Name: Michael Anza

Location: Philadelphia

Company: Anza & Anza Associates

No strings or surprises. During my first year in the business, I landed a nice sized account for the company I was representing at the time. To celebrate, my sales manager took me downtown to an A+ restaurant for lunch. After that, we went to a custom tailor and I was measured for a bespoke suit and shoes.

After, my manager and I began to head off in different directions. He asked where I was going, and I replied, “Home, of course!”

He replied, “Like hell you are, you owe me $2,500! Get back in the office and make some calls!”

His point was simple: Don't rest on your laurels after a big win. I got the message, along with another: No one likes unpleasant surprises. I try to operate with total transparency across all areas of the client relationship, and it's expected all our reps do the same.

Invest in people. A structured training and development program ensures our agents have a consistent experience and background knowledge. A consistent agent experience trickles down to a consistent client experience. We believe agents who feel appreciated and challenged through training opportunities feel more job satisfaction.

Develop a winning culture. Educating, empowering and equipping our people is the key to creating a winning culture. Our “new agent” pathway is simple: Our management team models certain winning behaviors, and our new agents are expected to mirror them to the best of their ability. Together, the new agent and manager troubleshoot challenges and concerns as they arise. Our management team continuously monitors our new agent's progress through traditional metrics and Monday morning meetings. We believe in oversight, not micromanaging.

Develop a winning strategy. Challenge the status quo. We believe a strategy should be as powerful as a cannon, and our agents should feel comfortable with the knowledge that they are coming to the table with something unique that our firm can execute flawlessly.

As an example, we have had some success in the micro and small group marketplace dismantling group plans and driving employees to the exchanges. The difference is that we will go onsite and enroll each employee in the traditional worksite sense, which leads to a tremendous client experience.

The employer recognizes the business needs a benefits package to attract and retain top talent—so they often commit to employer-sponsored voluntary benefits, which we enroll on the same platform. The icing on the cake is that we route the premiums through a third-party payment system, meaning there is zero administrative burden on the employer.

Be an early adopter. It's imperative to be on top of emerging market trends. Much has been written about the death of payroll deduction, and I think the industry could trend that way in the future. I would rather be slightly early in terms of embracing an emerging trend.

Do it right. Having everyone go above and beyond is most important. I love people who are unwilling to stop doing their job until their job is done absolutely right.