Age of Indiependence: Competing with the Goliaths

In this episode of the Agency Intelligence podcast miniseries, Age of Indiependence, host Katlyn Eggar interviews Alejandro Velez, Director Of Strategic Alliances at Quantum Assurance International. Alejandro talks about what agencies can learn from call centers and what call centers should be learning from agencies.  Episode Highlights: Katlyn introduces Alejandro Velez. (0:58) Alejandro mentions that he’s a giant insurance nerd. (2:40) Alejandro mentions that the way he got into insurance was very happenstance, and when he worked at a call center insurance company, he went to the claim side. (8:38) Alejandro thinks that there’s a certain level of criticalness to the understanding of insurance. Because when you're purchasing insurance, what you're literally purchasing is the claims experience and claims protection should the need arise. (9:22) Alejandro mentions that insurance takes a bad day and prevents a bad life. (12:14) Alejandro shares that when he was in claims, he was defending the arbitrations coming in from the other insurance companies that were suing their insurance. (12:45) Alejandro shares that when you’re in a traditional call center setting, you’re talking about your average handling times and what percentage of the time you were available to take calls. Therefore, the focus is always going to be speed. (16:29) Katlyn shares that one of the best tools in her tool belt is the quality of consultation and the connection, the conversation with her client, the time and care that she’s spending with her client, and keeping those aspects as a part of the heart and soul of her agency. (19:27) Alejandro mentions that in his 15 years of being an insurance nerd, he hasn’t figured out a way to make a solid recommendation without knowing what it is you're protecting. (25:22) Alejandro mentions that quote live is where the customer calls in and they get the quote before ending the call. (26:45) Alejandro shares that you must not lose the opportunity to build rapport and connect to the customer. (30:19) Katlyn shares that there's such a focus on referrals and marketing in the local community that sometimes, an online presence can accidentally get left by the wayside. (35:37) Alejandro thinks that nowadays, having an online presence offers a level of validity and credibility. (36:26) Key Quotes: “I do enjoy reading or listening to books. But really, my heart goes into the insurance world. I am constantly reading insurance journals. I am heavily interested in what's happening in the industry as a whole.” - Alejandro Velez “Everyone wants to make an impact, everyone wants to help others and unfortunately, the insurance industry gets a little bit of a bad rap when it comes to that. Because no one really wants to deal with insurance. But when you need your insurance, you need your insurance.” - Alejandro Velez Resources Mentioned: Agency Intelligence We Got Your Podcast Reach out to Jason Cass Katlyn Eggar LinkedIn Alejandro Velez LinkedIn Quantum Assurance International Advertisers: Veruna Tarmika