As mentioned in this previous article, BearWise Landscapers is gaining recognition for providing specialized insurance information and services to the landscaping industry. At BearWise Landscapers, our goal is to add more value to your landscaping business than other insurance agencies that do not offer our specialized expertise. We do this through our niche approach in your industry by providing practical insurance information, advice, and a knowledge of the insurance carriers that underwrite your exposures to risk. This approach directly benefits your business and we feel that it is the best way to effectively serve your insurance needs.

BearWise Landscapers was featured in an article by IA Magazine, the premier magazine for independent insurance agencies. IA Magazine is the official publication of the Insurance Agents and Brokers Association (IIABA). Here is a link to the full text of the December 2009 cover article about insurance specialists and here are some quotes that mention the advantage of using an insurance agency that specializes in serving businesses within your industry:

Independent agencies are wearing more hats these days, offering value-added and consultative services in addition to the more customary insurance roles. More producers are becoming specialists, learning a particular market niche and then putting their energy into developing a specific line of business.

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Why is such specialization better than a more generalist approach? “Buyers tend to like agencies that have a very detailed understanding of their risk needs,” Buckner replies. “When you can go to a trucking company and say that you insure 10 of his competitors across town—that we know this stuff real well and how to make things happen—they’re much more open to doing business.”

Brendan Lynch agrees. “It’s just a powerful marketing tool to go into a prospective client and really claim truthfully that you are an expert in a particular area,” says Lynch, CFO of Plastridge Insurance Agency in Delray Beach, Fla. The agency has built a practice group serving the hospitality industry, which includes restaurants, nightclubs, hotels and taverns. “When a producer can say, ‘This is all I do and my team does,’ prospects listen,” Lynch adds.

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Smaller agencies like Black Bear Insurance in Longwood, Fla., also are taking the specialty route. Although the agency traditionally has been a generalist, Main Street-type provider of p-c insurance, it recently developed a niche serving the landscaping industry. “There are thousands of landscapers in Florida,” comments Drew Roberts, Black Bear account executive.

Black Bear pursued an industrious approach to securing this business — the agency mailed postcards to all the landscaping operations it could find in the state, and then encouraged the businesses to log onto a Web site it had developed, www.BearWiseLandscapers.com, devoted exclusively to their risk management needs.”

The Agent Articles section of BearWiseLandscapers.com allows our insurance agents to provide practical information for landscapers. These agents can also obtain quotes and establish a custom insurance program for your landscaping business through our access to a variety of insurance carriers. This agent article is filed under BearWise, and you can follow comments to it through the RSS 2.0 feed. Feel free to leave your own response below: