Joel Timmons of Profitable Glass Solutions led the continuing education courses for Century Glass.
Century Glass, an Auto Glass Safety Council™ (AGSC) Registered Member Company with locations in both Columbia and Charleston, S.C., held continuing education (CE) classes for a total of 65 insurance agents in both Columbia and Charleston in April.
“Only three agents out of the 65 had heard of the AGSC,” says Jennifer Cannon, who handles sales and marketing for Century Glass.
During the course, Cannon debuted the AGSC’s recently introduced video. The segment provides a history of the AGSC along with a detailed look at why proper windshield installations are crucial. It also explains the importance of utilizing AGSC Registered Member Companies and provides an overview of the third-party validation program in which Registered Member Companies agree to participate.
Cannon says she heard a number of useful comments about what insurance agents know about the AGSC and about the importance of proper auto glass installations, and conducted a survey after showing the video to find out what agents learned.
“[The AGSC’s work] seems necessary in a largely unregulated industry,” said one agent.
“I knew about the [AGSC] but was not educated about it until this class,” said another.
“Only 10 agents said they were aware of the safety concerns with auto glass replacement,” says Cannon. “That leaves 45 agents who did not know about the concerns until watching this video.”
Cannon says that only 12 out of 65 agents knew that South Carolina does not regulate safe practices of auto glass replacement.
Upon learning this, agents had a number of responses, such as, “This information was shocking,” and “Shame on South Carolina.”
After the viewing, every agent but one said it was “very likely that they will use an AGSC Registered Member Company in the future,” says Cannon. “Only one said likely. No one said unlikely.”
Agents also were asked whether they believed their team members and policyholders would find the information important when choosing a shop. “Every agent said yes, they think their team members and policyholders would find the information to be important when choosing an auto glass shop,” says Cannon.
The video and a copy of the new AGSC Member Directory are in the process of being mailed out to all AGSC Registered Member Shops. The video was created for AGSC Registered Member Companies to show insurance agents and customers. It is available in several different formats so members can customize the version they use based on the audience they are targeting. Registered Member Companies also can display it on their websites.
According to Cannon, Century Glass has been offering continuing education courses to local insurance agents for more than ten years. “It’s our way of helping local agents, who are licensed in property casualty insurance, gain the certified credit hours that they need to maintain their state insurance licenses,” says Cannon.
“We have always promoted the importance of auto glass safety and how it directly impacts agents and their policyholders,” she says. “ … By offering our local insurance agents continuing education courses, we are able to provide them another opportunity to learn about the auto glass Industry and the importance of choosing an auto glass shop that is an AGSC Registered Member.”