Producer Self-Management

Overcoming the inevitable obstacles

Game plan must attack gaps in knowledge and training, fear of cold calls

By John Edward Love, CPCU

The insurance buyer for a large Midwestern manufacturer gave Jim his rapt attention as Jim presented his proposal for the company’s property/casualty insurance program. After the meeting wrapped up, Jim called the office and reported that it went well and that he felt good about his chances of winning an account that would generate upwards of $25,000 in commission.

Three days later, on Friday, Jim got the news by e-mail that his proposal had been very well received, and that he was very impressive, but that the CEO of the company had asked the buyer to give the incumbent agent a chance to match the program. Of course, the incumbent carriers matched the pricing of Jim’s markets and the account was going to stay where it was. What a great start to Jim’s weekend.

You don’t have to make up this kind of story because it happens every week in the insurance industry, and at some point to every producer. A lot of time is spent analyzing how Jim could have prevented, or avoided, this situation. But another important issue is: How does Jim (or Jane) come back to work on Monday, still eager to be a producer in the insurance business?

This column is not written for the sales manager—it’s for producers who need more insight into managing themselves. While formal sales management has an important role to play in most agencies, self-management by producers is just as important and, ultimately, is the key to being successful in the insurance business. There are few superstar producers (let’s say that means a book of at least $1 million in commission income) who got to where they are due to the influence of an external manager.

So, the focus of this series is on the psychology of self-management and on tips and techniques that producers, both P-C and benefits, use to achieve success and, just as important, how they sustain it.

Brian Jenkins of the Jenkins Group likes to start his training relationship with producers by positing that “being an insurance producer is one of the five best jobs in America.” There’s usually a fun and spirited debate over which are the other four—and smirks from some veterans in the audience who probably don’t feel it deserves that ranking. After 18 years as a producer in both commercial P-C and, later, employee benefits, I tend to agree with Brian. I think it’s a good starting point for some self-examination.

Keys to success

Some of the key elements of being a successful producer are:

• You can learn enough “on the job” in the first few years to develop technical expertise in providing advice on insurance and risk management. You don’t have to have a specific college degree or pedigree, and much of it can be self-taught.

• A producer can pick the kinds of clients he or she wants to pursue, limited only slightly by imagination, macroeconomics, and geography. Notice I didn’t say that competition limits your choice. Even if you have a tough competitor in your market, you can still succeed if you are committed to your target.

• Producers receive, on average, one third of the revenue they produce—and up to 50% in some situations. That compares very favorably to any other sales job.

• Perhaps best of all is that producers receive renewal commissions that can generate a very handsome base of income.

• Managers tend to leave producers alone if they are having success, giving them freedom and flexibility that can enhance your quality of life.

• Let’s face it—successful producers enjoy getting their ego stroked, and perks provided, by insurance company management as well as agency management.

Given these motivators, why do half to two-thirds of producers fail to achieve a high-volume book of business? First, let’s note that failure to become a sales superstar does not mean failure in the insurance business. In fact, many of the industry’s most successful professionals spent some time as a producer and are usually the better for it even if they moved on to another role.

What’s holding you back?

Let’s face it—conceptualizing things you can do to be successful as a producer really isn’t that hard. What’s hard is actually doing it. It’s even more difficult if you are not being honest with yourself about what’s holding you back. What are some of the common self-inflicted wounds that affect a producer’s success?

• A failure to admit you have a fear of cold calling—and to do something about it. You can do one of three things to address this. One, hire someone to set appointments for you. It’s okay; if you are not going to do it yourself, then at least get someone to do it for you. Second, plan a day every week—early in the week—to do your own appointment setting and start with one call. Regardless of the results, just make one call. The next week make two calls and build up until you have spent a solid 30 minutes on the phone or sending e-mails. Third, don’t cold call at all but make appointments with people who can make introductions for you. See your business contacts and bring a list of those accounts you would like to meet.

• The kind of perfectionism that prevents you from ever feeling like anything you do is good enough. Your pre-approach letters, brochures, e-mail wording—none seems to be good enough, so you don’t use them. That usually means you aren’t doing much prospecting at all. If this is you, start with one piece on which you are hesitating and write down what you don’t like about it. Fix it. Or accept it. Or get someone else to do it. But don’t move on to anything else until you’ve finalized it and then—drum roll—use it immediately on at least one prospect. All you’re trying to do is warm up someone else, at least help them recognize your name when you call. But it doesn’t really matter how you word the piece because marketing materials never close a sale. If you lack confidence in your writing skills, then admit it and get someone else to do it for you, but do not let this process freeze your activity on appointment setting.

• You’re afraid of the competition and need to have everything right before you go after the account. Some insurance producers get so intimidated by the reputation of a competitor that they psych themselves out over a bunch of myths. No matter how good your competitor allegedly is, they are only one person—or one firm—and they make plenty of mistakes. If they are so successful, they will soon have more accounts than they can properly service. Furthermore, you forget the great intangible of every insurance sale: the buyer’s personality. Mr. or Ms. Perfect who works down the street might actually have the kind of personality that doesn’t appeal to the buyer you are targeting.

• You haven’t learned enough technically to be an effective insurance professional. This is a tough one because I admire a good technician, and I think if you really know your stuff that selling will indeed be a little easier. However, the insurance industry is full of successful producers who learned an alternate key to success: Bring in the technicians and just concentrate on getting to know the customer and act as a facilitator. I never knew a lot, technically speaking, about the details of an employee benefits plan, but I knew which of my co-workers could do the job and I brought them in. You must be willing to tell a prospect, “I don’t know, but I’ll find out and I’ll get back to you.” This gives you an opportunity to demonstrate your professionalism by, indeed, following up with them. You’re looking for an excuse to talk with them anytime you can, so enjoy the chance to follow up.

• You’re waiting for additional training or mentoring. Usually this is supposed to come from your agency’s management team or senior producers, and everyone has the best of intention—but suddenly it’s two years later and you haven’t actually seen most of them do a presentation or run a first meeting with a prospect. At some point, this becomes your responsibility. I suspect you can look at the calendars of senior producers in your office and determine if they have some appointments you can attend. Offer to help in any way, such as research, follow-up, or doing applications. If you can go on at least two appointments with at least five different producers, you will move much further ahead in your development curve.

• You’re such a good employee that you throw yourself into other helpful projects—anything but production. You think you have time on your hands because you don’t have a book of business, so you find meetings to attend and projects with which to help. It’s an insidious trap because at one level you really do need to learn a lot about the insurance industry and every meeting seems to hold merit. But, in reality, none of this is as important as (1) identifying prospects; (2) planning how you are going to contact them; and (3) actually calling them. And, even though everyone in the agency seems to appreciate your help with the company golf tournament or writing the next newsletter, they also all know, at some level, that you aren’t doing the job for which you were hired.

If you want to be a producer, be a producer. That means, more than anything, getting appointments with potential buyers in an industry and of a size that your agency targets. Everything else is superfluous.

Listen to your sales manager, if you have one, and/or talk to veterans and emulate their best skills. But most important, look yourself in the mirror, right now, and admit to yourself the biggest weakness in your producer skill set—and do something about it in the next 24 hours. You’ll be on your way to being a success. *

The author
John Edward Love, CPCU, is president and executive director of TechAssure, an association of insurance agents and underwriters who specialize in managing risks for technology and life sciences companies. TechAssure members serve more than 4,000 technology companies worldwide. For 18 years Love was a leading producer at Armfield, Harrison & Thomas (AH&T) in Leesburg, Virginia, and a founder of AH&T Technology Brokers.