By Keri Herlong
Most underwriters are trained to answer the question in front of them. The influential ones are already thinking about the next three. Strategic thinking involves considering not just the task (or in the case of an underwriter, the submission) in front of you, but the future context of that task/submission.
Order-taking vs Trusted Advisor
Influential underwriters don’t just “take orders.” They consider what may be needed based on what they know about the industry and work to be a partner to their agencies.
For example, on a recent file audit, there was an email in the file from the underwriter who noticed a location in the agent’s submission bordering a state outside of our operating territory. That would not have been a serious concern, but the business owner had been expanding their operations over the last year. A transactional approach to writing that business would have been to simply quote it. However, the underwriter recognized the combination of expansion and proximity to a state out of our territory, and brought it to the agent’s attention. She questioned if the insured planned to expand into the unauthorized state, because she was thinking about future potentials. If the answer to that question was “yes”, my company would not have been the best solution. Yes, we could have written the account today, but as soon as the insured decided to open their location in the unauthorized state, the agent would have had to find another company to write only that location (and we know how excited underwriters are about that). The more likely scenario is that the agent would have canceled our policy to place all exposures with one carrier.
What – really – is “strategic thinking”?
Most people have heard the cliché “thinking outside the box.” Strategic thinking means taking the time when someone asks you a question or gives you a task to ask yourself “why”? Like I mentioned in my first blog where you think about “what’s in it for me”, strategic thinking involves considering “what’s in it for them” – your customer, agent, and company.
If your goal is to write $5,000,000 in new business, and all you care about is that premium number, you’re not considering what’s in it for your company. They naturally prefer profitable business, but lack of strategic thinking means you will write any account regardless of its historical profitability to get to your target. If your goal is to just crank out quotes so you can move on to the next task, you’re disregarding what’s in it for your agent and customer – which is the expectation of being a consultative advisor and providing preferred coverage options. Strategic thinking involves considering each submission and how – or if – it fits into your territory portfolio as well as the company’s overall profile, and doing the best job for your agent and customer.
Consultative > Transactional
Strategic thinking is not task-oriented. It is goal-oriented and solution-centered. The focus of completing a task is transactional – you asked, I answered. Done. Strategic thinking considers the context behind the question, what the initially proposed solution may result in, and focuses your thought process on the next three questions yet to be posed. Strategic thinking looks for the ultimate goal, not just the “right now” ask.
Influential underwriters: don’t just look at what’s in front of you. Think about what might happen in the future based on what you see today. Developing strategic thinking skills makes you a trusted advisor, not just someone who processes a request.
Strategic thinking is the difference between an underwriter who fills a role and one who shapes outcomes. It’s a skill you build deliberately – by slowing down, asking one more question, and training yourself to see around the corner. Start practicing it on your next submission, and watch how the conversations you have with your agents begin to change.