As an agent out in the field during the early days of my career, I often wondered why the company I represented didn't offer more support to the people in the trenches writing the business. I thought about how much better our production would be if we could attract more people who were better qualified and motivated. If only we offered better bonuses, benefits, retirement planning, lead systems, etc.
These grand ideas seemed so obvious at the time. But, after a few years of enduring the learning curve, most of us realize that this concept is easier said than done.
But, over time things change. In today's market, agents are less loyal and more demanding. And why shouldn't they be? After all, they are self-employed with no guarantees of income or benefits. The ABC Company they write for today will probably end up being the XYZ Company tomorrow with a whole different product mix.
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To many agents, this uncertainty is disturbing. To me it was exciting. I rationalized that this was the world we lived in and how we could make this new working environment benefit our organization.
Having a competitive advantage was the basis of our conviction. We wanted to offer voluntary benefits that stood out. We wanted to offer something different. One solution we found was in offering critical illness policies.
Our clients preferred to pay a little more for their supplemental coverage to get more out of one policy than to just have a policy with coverage for one or two illnesses.
Next, we decided to offer our time and experience to help our prospective agents and brokers build their businesses customized to their needs. We asked them what was most important to them in their development. Surprisingly, we found retirement planning was a major issue.
As most of us know, top producers are not always the best at planning their business and future. I think it's because they get too much of a dose of self-confidence in believing they can just always produce more to meet their needs.
We decided that to take less but feel more secure was much more appealing. This value-added concept resulted in our company finding, developing and retaining career-oriented talent rather than the "here today, gone tomorrow" salesman most clients dread meeting. We feel rewarded to work with and develop relationships with people who feel rewarded and content with their future.
William Allison is the vice president of Crow Allison and Associates. For more information, visit crowallison.com.
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