​​​​​"​​Now what is Trusted Choice®? How is it different from the Big ‘I’?” Is something that I get asked over and over again as I talk to other agents when they see the Trusted Choice® logo on the door of our agency or my business card. I never get tired of answering, because I appreciate Trusted Choice® and what it has done for my agency, and I believe it can do just as much for your agency without diminishing its value to mine. In fact the more agencies that participate in co-branding with Trusted Choice®, the better.

I can say with absolute certainty that if your agency has not added the Trusted Choice® logo to their agency sign, website and business cards, you are not getting the full benefit of IIABSC membership.

What is it exactly? Trusted Choice® is the brand of independent insurance agents, created by our national association. It’s not a market-access program, and it’s much more than just advertising and public relations resources, although Trusted Choice® include both. Branding is your identity and relationship with the consumer. Trusted Choice® is not meant to replace your agency’s unique identity, but instead supplement it with the message of why consumers should choose an independent agent in the first place: Choice, Customization and Advocacy.

In fact, retaining your agency’s identity and everything that makes it special is the point. Seeing the Trusted Choice® logo associated with a diverse group of professionals only reinforces its message. We’re independent. We aren’t tied down to one policy or one provider’s rates. We aren’t required to serve the consumers that a corporate office in Washington, D.C. decided upon from hundreds of miles away. The only thing that we are required to do is to uphold the standards of service stated in the Pledge of Performance​. The rest is up to us to do as we see fit.

Freedom Campaign
​This talk of freedom leads us to one of the newest opportunities that co-branding your agency with the power of a national brand can bring your agency, participation in the new national Freedom Campaign. Our national association invested a lot of resources to develop this campaign, more than any of us could have done on our own. Campaign materials (print ads, digital banner ads, letters, postcards, self mailers) feature images of professionals bound in cages, chains, ropes and clear but solid boxes asking “Is your agent free to get you a better deal? Independent Agents are free to do what’s best for you.” All of these materials are available to you at no charge from the Agents Resource website, trustedchoice.com/agents​, customizable with your agency’s information.

Not only was this campaign developed alongside advertising professionals, but it was consumer tested as well. Eighty-four percent of the test subject agreed after viewing campaign materials that independent agents were better suited to meet their insurance needs. Seventy-eight percent were more likely to use Trusted Choice® independent agents.​

Another major investment of the Trusted Choice® brand is its consumer website, trustedchoice.com​. Used in conjunction with the Freedom Campaign, It offers information consumers can use in their search for coverage along with the ability to get an online quote, which is a process that leads to the selection of a local independent agent to advocate on their behalf. The website promotes the benefits of using independent agents while helping your agency meet the needs of the next generation of insurance consumers, those who research insurance coverage online.

Marketing Reimbursement Program
​Worried about the expense involved with adding  another logo to your agency’s materials? You don’t have to replace everything all at once, and national has a Marketing Reimbursement Program to help you get some of your expenses back. The program is first come, first served with no lifetime limits. That means that in the first year you could add Trusted Choice® to your agency website and get a portion of your expenses back. The next year you could replace your agency sign. The next year you can update the agency letterhead and business cards as they run out. As long as there is money in the program every year you could get a portion of your co-branding expenses back.

There are other ways to co-brand your agency with Trusted Choice® that doesn’t involve any expense at all, only the time of training your agency to update a few procedures and build a new habit. For example, one big agency in the Upstate has everyone answer the phone with a greeting and the agency’s name followed by “Your Trusted Choice® agency.”