business owners — unpredictable shipping costs, stock shortages and labor scarcities have created an environment of crushing uncertainty.

According to a recent NFIB Small Business Jobs Report, 47% of small businesses experienced job openings that they were unable to fill. On top of this, healthcare costs are exploding for small businesses across the country, forcing many employers to cut benefits and shift a more significant share of the expenses to their employees.

These sharply increasing business costs make it more critical than ever for small business owners to have an insurance agent they can trust to help protect their bottom line, ensure they understand their insurance needs, and shop around for the right insurance provider. The priority for you and small businesses should be finding an insurance carrier that deeply understands what a company does to ensure accurate coverage and cost savings.

Small businesses are the backbone of the US economy and deserve to be supported by their insurance companies. If your agency serves small businesses, there are several ways to support your clients, ultimately allowing them to save money, time, and resources they can put back into their organizations.

Ensure your customers have the right type of insurance for their business.

If companies don’t have insurance, or the correct type of insurance for their business, the financial, health and safety risks can be devastating. For example, without workers’ comp insurance, workers who have life-threatening accidents may not be able to pay for the healthcare they need, and employers open themselves up to enormous legal battles. The security of insurance — the right insurance — enables small businesses to take risks, grow and hire safely.

Help your small business clients navigate the many types of insurance in order to determine what best meets the needs of their business. A very small business, like one operated by only one person out of their home, may not need workers’ compensation coverage, but it often requires more property and liability insurance than is provided in a simple homeowners’ policy.

Shop around and explore options.

As you may know, shopping around can unlock significant savings on insurance and make a real impact on your clients’ bottom line. With workers’ comp insurance, for instance, there is a common misconception that insurance costs are fixed, but it’s actually variable and by shopping around you can unlock more affordable rates for your clients.

We’ve found many small businesses overpay for workers’ comp by up to 30%, a difference that has an even greater impact today as small businesses navigate the challenges of COVID-19. One Pie customer, a New York-based outdoor contracting company’s previous insurer changed their business classification during their annual audit, hitting them with a $50,000 bill that threatened to end their business altogether. The company’s trusted insurance agent helped them shop around for a new provider, which brought them to Pie where the company was accurately classified, resulting in the savings they needed to continue operating and even grow their business.

Whether your clients are in a similarly dire situation or simply curious about possible savings, you can add immense value simply by shopping around.

Take advantage of flexible billing.

Flexible payments have seemingly taken over how consumers make decisions on everyday purchases. These newer options have finally made their way to commercial insurance and are something you and your clients should consider taking advantage of.

Often called pay-as-you-go, many companies now offer the opportunity for policyholders to pay for their insurance on an individual payroll cycle which can reduce upfront costs, improve overall cash flow, and simplify the audit experience. Pay-as-you-go helps make the commercial insurance experience even more cost-effective and stress-free for small business owners.

Talk to your clients and understand their billing needs. Especially if your client has seasonal staff, paying based on their actual workers’ comp needs for that payroll cycle — rather than based on an estimate made at the beginning of the policy period — could not only improve their cash flow, it could reduce the risk of a financial hit when their annual audit comes around. So, when shopping around for insurance, ask each carrier what flexible billing options are available to your clients.

Work with providers who put small businesses first.

Historically, small businesses have been underserved and neglected when it comes to finding commercial insurance. Small business premiums have typically been too small for traditional carriers to insure them.

With the spread of digital technology and the adoption of data-driven pricing, modern-day insurtech companies are fully embracing the small business client, even solely focusing on their insurance needs. Through technology, intelligent and granular pricing and underwriting have greatly improved. Better pricing, coupled with easy-to-navigate agent tools designed with speed in mind, means savings can be passed on instantly to your clients, and you can quickly bind policies for more of your clients than ever before.

Do your research and partner with forward-looking, innovative carriers that not only care deeply about the small business customer but your efficiency as an agent as well.

As uncertainty in the US economy continues, these are a few simple ways you can support small businesses and ultimately enhance your business, as well.