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CPCU Society Member Opinion Panel Survey Measures Awareness and Value of CPCU
Recognition of the CPCU Designation Survey Report—April 2006
Your Company’s Competitive Advantage: CPCUs!
CPCUs invest significant time, money, and effort in achieving their designation. Is the designation worth it? In other words, do CPCU employers and/or customers recognize the CPCU designation, and understand and value what it represents? In this third survey of the CPCU Society Member Opinion Panel, conducted in April 2006, panelists were asked if their management and customers are aware of the CPCU designation, and to what extent they understand its value. In addition, because the Society’s goal is to make CPCU the most widely recognized, valued, and respected designation in the industry, panelists were asked whether overall awareness of the designation was growing or decaying, and what factors lie behind the trend.
Measuring Awareness and Value
Members of the CPCU Society Member Opinion Panel were invited by e-mail March 30, 2006, to participate in a web-based survey on recognition of the CPCU designation. Details of this survey include:
Methodology: Web Survey
Survey Period: March 30 to April 12, 2006
Sample Size: 178
CPCU Is Valued!
The answer to the first question (awareness and understanding of the CPCU designation) is a resounding yes for the management of companies that employ CPCUs. Not only do most CPCU employers understand and respect the designation (86%); many (73%) consider their CPCUs to be a competitive advantage!
Our survey also found that consumers (homeowners, renters, personal auto owners and drivers) are generally unaware of the CPCU designation (85%). However, according to our panel, CPCU represents a competitive opportunity, particularly for insurance agencies and brokerages. More than one-half of the panelists (55%) feel that a greater awareness and understanding of the CPCU designation would influence a consumer’s choice of an agent or brokerage, and 18% think it would influence their choice of an insurance carrier.
Regardless of whether the focus is on personal or commercial lines of property and casualty insurance, CPCUs can make a competitive difference. According to this survey, CPCU employers that promote awareness and understanding of the designation can differentiate themselves from the rest of the crowd.
What Else Did The Survey Find?
Other key findings of the research, and recommendations for CPCU employers, include:
- Growing awareness of the CPCU designation. Over the past five years, overall awareness has trended slightly upwards, according to almost one-half of panel members (49%). Another one-third consider recognition to be stable. Reasons for the upward trend: CPCU Society ads and visibility campaigns, local chapter efforts, and CPCU Society champions.
- CPCUs value employers who value their designation. Almost all CPCU Society members responding to this survey (99%) say it is important that their management recognize and value their designation. In fact, 82% consider it to be very important.
- Experience and expertise do matter to consumers. While price and customer service are by far the most important criteria considered by consumers when purchasing insurance, the expertise and experience of the agent/broker or insurer’s staff is a factor in their selection process.
- CPCUs favor greater consumer awareness. Close to 90% of our panelists believe it is very (46%) or somewhat important (43%) that insurance consumers be made more aware of the CPCU designation and what it represents.
Interested In Finding Out More?
Read the detailed findings of "Recognition of the CPCU Designation," (doc) the third CPCU Society Member Opinion Panel Survey. Or, e-mail Suzanne Kinsler, marketing manager of the CPCU Society.
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