Agent Survey Results
Hagerty agents have spoken!
As reported on our website, in January and February of 2008 we conducted an online survey and more than 1,300 Hagerty agents responded. The results paint a fascinating picture of agent life, including likes, dislikes, business practices and the lengths we'll go to for our clients.
While most agents favor a traditional office setting, 45 percent of agents occasionally work from home.
Just over half of respondents cite working with clients and meeting their needs as the aspect of their jobs they like the best. Thirty-six percent prefer selling and closing deals.
Agents would rather insure and own a 1964 Aston Martin DB5 over any other unique collectible, including a ring from Elizabeth Taylor's jewelry collection, an early Picasso sketch or a Babe Ruth baseball bat.
Over 90 percent of respondents are actively pursuing new personal lines business through marketing and sales while aiming to grow their existing business at the same time.
Over 80 percent of all agents solicit referral business from existing clients.
Direct billing; friendly, knowledgeable employees; and easy online processes are the traits agents most want in a provider.
Proving that agents can be car guys (or gals), too, just under one quarter of respondents own one or more collector vehicles. Of those vehicles, muscle cars rank the highest, with postwar classics and sports cars taking the second and third spots, respectively.
Just over half of all respondents have attended a collector vehicle event in the last two years.
The agents who took the survey have been asked to insure some pretty wacky stuff, including a kangaroo, a bikini contest, and a goat hunt in Switzerland.
Agents will go to great lengths for their clients. One agent allowed her client to call her "Kate," despite the fact that her name is Angela. The client's former girlfriend –who had recently broken up with him – was named Angela and it was just too painful for him to call his agent by her real name.
In addition to those results posted on our website, we found that agents are almost evenly split between men and women. More than 80 percent are older than age 35, and over half are over 45.
Most Hagerty agents (65.1 percent) work for companies with one multiple-person office. And most of those offices are small – 57.6 percent have 2-5 people working in them and 77.5 percent have 10 or fewer.
Hagerty agents generally work for businesses that are focused on personal lines. Nearly three-quarters (74.2 percent) indicated that over half of their office's book of business is made up of personal lines.
Half of respondents use Google as their online search engine, followed by Yahoo (18.8 percent), MSN (9.4), Hagerty.com (3.1) and Scroggle (3.1). And 15.6% couldn't remember what search engine they use.
And in the "Just For Fun" category, 48.3 percent of respondents said their favorite member of the Beatles was Paul McCartney. He was followed by John Lennon (20.3 percent), Ringo Starr (17.2) and George Harrison (14.3) – which may actually have been one of the biggest surprises in the survey. Ringo over George?