Summary
When the market gets tough, managing general agents (MGAs) get tougher. They have to be as creative as possible in this market, said Doug Grahn, director of marketing at Smith, Bell & Thompson (SB&T). In the tough, soft marketplace, identifying the evolving needs of the client base is very important, said Kevin Hastings, managing director at Jansen & Hastings, a full-service MGA. In a softening market, the MGA looks for cross-selling opportunities and to increase brand promotion for its roughly 300 products. If firms don't become innovative in a soft market cycle, you're going to end up seeing your premium writings reduced dramatically. One of the most important things SB&T is doing during the soft cycle is making its programs as easy as possible for brokers to access, Grahn said.
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Extract
Tough and Tougher
When the market gets tough, managing general agents get tougher. They get inventive. And they tend to knock on a lot of doors.
"We have to be as creative as possible in this market," said Doug Grahn, director of marketing at Smith, Bell & Thompson. He's been with the Burlington, Vt.-based MGA firm for nearly 20 years."You really have to look at how you're spending dollars and what's most effective," Grahn said. "Going into this year I said, 'what are we doing that makes sense, and what are we doing that doesn't make sense, and what's in...See the full content of this document
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