I don't agree well with Tim's description of independent versus captive agent. It seems to me that he inclines to characterize independent agents as faceless and impersonal persons milling out policies, versus warm and personalized captive agents who care for their client. Even though theoretically this characterization may hold true since captive agents receive subsidies from their principals, I believe in real world the distinction is not that white and black, nor cut and dry.

Ryan's latter point is an excellent one, and is something I tried to make clear in yesterday's post (and perhaps failed at), which is that a more personalized experience may help distinguish captive agents from the independents.

I certainly don't think that it's a hard and fast fact of life that captive agents provide better service than independents. And, while I don't wish to put words in Tim's mouth, I can't imagine that he would purposely make that generalization either. (Please also bear in mind that I pressed Tim more on the philosophy behind captive agencies after having read Ryan's original comment, where he wondered if independents had the sales advantage.)

As I stated at the end of yesterday's post, it's my feeling that captives and independents operate on a level playing field. An advantage for one may be a disadvantage for the other, and vice versa.

It's also my feeling that advantages and disadvantages are a little subjective. What one prospect wants from an insurer will differ from another. This is good news! It allows both types of agents to stay competitive and gives consumers multiple options to consider. So in the end, everyone really does win.

I'll wrap up today with a golden nugget from Ryan's email, where he suggested combining the strengths of both types of agents to create what I like to call the Super Hybrid Agent:

[...] I am tempted to muse that if I were able to give personal attention to my clients—the philosophy that I borrow from captive agency, while giving them the benefits of independent agency, don't you think my clients will get the best of both worlds?

While this may seem obvious to some, I appreciate Ryan's innovative spirit and non-linear thinking. This is the stuff great agents are made of.

My apologies for any confusion caused by my post yesterday. Please feel free to keep the comments coming, via email or here on the blog. I've enjoyed reading everyone's responses and would love to see the dialogue continue!