The PIA Partnership

What is The PIA Partnership?

Founded in 1996 with start-up funding from PIA National, The PIA Partnership is comprised of senior insurance company executives committed to working with the American Agency System to increase market share by improving the dialogue between agencies and companies. Through its activities, The PIA Partnership identifies area of opportunity in the agency-company partnership and conducts solution-oriented research. Learn more about The PIA Partnership.

Participating Carriers

• Encompass
• Erie Insurance
• Harleysville Insurance
• Liberty Mutual Agency Corporation
• MetLife Auto & Home
• Motorists Insurance Group
• Progressive Casualty Insurance Company
• Selective Insurance Group
• State Auto Insurance Companies
• The Central Insurance Companies
• The Hartford
• Travelers

Agency Touch Points — The Voice of The Customer (Released December 6, 2011)

NO!!! New research by The PIA Partnership shows that insurance customers want what independent agents offer. In scientifically validated surveys of insurance customers across the country, The PIA Partnership found that:

• customers want value beyond price
• customers want regular proactive contact to help them be assured that their insurance coverage is comprehensive and up to date
• customers want other things that only independent insurance agents can provide

TAKE THE QUIZ! A brief 6 question quiz on our new Agency Touch Points quiz website takes agents through highlights of the survey and results, providing new insight on commonly held misconceptions that many independent agency personnel have been using to guide their personal lines sales and service.

PIA members need to take this quiz. And anyone in the agency who deals directly with personal lines customers needs to take this quiz. The results will most likely surprise you!

ALREADY TAKEN THE QUIZ? If you've already taken the quiz, then you are ready to access the complete Agency Touch Points website. Since insurance customers have expressed their desire for proactive attention to their insurance needs, they are opening the door to enhanced opportunity for your agency. The full website offers a variety of revenue building tools and resources agencies can use to maximize their “touch point” opportunities with customers and prospects.

Follow the appropriate link below to access the complete Agency Touch Points website:

• PIA members: Visit the complete Agency Touch Points website.
• Agencies appointed by Partnership companies: Visit the complete Agency Touch Points website. (You will need a username/password provided by the company. See list of companies below.)
• Other agents: To visit the complete Agency Touch Points website, you will need to become a PIA member. Please contact your local PIA association to join PIA.

Reaching Gen Y

Based on extensive focus group research with Gen Y age group insurance consumers, this online tool, developed by The Partnership, helps agents understand and reach this important age group. Beyond the research itself, this new online resource provides agencies with tools they can use to convert Gen Y age group prospects into loyal agency clients and customers.

Download a flyer about THE NEW Reaching Gen Y.

Visit the Reaching Gen Y website now!

Practical Guide to Successful Planning

PIA National and The Partnership have created a “Practical Guide to Successful Planning,” which is now available as an online reference and resource center for PIA members.

This is a tool created by agents - for agents. Its purpose is to assist agents in planning efforts within their own agencies and coordinating those plans as they work with the carriers they represent.

It does not matter whether you are new to planning, have had previous experience, or are currently involved in planning efforts, this tool can help you be more successful.

Using the Practical Guide to Successful Planning, you can select your own starting point and then proceed from there to access the right tools to help you be successful in your planning efforts.

Learn more about the Practical Guide to Successful Planning.

Perpetuation Central

A central resource to assist PIA members with:

• Perpetuation
• Business Succession
• Ownership Transfer

PIA National and The Partnership have created Perpetuation Central as an online reference and resource center for agencies to access as they plan and take steps to implement agency perpetuation or other form of agency ownership transfer.

It offers step-by-step guidance and assistance in identifying issues to be considered, creating a plan and locating available resources.

Learn more about Perpetuation Central.

The Value Difference

The Partnership's last deliverable, The Value Difference, is a unique educational program that helps independent insurance agents develop realistic and detailed plans of the business strategies for their agencies. It also provides the tools agency principals need to determine their agency's philosophy, define goals, develop unique plans and successfully implement, maintain and evolve them.

"The Value Difference is not a 'one-size-fits-all' plan, it is a process that enables agency owners to develop and implement their own unique plan," said former Co-Chairman of The Partnership, Scott Kuczmarski, vice president of independent agent sales and marketing for MetLife Auto and Home. "The program is structured into a series of three easy-to-complete half-day modules that agents can use separately or together. That is a key difference about The Value Difference that sets it apart from other programs that take a generic approach, and makes it more valuable."

Learn more about The Value Difference.

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