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The Changing Face of the Independent Agent Cultivating tomorrow's producers Kevin Mangan inspires high school students to consider insurance as a career By Elaine Tolen Observe Kevin Mangan in the classroom and you’ll think you’re watching a seasoned educator. His enthusiasm for the insurance industry and his desire to impart that passion to high school students make him appear to be a veteran. Actually, Kevin has been teaching high school students through the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America’s (IIABA) InVEST program for only the last eight years. “I got involved in the program when Tom volunteered me,” he laughs. Kevin is referring to his boss, Tom Cotton, president of Hugh Cotton Insurance, Inc., in Orlando, Florida. “I was terrified,” he remembers, “but once I started doing it, I fell in love with teaching kids.” InVEST trains agents to teach the basics of insurance at local high schools to promote insurance as a career and educate future buyers, Kevin explains. “At the very least, we’re getting rid of stigmas that these kids have about insurance. Our main goals are to kindle interest in the industry and recruit new talent.” How the program works Through the Independent Insurance Agents of Central Florida (IIACF), Kevin and a handful of other agents work with five local high schools. During the spring semester, they go to the high schools and talk with classes over a period of three months. “The classes are usually business- or finance-related, and we can customize the insurance curriculum for each school,” Kevin explains. “We cover such topics as auto coverage, rating software, and sales and marketing techniques. “The kids usually dread this insurance portion of the class; they think it’s going to be boring,” Kevin muses. “All they know about insurance is that they get yelled at by their parents because of the cost of insurance, and especially after they’ve had an accident.” Kevin asks the students to share experiences they’ve had with insurance—most of their stories have to do with accidents. “They start to enjoy the program when they talk about the claims they’ve had. They don’t understand why the insurance company didn’t buy them a new car, or why the adjuster didn’t pay more. “Insurance principles are common sense,” Kevin continues. “Once the students learn some of the industry jargon, they grab onto the concepts. After the class is over, most of the kids know more about insurance than their parents. Many of them go with their parents to help them buy insurance.” At the end of Kevin’s time with the class, the regular teacher continues the insurance education by conducting an “InVEST simulation.” Students are divided into teams and practice selling insurance to peers. Each team—like a real agency—has an account manager, producers, bookkeeper, etc. Opportunities for agents Kevin not only works with students, but also spends time recruiting agent-teachers. The hardest part of this program, he says, is getting agents to give up their free time. “We agents are lucky to have a flexible schedule that allows community involvement like this,” Kevin says. “Those of us already in the program have to convince agents that teaching isn’t that hard. They’re scared because they think they have to entertain the kids. Once they do it, they get hooked. “You ask principals what their biggest challenge is, and most will say ‘recruiting’ or ‘agency perpetuation.’ Being involved in InVEST is a great way to take steps toward solving that problem. Besides giving of their time, agencies and companies can provide intern opportunities and sponsor scholarships. In fact, companies donate a good deal of money to InVEST scholarships.” Every year, the Independent Insurance Agents of Central Florida’s InVEST program hosts an award breakfast for the students from the five high schools who participated in the InVEST classes. This year, 300 kids attended the breakfast, where 13 scholarships worth $12,500 were presented. The national InVEST program awarded $44,000 in scholarship funds in 2006. (See sidebar for more information on the national InVEST program.) Of those funds, $26,500 went to Florida students, a testament to the strength of Florida’s involvement in InVEST. “Other states are stepping up and giving us competition, though,” says Kevin, “and that’s a good thing!” In 2004, Kevin received the Dach Award from the IIABA for his work in fostering the growth and development of InVEST. The award honors the program’s founder, Stephen Dach. Kevin received $1,000 to use in his local InVEST program. Florida’s success in educating young people through InVEST is just one aspect of the leadership role that the state has taken in overall insurance education, according to Tom Cotton. “We have long been ‘number one’ in educational programs,” he explains. “In fact, the FAIA sells its educational programs and products to other states.” The next step Back to students—Once they get hooked on insurance, the next step is cultivating those students, Kevin explains. “During their senior year, students can give up three of their electives and go through the Westside Technical InVEST program. FAIA has donated its Certified CSR (CCSR) program for the student curriculum. Once the students pass the CCSR test and turn 18, they will have their 4-40 license [allowing them to sell internally and discuss coverages with clients] and are ready for an entry-level position at an agency. The goal is to have this program build momentum and have these graduates work at agencies while they are attending college.” Post-high school insurance education is a challenge, Kevin acknowledges. “Students are attracted to insurance as a career in high school, then they go off to college and we lose contact with them. FAIA and IIABA are making inroads at the community college level. Nationally, we should be expanding into 10 to 20 colleges over the next couple of years. This fall FAIA is starting a community college InVEST program at Tallahassee Community College which will be the test model for the rest of the state. “We’re also developing internships to bring juniors into an agency before their senior year in high school,” Kevin continues. “The goal of the internship program is to give the student an opportunity to see all of the opportunities our industry has to offer.” Day job When he’s not in the classroom, Kevin is a commercial lines producer at Orlando-based Hugh Cotton Insurance, a 58-year-old multiline agency with about 25 employees. President Thomas Cotton is the son of agency founder Hugh M. Cotton— “Mr. Cotton”—as the elder Cotton is called. “Tom has been a mentor to me, like a brother,” says Kevin. And Mr. Cotton, now retired, “has been like a dad and has had a tremendous effect on me. He’s my ‘lunch buddy’ and has taught me how to handle success from his own professional and personal accomplishments. One thing I learned from Mr. Cotton is that 95% of selling is listening.” Tom Cotton says that Kevin’s “character, sense of responsibility and wit have made him successful in the office as well as in the classroom. He is a good problem solver. It’s no wonder his customers and students love him.” A graduate of The Florida State University’s Risk Management & Insurance program, Tom makes it his policy is to recruit employees from this program. He interviewed Kevin during his senior year, “but he turned me down,” Tom remembers. “He wanted to work for a ‘big broker’ and had an offer from one. I thought, ‘Give him about two years,’ and sure enough, a year or two later, he came to Hugh Cotton Insurance.” Kevin’s first exposure to the insurance industry came not from the classroom, but from his family. His father, mother, grandfather and an aunt have all worked on the company side. “I hated insurance growing up,” Kevin remembers. “They always talked about it. I was interested in ‘fun stuff.’” Originally an accounting major at FSU, Kevin had to take a risk management insurance course, “and it made sense to me. It just clicked,” he says. So he changed his major to risk management, opining that “Florida State has the premier risk management program in the country, with a very high, if not 100%, placement rate.” Kevin is one of four producers at the agency and handles a variety of commercial lines accounts, including credit unions, contractors and wholesalers. Since joining Hugh Cotton Insurance in 1997 and getting involved in InVEST shortly thereafter, Kevin has served in various local and state insurance organizations. Besides being the incoming president of the IIACF, he serves on the state level as education chairman of the FAIA. Last year Kevin was appointed to the national IIABA InVEST Board. “And he’s only 31 years old,” Tom Cotton laughs. “I’ve been in the industry for 23 years and was just appointed to a national board.” Says Kevin: “Even though I was fortunate enough to learn first-hand about insurance through my family’s involvement, I never would have jumped into the industry ‘willingly,’ if it weren’t for the insurance classes I was exposed to at FSU. I view the purpose of InVEST in the same way.…trying to motivate young people to come into our industry willingly instead of just ‘falling’ into it.” Kevin invites other independent insurance agents to join him. “Teaching students is a lot of work, but it is very rewarding.” For more information about InVEST, go to www.InVESTprogram.org. * |
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