Beyond Wall Street

We’re in the news business and this isn’t exactly news. It’s more like another confirmation of something we have all known for a long time.

Here is the not-so-new news flash: Small business owners trust their independent insurance agents and commercial insurance carriers more than they trust other financial services businesses.

See, told you. That’s not really new. But it is always good to have our faith reaffirmed.

The latest affirmation comes from a study commissioned by The Hanover Insurance Group Inc. that found that trust is the single most important consideration for small business owners when choosing an insurance provider, with 86 percent of the survey respondents rating trust as “very important.”

“In a time of considerable economic uncertainty, small business owners want to know they are working with an agent and a carrier they can count on,” said Michael Keane, president, small commercial at The Hanover.

Keane says it’s critical for companies to establish and maintain the trust and confidence of those they serve, especially in today’s market where trust and confidence in the financial services industry are at an all-time low.

The Hanover study also found that small business owners have a higher level of trust in independent agents than they do with professionals in other financial services industries. The majority of small business owners reported that they consider independent agents as being trustworthy.

The finding is worth repeating in these times as thousands of protesters host “Occupy Wall Street” events across the globe to force change within the financial system.

Of course, the protests are not really about the property/casualty insurance industry, and certainly not about Main Street insurance agents. The fact that independent agents and their carriers are perceived as having a higher level of trust shows they are part of the solution, not the problem. Wall Street types unhappy about being blasted by protesters and politicians and even their customers might want to take note of how independent agents and their carrier partners go about their business.

Results for the survey are based on online interviews conducted with 501 small business owners with less than 30 employees.

Keane says the trust that small business owners place in independent agents is one of the reasons Hanover chooses to distribute its small business products and services through independent agents. Hanover is not alone. That’s why they call independent agents the Trusted Choice.

Topics Agencies