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Chapter 8- Producer Training |
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Lisa H. Harrington, CPCU, CAE, AAM, AAI, AIP Vice President of Education, FAIA One of the most common questions I hear is: “How do we train new staff?” Agencies all over the state are trying to bring more folks into the insurance business, and we need a way to get them up to speed quickly. Here’s a training program that you can follow to bring a new producer along. Obviously, I heartily recommend the Elite Force Associate in Insurance Production training, since I helped develop it and I teach it. But really, the results are terrific; first year producers have averaged $65,000 commission to the agency. Since that is purely a sales class, with no insurance coverage information (although specifically tailored to insurance sales), you’ll need to go beyond that. But remember, no matter how much coverage knowledge a producer has, it’s meaningless if they can’t get in to see the decision maker. And you can always have them do joint calls for a while, or bring along a marketing person to cover the insurance contract details! The 200-hour course that most licensees will need does a good job of putting the most basic information into the new sales person’s head. They can attend that course while they are taking Elite, if the timing works for your agency to do that. But it only gets them enough info to pass the test. During the first year, while obtaining the 2-20 and taking Elite, the student should read the Insurance Primer. I recommend they print it out and use it as a basic reference as they are learning the trade. Most of you already subscribe to the Florida Insurance Research Library CD ROM. The Insurance Primer is available there. A mentor should be assigned to the new sales person. That person would see to it that all FAIA newsletters are thoroughly read each time they are released. You pay us membership dues partly so that we can condense the most important information about your industry into a manageable amount of information. It’s important, then, that agents use that resource. A least one other trade journal (for example: IA Magazine, Rough Notes, Best Review, or National Underwriter) should be reviewed monthly so that the agent has a well-rounded view of our industry. It may seem early to do this, but I believe it greatly enhances their understanding of the big picture, which guards them against the natural tendency to be defensive or apologetic about being in insurance sales. The CCSR course (or ACSR, if taken online) will give your new agent a much more practical overview of the coverage issues they will face. While the title of ACSR makes it seem more suited to a support role, it actually covers a good range of information for every insurance professional. Sitting with a CSR at least once a week for 3-6 months also helps the new agent understand the day-to-day workings of the agency. If they don’t understand this, they can find them selves unwittingly falling into the “prima dona” syndrome that plagues some producers. Plus, they are otherwise somewhat helpless if the CSR isn’t there one day and they desperately need a quote or endorsement to save a client. All new agents should carry the briefcase, so to speak, of several successful producers in the agency. Let them spend a day a week for several weeks and just listen to cold calls, calls to the client’s office, whatever the producer already has planned for the week. Seasoned producers usually like to help, and you might even give them a small incentive. They should have interest in furthering whatever is in the best interest of the agency and the industry. FAIA classes that peak the agent’s interest, by all means send them. Also be sure they look in the FAIA Education Library when they have questions; it’s a great resource. In year two, or the year after Elite and all of the above, I strongly recommend the AAI series. It’s written just for agents, from a producer’s perspective. And, it doesn’t require any specific continuing education classes in order to keep the designation like other programs do. You can also look in the Producer Development Manual on the FIRL; there is a sample training track, broken down by week in there. I sure hope that helps. Don’t hesitate to call me if you have questions. |
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