SELECTING THE RIGHT LIFE PRODUCER
Dear Dave,
As president and sole stock- holder of a $3 million P/C agency, I have decided to set up a Life/Benefits department, probably as a separate corporation in which I will hold at least 51% of the stock. I've been interviewing Life candidates for a few weeks, and the one who is by far the most impressive in credentials and work history is eager to take the job.
I am hesitant, however, because I can't relate to him or develop a feeling of comfort or relaxation with him, and none of my staff seems to relate to him either. They rate him as 'cool' to 'overbearing.' He has been in the office five times enough for us to form a tentative opinion but not enough to really know him well. I'm concerned because we have a tight-knit staff that clicks personally, and that's a valuable asset I don't want to disturb. Yet I don't want their impressions or mine, vague as they are, to keep me from hiring a good producer.
Will the Life producer be distant enough from the P/C staff so that his personality if it does turn out to be out of sync with the staff will not become a problem? The other candidates did not create this negative feeling, but they seem less experienced.
Signed,
Puzzled
Dear Puzzled:
If your staff numbers about five to 10 people including P/C producers, that's a small enough number that one disharmonious person could cause disruption. And your Life producer probably will work closely and often with CSRs and P/C producers, so that a personal coolness would be a negative factor.
There are many variables to consider. In general terms, here's what I'd suggest:
1. Try to pinpoint your and your staff's feelings to specifics, perhaps with incidents illustrating his 'coolness' or other qualities.
2. Try to get the feelings of his present or former associates at previous places of employment to see whether they shared similar feelings at first, whether time erased or confirmed them, etc. Consider a personnel consultant or personality testing.
3. Discuss this concern with the Life producer candidate, not to change his personality but to try to learn whether this perception of coolness is due to nervousness or another temporary cause, or is a permanent condition.
4. Consider whether prospects your agency's clients might also be turned off by the impression he leaves.
5. If all else seems to be positive, try to find a way to make it work.
6. But if it won't work, don't try to prop it up. Your Life producer doesn't have to be lovable, but his work relationships should be without strain. Any Life producer must overcome a certain amount of indifference or resistance that comes with the territory and can perhaps overcome some burdens as a loner in the field. But in a P/C agency, there's usually enough personal interaction that a sour feeling will create a barrier. After all, you're trusting him with the relationship you enjoy with your insureds, on both a personal and a professional level.
7. If it won't work with this producer, review the other candidates to see if there's a fit between your pool of potential business Personal Lines, Commercial, Group, benefits, etc. and the expertise of one or more candidates.
8. If no one measures up, start interviewing all over. It's much better, and in the long run much less expensive, to hire no one than to choose the wrong person. Much as we urge P/C agencies to hire Life producers, we must stress the importance of avoiding hiring the wrong people.
You seem to have a good sense of staffing, based on the rapport you describe in your office. Good staff spirit comes in part from the staff themselves, but it's also a management function. One successful manager goes so far as to put his employees first, ahead of his customers. He's not choosing staff over customers, but he focuses on staff because of customers. If he has the right staff, his customers will be well taken care of.
He is in a business similar to the insurance business, and he achieved 7,500% growth in sales in only 15 years. He is Hal Rosenbluth, president and CEO of Rosenbluth Travel, a global firm with annual sales over $1.5 billion and more than 500 offices around the world (as related in his book, The Customer Comes Second And Other Secrets of Exceptional Service [William Morrow and Co., publisher]).
The multi-line insurance agencies that work best in Life production are, for the most part, those whose Life and P/C staffs work together smoothly or at least without negative vibes. Personal sync is an important-enough factor to take pains to identify. It's part art, science, and luck.