The National Alliance of Insurance Education
and Research has five programs that have attracted
over 100,000 insurance professionals
By Barbara A. Morris
William T. Hold, Ph.D., CIC, CPCU, CLU, is president and co-founder of The National Alliance of Insurance Education and Research.
More than 30 years ago, a small group of seasoned insurance agents approached an insurance professor--looking for curriculum that could help them to keep pace with the ever-changing policy coverage and regulatory environment in Texas.
Some of those agents, led by James K. Ruble, would eventually move on to become leaders in their fields and major policymakers within the agency system. The professor, William T. Hold, Ph.D., would move on to head the outgrowth of that small, yet significant meeting as president of The National Alliance of Insurance Education & Research.
Formed in 1993, and based in Austin, The National Alliance is an umbrella organization under which exist five highly reputed research and educational programs which are geared primarily to insurance sales professionals and insurance company personnel who routinely work with them. In total, these educational offerings have attracted approximately 106,485 individuals countrywide, participating in 1,917 National Alliance programs.
The oldest of the five programs--the Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC)--was the original product of
the agents' meeting with Hold, who in 1967 was a professor at the University of Texas, Austin, and head of the insurance and risk management program at the University's graduate school of business.
"There was no program for experienced agents in Texas," recalls Hold, who also has the designations of CIC, CPCU, and CLU. In fact, so unique was the state of Texas from the perspective of rating, regulatory, and coverage issues, that Texas agents were routinely pulled aside during insurance company-sponsored programs and given their own, individualized instruction. That scenario, however, wasn't sufficient in the eyes of the agents who approached Hold to establish more formalized educational opportunities targeting their specific needs.
The National Alliance's senior management team and business development team: (seated, left to right) Norma Freeman, CIC, CPCU,
ARM, AMIM, senior vice president; William Hold; Sue Speller, senior vice president; (standing, left to right) Randy Rice, CPA, senior vice president; Wayne Dauterive, CRM, ARM, vice president; Bettie Duff, senior vice president; and Jack Frick, CIC, CISR, AIS, executive vice president.
Following a year of input from the original group plus other agents, accompanied by curriculum development and field testing, the Society of Certified Insurance Counselors was established to offer the Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) designation program. It debuted in 1969, from a small, portable building on Austin's North Hills Drive. Originally a small modular real estate sales office, the building has since been replaced with two, two-story buildings, connected by an enclosed walkway, in which The National Alliance occupies 22,000 square feet. The staff count, which originally stood at three people--Hold and two assistants--has likewise mushroomed to 110 professionals, all dedicated to achieving "professionalism through education,"--a concept strongly advocated by The National Alliance.
According to Hold, the program--then as now--offered instruction addressing four basic blocks of knowledge in the areas of personal lines, commercial casualty, agency management, and commercial property. In 1980, an additional block of instruction was added to include life and health. The format for each instructional block, 2 1/2 days, comprising a total of 20 hours of instruction followed by an examination, has endured the test of time and has served as a template from which several other National Alliance programs have been fashioned. Additionally, all holders of designations awarded by The National Alliance are required to attend at least one Institute course or a seminar in the "James K. Ruble Seminars" advanced series each year to maintain their designations, thereby ensuring that students remain current in industry developments.
CISR OnLine staff: (left to right): Donna Glover, CISR, associate director; Paula Cook, CISR, vice president; and Katie O'Malley, administrative assistant.
This continuing education requirement unquestionably adds to the credibility of The National Alliance designations, observes Marietta S. McCain, CIC, president of Luhn-McCain Insurance Agency, Inc., a mid-sized P-C agency in San Antonio. "In today's world, where the insurance buyer is more sophisticated and the complexities of the insurance world are even more apparent in a hard market, education is paramount," says McCain, a past chairman of the CIC Board of Governors. "Why would anyone go to an agent who simply gets a license and then becomes educationally stagnant? By earning the CIC and continuing their education as they are required to do, these agents instill confidence in their clients and companies that they can take care of the financial assets of the insured."
"By earning the CIC and continuing their education as they are required to do, these agents [who go through National Alliance programs] instill confidence in their clients and companies that they can take care of the financial assets of the insured."
--Marietta S. McCain, CIC,
President, Luhn-McCain Insurance Agency, past Chairman, CIC Board of Governors
The Society of Certified Insurance Counselors is the cornerstone of The National Alliance. Originally established under the auspices of the Texas Association of Mutual Insurance Agents--of whom the original founders were all members--it became a totally independent entity in 1972, and to this day remains a not-for-profit educational organization. But establishment of the CIC was not the means to an end, but the beginning of a major advance in insurance education that has grown phenomenally over the last 33 years and continues to evolve as the insurance industry continues to change.
Back in the early days of the CIC, some people were skeptical, recalls Hold. The CIC designation was virtually unknown beyond the boundaries of Texas. But the insurance industry is a tight community, and word of mouth among highly satisfied CIC participants, particularly at agent meetings and other industrywide functions, was the wind that fanned the flames. Interest in the CIC grew and in 1974, the Mutual Agents Association of Minnesota embraced the program, offering it to insurance sales professionals around the state. Two years later, six more states began offering the CIC designation program and the rest of the story, as they say, is history.
Today, nearly 60,000 individuals participate in CIC programs, and approximately 25,200 actively maintain the CIC designation. While CIC classrooms were once primarily dominated by men, today many more women are joining their ranks--a reflection, says Hold, of the expanding role women are playing within the insurance industry. In fact, Hold reports that female entrants into the CIC program have now "slightly edged out" their male colleagues.
"As agencies have grown, women who were involved primarily in a customer-service role are taking on more responsibilities in administration, marketing and cross-selling," observes Hold. The CIC program, he adds, is viewed as an educational opportunity that not only prepares its "students" to assume these expanding responsibilities, but adds to their credibility within the industry. Equally noteworthy, continues Hold, are the increasing numbers of company personnel in CIC classrooms, a trend he believes reflects the higher value company leaders are placing on the CIC program.
Tim McClendon, CIC, managing partner at Hertel McClendon, L.L.P., a large P-C agency based in Hurst, Texas, was one of the earlier CIC students, having obtained his CIC designation in 1977. At that time, he recalls, many companies had their own educational divisions, training entry-level producers and offering ongoing programs as they advanced in their careers. All that has changed, says McClendon. In an era when expenses are being dramatically cut back and along with them in-house education, The National Alliance programs are viewed by many companies as one answer to their employees' insurance educational needs. In fact, McClendon reports that not only are companies sending more of their producers, underwriters, adjusters, and other professionals to The National Alliance Institutes, but some, like Chubb, are even partnering with The National Alliance to provide facility space and other resources for the organization's instructors.
"Companies are no longer hiring people out of college and training them from step one," says McClendon. The National Alliance, he adds, is gaining increased popularity among companies who recognize the advantages of offering curriculum in employee training that he characterizes as "more real world," rather than proprietary, company-specific instruction that may have limited application.
"We try to be responsive to what people in the business want," concurs Hold, commenting on the goal that drives The National Alliance as it creates new programs. "There is no crystal ball," he continues, stressing that The National Alliance attempts to take the guesswork out of program development by going directly to the producer community for feedback on current programs, and input regarding future curriculum development. Hold stresses the importance of input directly from the professionals who will ultimately sit in the classroom, so as to ensure that the material presented offers useful and practical information, rather than the more theoretical content to which academia sometimes leans. Towards that end, current students are surveyed, with their comments used as a guide to improve programs. New Institutes have also been created to respond to the real-life needs expressed by insurance professionals in industry surveys The National Alliance routinely conducts.
(From left) Shelley Sadler, director of programs services, and Bettie Duff.
In fact, it was just this perceived need to establish a research vehicle geared to producers that would also support their ongoing educational endeavors which prompted formation of The Academy of Producer Insurance Studies. Founded in 1983, the role of The Academy, explains Hold, is to conduct research in areas of particular interest to producers. For example, one of The Academy's well-known publications, "Producer Compensation: A Profile of Pay and Performance," presents information and analysis based on a survey of some 600 agencies.
Another study, conducted over several years, analyzes agent error and omission losses as well as procedures that can help prevent or reduce an E&O loss. In total, The Academy has published 35 books designed for the practicing insurance professional in addition to completing 20 major insurance research studies. The Academy, continues Hold, helps to develop new programs and also tests curriculum being considered for use by other National Alliance institutes.
"In the past, companies have devoted huge resources to research, but these efforts were not in the hands of agents," observes Hold. The Academy of Producer Insurance Studies has filled a void, serving as a needed forum through which agents can explore areas of interest that are particularly meaningful to their professional lives.
Another educational need identified--and addressed initially by several dedicated CIC recipients in Kansas--resulted in formation of the Certified Insurance Service Representative (CISR) program. Founded in 1986 and conducted for a year by agents in Kansas, Missouri, and Michigan, the Society of Certified Insurance Counselors assumed responsibility for the CISR program the following year. Its intent, recalls Hold, "was to create a comprehensive and enduring system of education for all segments of the industry," and is viewed as a course of study particularly beneficial to new agents and customer service representatives. The CISR, he stresses, is not meant to replace or imitate licensing schools, but is directed "to all those who consider service their personal responsibility." It is also a useful course of study prior to attending CIC institutes and many CISR students, Hold points out, have in fact later expanded their skills through the CIC course of study.
