In a hard market, broker loyalty was largely structural. Capacity was constrained, alternatives were limited, and renewals stayed put, largely because there wasn’t much reason to look elsewhere. However, that dynamic is not the case in the industry today.
As the market softens and options expand, the behaviors that kept submissions flowing in a constrained environment are actively working against carriers today. Brokers are moving more freely, shopping more aggressively, and making placement decisions based on criteria that weren’t the dominant factors two years ago. For carrier distribution leaders, understanding both what has changed and what’s driving this change is now a competitive requirement.
Broker Shopping Behavior Has Shifted Dramatically
The re-marketing behavior that was once reserved for problem accounts has become standard practice. According to the J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Independent Agent Satisfaction Study, 54% of commercial lines agents and 62% of personal lines agents say they are proactively shopping more for their clients than they were two years ago.
This means that accounts that would have been renewed without a second look are now being actively compared across markets. For carriers, this translates directly into submission volume: the accounts you used to hold passively now require active earnings.
What’s Driving Carrier Placement Decisions Beyond Price and Commission
The counterintuitive reality of a soft market is that price isn’t always leading placement decisions. When brokers compare multiple markets simultaneously, the carriers winning more business aren’t necessarily the ones with the most competitive rates.
Underwriting flexibility, appetite clarity, and ease of quoting are increasingly what separates first-round consideration from late consideration or no consideration at all. When a broker can quickly confirm fit and move a submission forward with minimal friction, that carrier gets worked first. When the process requires extra steps, follow-ups, or uncertainty about appetite, the business often goes elsewhere before the carrier even knows it was being considered.
How Cognitive Load Determines Which Carriers Get the First Call
Brokers managing high submission volumes across multiple markets do something every carrier distribution leader should understand: they build a short list. This list serves a practical function, with every broker having a set of markets they default to when time is short and options are open.
Getting onto that short list is a function of friction. Intake processes, quoting workflows, status visibility, and appetite clarity all contribute to whether a carrier is worked early or worked later as a fallback. Friction at any point in the process can determine whether your carrier is the first call or the last resort. In many cases, if you’re not among the first carriers considered, you’re not considered at all.
Why Ease of Doing Business Is a Carrier Growth Strategy
In a soft market, ease of doing business has become a growth strategy. Carriers that have historically competed on product and price now face the issue of distribution experience, a third dimension of competition.
Improving that experience isn’t the work of any single team. Distribution, underwriting, operations, and IT all contribute to how a broker experiences working with a carrier. The carriers gaining ground in this environment are the ones consistently treating broker experience as a cross-functional priority.
Assess Your Carrier Distribution Experience With the EODB Scorecard
Understanding where your distribution experience creates friction and where it creates preference is the first step. The Carrier Ease-of-Doing-Business Scorecard breaks down the key dimensions of broker experience and gives distribution leaders a structured framework for identifying where to focus.
Download The Carrier Ease-of-Doing-Business Scorecard to see where your distribution experience stands.
