Lately the television landscape is full of all different types of insurance commercials. One girl names her car Brad and wrecks Brad. Another says you save xxx% by switching to their company. Another discusses mayhem. Finally, one says save money in 15 minutes by switching to their policy.
I have often compared insurance to the telecommunications industry. I do that because independent insurance agents are much like telecom agents; with both you have many choices. Each commercial is trying to sell you why their company is better than the next.
I want to use the one about Brad for this blog. The premise is that you drive your car off the lot, wreck it and you get left holding the bag because it is not worth what it was when you bought it. If I was looking for new insurance I would want the one that gave me a new car if I wrecked a new car. Of all of them, that one stands out the most in my mind.
If you go online and buy auto insurance, you are probably going to go with whomever is the least expensive and maybe has a feature or two that you are looking for. How is that different from how most businesses buy voice and data services? They go online, look around find something that looks good. They either sign up, or maybe make a phone call or two. I think this is a very bad way to buy insurance or telecom products for a few reasons.
First, I would never buy either online. I bought auto insurance online once and that was a nightmare when something happened. Since then, I use an Allstate agent that I know personally and he always helps me with any questions or claims on both auto and home. Since I am in the telecom business, I would never have any reason to buy that online, as I pretty much know the ins and outs of things. But, I always think it is better to have a relationship with your sales person or agent no matter what you buy.
Second, let’s go back to the Brad example. When you buy auto insurance, you want to make sure you get the most money possible when you have an accident, but you don’t want to pay more money than necessary. Don’t you think you should look at your telecom expenses the same way? If you buy telecom online, you are going to have to make a call into a call center when something goes wrong and hope for the best. If you have a relationship with your agent you can call them or walk into their office and work out how best to fix or replace Brad.
If you have a good relationship with your telecom agent you can do the same thing. Let your agent do the heavy lifting. Let them make the calls for you when your service is bad or completely down. I have written many blogs about why to not buy from a direct sales person from a company who is paid to hunt, kill, eat and repeat. They are not there for you after the sale, but an independent telecom agent is in the business for the long haul. They want you to renew and refer you to other customers. They want to help when your bill is messed up or Brad gets in an accident.
Simply put, TelecomMedic is there for you when Brad breaks down, has a major failure, or gets totaled. We know how to get things fixed more quickly and how to get you out of a contract if you have multiple problems. Give us a call or send us an email. We are here to help now and we will be there for you when Brad breaks or it is time to upgrade to a new Brad. Learn more!