ABA Banking Journal - April 2008 - (Page 33)

part of a large agency—actually, a cluster of 13 agencies that, combined, form one of the largest independent agencies in the U.S. Initially, the bank’s operation essentially funneled sales to the back office of the larger partner group. The bank’s operation benefited from working with a seasoned operation that offered expertise, sales knowledge, infrastructure, and other factors that the bank lacked. “This gave us the chance to be part of something big with a lot of buying power,” said Cornell. This partnership has evolved a great deal over time. For instance, the best approach to personal P&C turned out to be referring business generated in the bank’s operation to the partner agency, rather than writing the coverage directly. This enables the bank’s own insurance staff to concentrate on more profitable lines that benefit from more direct involvement. Personal lines of insurance have a comparatively lower profit margin, Cornell said, and it made sense to adopt a call-center approach for that aspect of the insurance operation. Leads for those aspects of the bank’s involvement come from the company’s mortgage operation and direct marketing. “The bottom line is that it’s a partnership, where we have contract that gives them the ability to share in revenue for the amount of business they are servicing and for access to products they are providing,” said Cornell. As the bank built its own back shop for insurance, it was able to attract a seasoned agency chief, and he in turn was able to draw experienced sales people. As the bank beefed up its own operation, the details of the partnership were renegotiated. The partner no longer needed to provide the same level of support that the bank had originally required. As the bank has built up, it has been able to convince insurance professionals that they can do well in the Spirit environment. Commercial lines are one of the strengths of the bank operation, according to Cornell, because of the cooperation developed with the bank’s commercial lenders and business development officers. These bankers also provide strong leads for the employee benefits and planning product lines. How was this cooperation achieved? Cornell said the bank found it best to let insurance staff develop its own book first. “You can’t take someone, no matter how good they are and what their track record is, and say, ‘Here’s the superstar, send him all your customers’,” said Cornell. “That doesn’t work real well” with the bankers. BANKS + INSURANCE continues on page 41 ABA BANKING JOURNAL/APRIL 2008 33 http://www.nationwide.com/sevolution http://www.nationwide.com/sevolution

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of ABA Banking Journal - April 2008

ABA Banking Journal - April 2008 Contents Editor's Column You Can't Beat Wal-Mart: Or Can You? Snapshot: Non-Interest Income Shoulders More Weight ABA National Conference for Community Bankers Report 100th Anniversary: Then & Now ABA Resources ABA Chairman's Position Banks Plus Insurance: How to Make It Work Pass the Aspirin 2008: Year of Rich Internet Apps? Tough Time For That IPO Your Audience Needs to Know Who You Are Telepresence: Costly But Very Cool Webnotes Better Websites Mean Tougher Compliance Mailbox Banker's Mart To Advertise/Index of Advertisers The Economy

ABA Banking Journal - April 2008

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