According to Hold, the CISR program comprises five, one-day courses covering all phases of customer service, presenting curriculum in the areas of personal residential property, personal auto, commercial property, commercial casualty and agency operations. Each course concludes with an examination, with the CISR designation earned after the candidate successfully passes all five. In June 2000, The National Alliance began offering the CISR program of study online; and over the past two years more than 1,000 individuals have taken CISR courses via the Internet, with several having completed the designation entirely through Internet-based study. In total, there are approximately 16,300 CISRs, while more than 53,000 individuals currently participate in the CISR program.
Over the years, The National Alliance also recognized a need for programming to help producers hone their selling techniques. "People don't have the time to work with new producers coming into the agency," notes Hold, who observes that agents new to the industry are often left to fend for themselves, with minimum sales training and virtually no strategies to set goals or to monitor their success in achieving them.
Formation of the National Council for Insurance Marketing (NCIM) was The National Alliance's answer to the perceived gap in sales-related education specifically targeting the needs of producers. Falling under the umbrella of the National Council for Insurance Marketing are three programs. They are: Dynamics of Selling, a 20-hour course conducted over 2 1/2 days which offers hands-on selling techniques; the Dynamics of Sales Management, presented in a similar format and addressing issues related to managing the sales function, such as motivation, compensation, and monitoring results; and the School for Producer Development, a three-week graduate-level course for new producers aimed at jump-starting their careers by offering intensive course content in several key areas, including insurance fundamentals, sales strategies, risk management, marketing, and agency functions.
According to Hold, approximately 9,000 producers have attended the Dynamics of Selling program since it was introduced in 1990, while approximately 2,000 professionals have attended the Dynamics of Sales Management course since its introduction in 1998. The newest NCIM offering--the School for Producer Development--has drawn some 300 attendees, averaging 50 participants per three-week session since it debuted in 1999. This intensive three-week program, says Hold, "provides students the opportunity to gain insight that will put them light years ahead of those who enter the insurance field as on-the-job trainees. They graduate with the ability to apply what they have learned to the challenges of the marketplace. They come home motivated and ready to do business, with business."
The underlying goal of the educational programs offered through The National Alliance is to give students the hands-on skills necessary to enhance their competitive position. Towards that end, The National Alliance has also developed programs to help students branch out into other key areas related to their core business, enabling them to bring more capabilities to current and prospective clients.
Certified Risk Managers International, founded by The National Alliance in 1995, offers the Certified Risk Manager (CRM) program, with the CRM designation earned after completing five, 20-hour courses covering all major areas of risk management, and passing an examination that follows each course. The key subject areas covered are Principles of Risk Management (PRI), Analysis of Risk (ANA), Control of Risk (CON), Financing of Risk (FIN), and the Practice of Risk Management (PRA). Approximately 500 professionals have already earned their CRM designation and many others have taken CRM courses.
Producers, says Hold, will be more competitive "if they can provide [services] over and above those primarily related to selling." And while Hold concedes that large commercial clients are likely to employ their own in-house risk managers, many small to mid-sized commercial accounts don't have these capabilities and are looking to other professionals to meet this need. In some instances, the agent's ability to provide risk management will be a value-added service that just might tip the scales in attracting or maintaining a key commercial account. In other instances, believes Hold, producers looking for an additional source of income can offer risk management through a more formalized fee-for-service structure. In either scenario, he believes, the CRM course of study will provide the producer with the risk management skills necessary to move into this important area of expertise.
Looking ahead, The National Alliance continues to explore the feasibility of additional educational programs while also considering the extent to which the Internet can be used to bring more of their programs to more students. Likewise, enhancements continue to be made to National Alliance programs while research continues to analyze the needs and concerns of the producer community.
"The great intellectual resource represented by agents and related insurance and risk management practitioners fueled the concept of 'professionalism through education,' which remains our motto today," says Hold. "It is this intellectual resource, and its enduring vitality over 33 years, that has and will continue to power the growth and development of all National Alliance programs." *
The author
Barbara A. Morris is a New Jersey-based freelance journalist who writes extensively about the insurance business.
For more information:
The National Alliance of Insurance Education & Research
Contact: Jack Frick, CIC, CISR, AIS
Phone: (512) 349-6123
E-mail: jfrick@scic.com
Web site: www.scic.com