I woke up at 3:00 am…..this CPAP machine is doing it’s job…I felt wide awake and rested..but I figured if I got up at 3:00, I’d simply go back to bed at 5:00 and wake up sleepy at 6:30….so I had the good sense to rollover and dream my dreams….my energy level is up too….I don’t come home and take naps..nor do I sleep on the sofa at night anymore…I shoulda coulda listened to the world when they told me getting one of these things was a good idea three years ago.

So, we are negotiating with this insurance company over something called a book roll (that’s when we take one company’s business and give it to another company in total)…really nice folks, but then when it comes to a million dollars, most folks are…they sent in an “expert” who left remarking how he thought each of the accounts was awesome, and how profitable and how acceptable the whole thing would be….gave me a hint of optimism……

But I know how many of these companies work…and the closer we get to “deal” time…the colder their feet seem to get…..such was the case with our conference call yesterday..

I had the entire staff in my office…and the company guy came by to direct things….we got “Influential Underwriting Guy” on the phone….

“Overall we really like the book of business..(Overall??????)  .there are only five or six accounts we won’t be able to handle…(HUH?????)  and we are going to do everything we can to make sure YOU don’t leave any commission income on the table…because we want YOU to make as much money as possible”……double HUH??

For those of you who don’t know the insurance lingo, let me interpret what he said….”now that we are close to finalizing everything, we don’t want some of the business…and we are going to have to increase pricing on the rest so WE can maximize OUR income…..”.

That leaves us with three very significant questions….1.  We have no other outlet for the accounts he doesn’t want, so what are we supposed to do with them?…(and he somehow couldn’t identify any of them at the moment)…and 2.  Why would a client pay more for their insurance with a NEW carrier, when they have a comfort level with the old company at a lower rate…..and 3.  Why in the world would we ask our clients to pay more for their insurance than they need to?

This is an inherent issue when rolling business from one carrier to the next…it’s pretty universal…the “Company Guy” sees over a million dollars in premium and thinks..”this is a big score for me”….. then he sends it to the “Underwriting Guys and Gals”.. and they say…”let’s just see if we can’t cherry pick these accounts…we don’t really care about what happens to the ones we don’t want….and by the bye…lets just see if we can’t increase the premiums and make even MORE money along the way”…

So, what do I do about this you ask?…… Now, I gotta turn into the “Grouchy Insurance Guy”….it’s the only way to protect our clients…(which for Gods Sake is the reason we exist)…. so today, I am going to demand…(not ask…demand) this list of accounts they say they don’t want…and then I am going to demand a forward pricing strategy that we can all agree to…..and If I can’t achieve satisfaction, we will not move that part of the book of business……we will continue to grow the book with the “other ” carrier and leave it at that……my demands however, will be respectful and carefully worded….

“Good Guy” and his Mrs are off to California for Christmas with the son….”Idea Guy” is leaving to go home to Phoenix tomorrow….so things should settle down a bit for the big potluck tomorrow….(I need to get some ribs)….then take Friday off to finish up all my stuff…..

I think the Mrs and I should visit a church on Christmas….. I need to thank someone for my still being here…..