Relationships are key when selling businessinsurance. Price is always a factor, but agency trust holds greaterweight for policyholders. But what carrier is the best choice? Whatfactors should be considered and how should you match a customerwith a carrier?

Carefully consider the carrier you're recommending based onapproach, coverage and ability to cultivate a positiverelationship.

Although not all of your customers will fall under thisumbrella—some will decide on price alone—your best customerswill.

Approach: How does my customer approach theindustry in which he or she works? Do I have a carrier that sharesthe customer's passion for that industry?

Let's say you have a restaurant owner in front of you. She workslong hours and faces innumerable challenges in the hopes of keepingher business alive. Like most restaurant owners, she's not in itfor the money: for her it's the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. Ifyou're looking to insure a restaurant owner who has clear pride inownership, you want to match him or her with a carrier who has asimilar passion for the restaurant industry. This goes even beyondspecialized programs and coverages.

Not all restaurant owners will fit with your “best” restaurantcarrier. Those with a passion for the industry won't be happy to beinsured by a company that only dabbles in the industry and doesn'tunderstand it. Likewise, a carrier with a passion for therestaurant industry may not want to insure a business owner whodoesn't share that level of passion.

Coverage Details: Do the coverage offeringsmatch the coverage needs? With so many carriers and so manymessages, it can be difficult to isolate what's best for eachbusiness. And while most carriers offer something as simple asbusiness interruption insurance, individual coverages vary in smallbut important ways.

Imagine that a hotel's power goes down before a busy holidayweekend. All events are canceled, and the business lost is in thetens of thousands of dollars.

Your carrier of choice could make or break the future of thathotel. Although business interruption insurance is a standardoffering, most carriers require a 72-hour waiting period beforecoverage kicks in.

In this instance, your knowledge of customer and carrier isparamount. If your customer can take the risk of losing thatbusiness, you may be able to save a few bucks up front with CarrierA. But if the bottom line is tight, you should match your customerwith Carrier B, who offers no waiting period for businessinterruption insurance.

Cultivating a relationship: Do you trust thiscarrier to form its own relationship with your customer? Thecarrier should provide more than just coverage to your customers.If you want to maximize your renewal business, choose a carrierthat will make your customer feel valued.

When bad things happen, every insurer will respond in somefashion—you have that base expectation of them. Carriers withclaims representatives focused on taking care of your customers ina quick, responsive and caring manner are key to your success.

But the best carriers also are present when things are goingwell. What does a company's field representative or underwriter saywhen he or she stops by your office? Does he or she provide blogs,case studies and social media posts to share with your customers?Carriers that go the extra mile are more likely to leave animpression with your customers. By taking a few extra minutes toconsider the need to connect your customer to the right carrier,you can brighten their future.