Each month I attend one of the local claims meetings and am always greeted by many friendly people. During the conversation with my new networking acquaintance, I quickly glance at their name tag in the hopes to see which insurance carrier they are representing. I am no longer surprised however when I take a closer view and see they are almost always from another vendor. Often is the case that they are even selling the same exact services that I am. It’s a bit of a dilemma to say the least when there are more forensic engineering companies present than total claim adjusters to connect with.
The attendance of insurance adjusters is dwindling at many of these monthly get-togethers and conferences. This makes it difficult to satisfy the abundance of service providers who pay top dollar to attend and are sent to work the room for potential new business.
Where are the claim adjusters at these events?
As a former adjuster now on the sponsor/exhibitor side, I admit that in my past life I rarely attended such events. After a long and stressful day, I was not looking forward to driving straight to an insurance meeting to sit through a claims lecture for another 2-3 hours and continue to discuss insurance topics.
Even if I committed to an event by the time 5 o’clock rolled around and was tired of staring at a computer screen, I would not be looking forward to sitting at a meeting and listening to a speaker go through a PowerPoint. In that instance I may just not show up even if I RSVP’d (another common occurrence). Even the allure of free food and drink did not do it for me, especially since it had lost its luster with so much free food floating around the office.
So how can you encourage adjusters to attend your monthly meetings?
- Make it free to attend for adjusters. Most (but not all) associations abide by this rule, others have a small fee. The majority of claim reps are not going to pay to attend an event where they will be solicited for business most of the night. Put the additional cost on the vendors, they will gladly pay a little more for an influx of new adjusters showing up.
- Location, location, location. This is an obvious one. The meeting has to take place in a convenient spot that is easily accessible with a minimal drive (consider traffic) from the claims office. A nice spot close to a hub of different carriers is optimal.
- Continuing Education credits. Many adjusters need to keep obtaining credits towards state-specific licenses every year. Find out which states they need (Florida or Texas being common) and get your presentations accredited for a small fee. Make it value-added for adjusters to attend.
- Along with CE credits (or CLE if you wish for more attorneys to appear), have one of your expert vendors presenting as a team with a claim adjuster. This partnership is great for the vendor, but also for the claim adjuster looking to build his/her resume and a nice addition to their yearly review. Teaching cooperatively to a group of your peers on an industry topic is great experience.
- Organizers of the event should encourage claims managers to bring their team by offering the rented conference room in advance for their own team meeting. Property claim managers needs to get teams together every few months as many work remotely. Often, they do not have an office that is a convenient meeting point. This can be a great opportunity for them to get together and then mix with the local industry while also listening to a presentation for CE credits.
- Often adjusters want to go home right after work to see their significant others. Why not allow them to bring one guest free to the event?
- Steer clear of all the gifts and raffles, many carriers have outright banned their employees receiving anything from vendors so there’s no reason to put them in a tough situation by giving them bottles of wine or gifts that are not of nominal value. An adjuster feels awkward when faced with these situations as they are taking numerous trainings on conflicts of interest topics which includes gifts from business partners.
- Switch up the presentation topics every other month to bring in new adjusters. Property claims for October, followed by Casualty claim topics for November, or Workers Compensation, etc. Most adjusters will not attend every month so change up the speakers and make everyone aware in advance on your website or through your e-blast.
- Have interesting speakers and topics with intriguing, catchy titles. “Building a solid defense to your claim in a salary-cap era,” might be a presentation on the expense considerations on a liability case but also grab the attention of the adjusters who are sports fans. Or maybe even have a guest speaker discuss their advancement and how to move up in the claims world, share their war stories or just general career advice. Everyone enjoys a good storyteller.
- Make sure the presentations are at a perfect length (not too long). Again, this is a big time commitment for most to attend after a full day of work.
Solicit feedback
Feedback is so valuable, and it only takes asking your guests at check-in. Questions such as times and days they prefer for future meetings, which topics they’d like to hear about or the state licenses they currently hold and/or need credit for. After the event thank your guests for attending and encourage them to offer feedback on the speaker as well as ways to improve. If they enjoyed the meeting ask if they’d be willing to share a teammate’s email or pass along the word for next time.
At the end of the day, additional adjusters present will increase the amount of vendor participation. With a larger group and a balanced mix of sponsors, experts and insurance professionals, you can have a more successful event with loyal followers as your association gains notoriety for future growth.
About Chris Casaleggio
Chris Casaleggio, AIC, AINS is a former liability claims professional having worked in the personal and commercial markets with carriers such as Chubb, Liberty Mutual and Travelers. He currently serves as a department manager for H2M architects + engineers, consulting on various projects for insurance carriers within the Forensics/Cause & Origin field. Chris is a former writer having spent time with various newspapers in the Greater New York area and frequently contributes his thoughts to the industry on topics such as proper claim handling, customer service and InsurTech.
Chris Casaleggio, AIC, AINS is a former liability claims professional having worked in the personal and commercial markets with carriers such as Chubb, Liberty Mutual and Travelers. He currently serves as a department manager for H2M architects + engineers, consulting on various projects for insurance carriers within the Forensics/Cause & Origin field. Chris is a former writer having spent time with various newspapers in the Greater New York area and frequently contributes his thoughts to the industry on topics such as proper claim handling, customer service and InsurTech.
