How CSRs can help themselves — and their agencies — grow.
In the past, most people spent their entire work lives in one or two positions, or at least with just one or two companies. Businesses took responsibility for providing career paths and directing employees into positions best suited to their talents.
Well, the times, they are a-changin’!
Today, agency management is more interested in team empowerment and employees who motivate themselves than in telling people what to do. “Career-pathing” is fading fast.
Now more than ever you must take responsibility for exploring career options — seeking out new challenges and taking charge of your future. One of the most effective ways to do this is by redirecting your focus. Traditionally, the emphasis was on how much paperwork (mail, renewals, claims, and so on) a CSR processed in a day. Today, the focus is moving toward how you accomplish those tasks. To help meet this goal, follow these guidelines:
Define your aptitudes. Write down everything you do during an average day, week, and month. With this list in front of you and no distractions around, classify each task into three categories: The ones you like to do, the ones you love to do, and the ones you’d rather not do. Distinguishing the enjoyable tasks from the necessary evils will give you a better idea of who you really are, what you’re good at doing, and what you’d like to do in the future.
Improve your skills. Your skills can always stand some improvement — and if you can relate this improvement to the agency’s objectives, so much the better. If the agency is growing, help develop existing accounts and search for new business. If the agency is stable, pay close attention to which clients are canceling and why. Improving your skills will build your case for career advancement. Keep notes (or a log) of your progress for eventual presentation to management. Thorough information will help you present your plan with confidence.
Master techniques of exchanging knowledge. It’s one thing to record information in your database, but quite another to use this information to your agency’s advantage while remaining a true customer advocate. How might the information you have about clients help your agency’s marketing?
Develop your listening skills. An average performer talks 75% of the time, while performers talk about 40% of the time — and the top performer gets nearly twice as much information by asking only half as many questions! Learn to ask open-ended questions, and then listen to the client’s response. If you keep good notes on what you hear, you’ll gain intelligence that will enhance marketing, management, and delivery of service.
Strengthen relationships with your customers by becoming their resource. An excellent CSR builds and maintains client trust, to the point of advising customers about related products and services even if the agency can’t meet their particular need.
Organize your time. Enhance your time management and organizational skills by planning your daily agenda around high quality, results-oriented activities.
Learn from your co-workers. Team players improve as they learn effective interaction with other members of the team. Maintain open lines of communication with your centers of influence. Co-workers and others can be valuable resources for developing your own career progress. Learn from them how to develop long-term relationships.
Do your homework before presenting a career plan to management. In planning your career, focus on how management perceives your work. Include evidence of your proficiency in the fundamentals of communication. Practice reporting customers’ statements and questions. Ask valid questions about your customers’ wants and needs, and be prepared with responses to possible objections to your point of view.
Be alert and practical when you present the plan. Learn to concentrate on the other person and what they’re saying. Demonstrate enthusiasm for the products that your agency and companies offer, the process of delivering them, and the business of insurance in general. While evaluating and improving your skills, make sure that you learn about the agency’s mission. By doing so, you can relate your plan for your own advancement to the agency’s needs. Be optimistic in describing what you can and will do to help meet management’s goals, but remain practical; the agency is only so big, and it will grow only at a rate compatible with its management abilities.
CONCLUSION
Your career evolution is a continuing process with several stages. As you advance, stay focused on the desires of customers, the needs of management, and the goals that will help you achieve your own satisfaction.