Mike Callon remembers the time before computers, when he used to have to organize all his contacts in specialty lines and niche markets with nothing but stationery.
“I used to have a thick file with little bits of paper that would read ‘morticians liability’ or what have you,” he said. “Back in the old days, when a broker called me as a Company representative I could say ‘We can’t write that, but your next phone call should be to so-and-so,’ it added a lot of value to your role.”
For this reason, Callon and Ross Totten helped develop Marketing Assist in conjunction with Independent Broker Resources Inc. (IBRI) using myinsuranceshopper as their portal. The web tool allows all 12,574 IBAO members to search among 32 insurance markets for hard-to-place risks and niche products. The list of participating markets continues to grow.
The results are designed to be user-friendly, and provide easily accessible contact information for each of the companies’ special risk department.
Ontario brokers can currently use the site for free through their IBAO fees, and Callon says that about 15% of them actively do. Right now he’s working on reaching out to other 85% to inform them of the service as well.
He remains optimistic, given that feedback has been so positive thus far. In fact, it’s appreciated both by brokers and markets, as real-time searches provide both with valuable data for strategy-driven analytics.
“This is fantastic. Wow, we’ve finally reached the 21
st century,” said Ann Kibler, commercial lines assistant manager, Erb and Erb Insurance Brokers Ltd. Rob Campbell, Commercial Marketer, Sutherland Insurance, states “we have set up a password and will be using this as one of our commercial tools”.
Presently the IBAO provides their brokers with a real asset at no cost to brokers and no cost to the association,” Callon said. “We’re currently in negotiations with the other provincial associations, and in the near future we will know if they will be offering their member offices free access to this new and valuable marketing resource.
Callon and Totten invite any interested parties to contact them at either
[email protected] or
[email protected].
