Millennials can be diffcult to understand and without a doubt have a multitude of differences from the current generation of insurance professionals, so you are probably asking what are the best ways to transition your business into the next generaton and ensure profitability.
National E &S broker Phil Beakes offers these tips for enabling the next generation to fulfill their potential and even exceed expectations:
1.
Understanding why people buy insurance from particular agents. It has little to do with product, some to do with price and everything to do with the emotional condition of the relationship, and the level of trust and intimacy the producer has developed (on purpose and planned).
2.
Personal marketing tactics; choosing your market to penetrate not only by what they do, but for who they are, select a marketing tactic most appropriate to the market you have chosen (if you don’t know what tactic you should use, ask the market and they will tell you). Refine your presentation of who you are, why you do what you do, to whom you serve, the problems you solve of opportunities you offer, and be certain EVERYTHING you present is in the form of benefits to the prospective buyer. Then DO IT, regularly, and with consistency.
3.
Qualify the buyer from a position of energetic equality. “What is it going to take to write your account?” Remembering that “nobody wants change; they want relief”, and insureds will stay with a “terrible known” (their admittedly poor agent) before they will change even to an apparently perfect “unknown,” which is you.
4.
Mentoring. This is more important than training. The leader has to be willing to take someone under their wing to learn from the “unconscious competency” they have, and regularly, and consistently be there for “in the line of fire” training, and emotional support. Without this it will take 3 times the time to bring a new producer to financial viability, let alone profitability. This second scenario is a big one as many agencies are looking for a trusted next generation of their OWN to take over the firm in a few years and many times are disillusioned about “they don’t have the drive I did when I was their age, etc.” The best way to be disillusioned is to be “illusioned in the first place”. Most of them had mentors, and they have forgotten.
All these tips for success are from Phil's 'Accelerated Producer Intensive' program, which is run three to four times a year.
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