Faith in insurance agents restored!

After I posted my article on “An insurance agent is more than just an agent” on my social media platforms, I expected to get some responses from agents/advisers since I was a potential customer. And I was pleasantly surprised at the replies I got and wanted to share.

Read part 1 of what happened here: “An insurance agent is more than just an agent”

A quick recap of what has happened when I realized that I did not have any critical illness coverage:

Agent A: My current agent whom I contacted to ask for quotes for early CI plans.

Agent B: Whom I asked for quotes after my not-so-pleasant experience with Agent A

So here’s sharing what I have been through after the above:

Agent C

Agent C

Agent C was the first to reply me via Instagram, and how witty are his replies! Despite being new to the insurance industry as per what he has shared, Agent C took to initiative to start a conversation. And it also did not deter him when I told him that Agent A was in the same company as him.

Though it did not lead to me having a meeting with him, I applaud him for his attitude and creativity. And I look forward to seeing more rookie agents like him. If you are reading this Agent C, I hope to see your submissions for the Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers in the coming years!

Agent D

Agent D also sent me a message via Instagram. After I informed Agent D that Agent A is in the same company as her, and that the products that are going to be recommended are probably going to the same, or that it might just be a waste of time, her reply was “Yes, the plans might be the same but the customer experience will be different for sure :)”

Knowing that she is a very busy person, I was heartened with that reply, and with that, she convinced me to have a meeting with her. Few days later, I had a Zoom meeting with her which lasted for almost 2 hours that evening.

She started off the meeting presentation with a photo from my Instagram which I was impressed and surprised at, as it shows that the presentation is customised to me. (But for those gentlemen that are agents, I wouldn’t suggest to do this because it might seem like you are stalking the person, especially if you are ‘meeting’ for the first time.)

Agent D was able to relate and explain the terms that Agent A clearly didn’t explain to me when he sent me the 64 pages ‘bi’ to look through. The whole meeting was simple, easy to understand and addresses my needs, in terms of the protection gaps that are missing in my policies.

Agent D understands if I did not get the policies from her, but one thing that was very apparent is, the agent/adviser that you have can make the whole experience very different as a customer/client even if they are from the same company!

Agent E

Agent E

Sent me a message via LinkedIn but saw my post on Facebook. Though there may be some truth in what he has mentioned above, I feel that there are still insurance agents who are truly representing the client’s and have their interests in mind, and not just blindly ‘selling’ their company’s products.

And no, I didn’t meet up with Agent E.

Summary

Ultimately, we as customers, need to evaluate what is best for us. I eventually sat down, compared the policies, and have settled on what I need, based on my budget.

I hope that more agents/advisers continue to provide the ‘customer service’ for your clients, and not stop after they have bought 1 policy from you. The little things do matter as well, and it is also what makes the difference to your clients. At least it did to me.

For the insurance community as a whole, I hope that there will be more encouragements and positivity, rather than bringing down fellow comrades or company.

From this experience, I am heartened to find that that there are still good agents/advisers out there. So the next time an agent/adviser approaches you, do give them some time.

So which agent would you have chosen?

You can read more about the changes in the CI definitions from 26 August 2020 here:

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