The future looks bright for Idaho Farm Bureau when it comes to Commercial Lines growth!

 

Not only are we located in a beautiful state that is leading the country in population growth on a percentage basis, 2.1% from July 2018 to July 2019, but we are pro-business, less litigious, and have fewer catastrophic events than many states. As CNBC’s “Climate for all 50 states” put it recently, Idaho received the most points based on our strengths in cost of doing business, business friendliness and economy, followed closely by cost of living and quality of life. What’s not to like about doing business in Idaho?

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So, with all those accolades about Idaho it is no secret that we have a major initiative to grow commercial lines at an accelerated pace over the next few years, and beyond. When people move in, we need more restaurants, hotels and motels, retail stores, auto repair, mini-storage and contractors to build those homes.

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Hold on, not so fast, we’re not the only ones that see the benefit to doing business in Idaho. Over the past ten years or so, several well-known insurance carriers have also taken note of what the future may hold for the intermountain region (specifically Utah and Idaho), including Auto Owners, Acuity, EMC and Cincinnati, to name a few. These and others have set up shop in our very own backyard! All quality insurers also concentrating on growth from a region that makes it very easy to do business.

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But with all this competition, how do we expect to differentiate ourselves? As we all know we are in an industry of competitive convergence, to simplify, we copy each other. Whether it’s technology, policy language or coverage enhancements, we copy each other. If it works, we copy. And, there is nothing wrong with that. However, we can set ourselves apart. It does take a little effort, but it is also NOT rocket science! We can break our tasks into three categories, people, process and product. This is how we’re going to do it.

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PEOPLE

With all the benefits technology has brought us, this is still a people business, it can make the difference between a leader or an also ran. If we listen to the customer, pay attention to our time service standards, and treat others the way we want to be treated, we will be fine. This does NOT mean over accommodating; it means doing the right thing for Farm Bureau Mutual. We have great people, that know Idaho, that is a big advantage.

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PROCESS

We must make it easy to do business with us. We must leverage straight through processing (rules-based underwriting by exception), with as little touch as possible. From an underwriting perspective, that means only asking those questions that bring value, not the nice to have stuff. It means using common sense in our underwriting decisions, and it means holding our agents and ourselves accountable.

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PRODUCT

We must keep our rates and our products sharp. We need to stay focused on those classes we will designate as a target market; this could mean artisan contractors, mini-storage, restaurants, etc. But all carriers target these classes, pretty much yes, they do, however, it is easy to create products that are cumbersome and loaded with bells and whistles that don’t sell. Remember, there is virtually nothing we can create that no one has not already thought of. But a well-thought-out product and execution of the strategy for that product can mean the difference between success and failure. We need to listen to our agents and policyholders and always ask the question, “What do you need”?

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We have created the new product development team for a reason, to stay abreast of the competition, monitor their filings, and react quickly to changes in the marketplace. We are excited to have this team. Once operating on all cylinders, we are quite confident that the team will give us a much-needed boost in going toe-to-toe with the competition.

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As an executive team we could not be more excited about the future. In the not too distant future, a few of those competitors might just think twice about setting up shop in our backyard.

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John Dunlop, Vice President of Underwriting

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