In this document, Al Diamond identifies the four phases of agent activity that define the effectiveness of an agent's activities.
I've counseled many agents whose time was consumed and who felt that they couldn't address all of the priorities of the day (or of the agency). Most of them devote well over 50 hours a week to their agencies, whether they're owners or not. They feel responsible for their clients' well-being and guilty when things don't get accomplished. In analyzing their activities, we find that they feel like gerbils in a cage — running as fast as they can and never realizing that they're running on a never-ending wheel.
These agents are “running in place.” This process has three phases: dying gerbils, energetic gerbils, and recognizing the cage. A fourth phase refers to agents who avoid these problems by “running the race.”
PHASE IV AGENTS — THE DYING GERBILS
Some of these agents are already burnt out. They're working hard to plug the holes in the dike and to minimize problems that are slowly spiraling out of control. For these agents, their careers have turned into a sentence and their agencies have turned into their prisons. Yes, they might make a good living (or not), but life isn't worth living if they're told that they must continue on the same path. Phase IV agents make good acquisition targets.
PHASE III AGENTS — THE ENERGETIC GERBILS
Other agents aren't yet at the point of burnout, but they're heading in that direction. For a few decades, the headiness of managing crises and putting out fires keeps them exhilarated. They go home dead tired every night. They sometimes feel that they haven't accomplished much but convince themselves that if it weren't for their efforts, the agency's performance would suffer. They begin blaming their employees for not doing their jobs and not caring for the clients. They feel that they're the only people who care enough to keep clients satisfied. These agents have long lost their way and have no concept of true priorities in either their lives or their businesses.
PHASE II AGENTS — RECOGNIZING THE CAGE
The agents that can be recovered are one step short of the Phase III agents. They're terribly frustrated that they're working very hard, but not on the activities that they know are most productive for their agencies. They've transitioned from active salespeople to administration and servicing, unable to pry themselves from their desks even to see their largest clients (not to mention visiting prospects). But they're still aware enough of their positions to recognize their dilemma and they might seek to take action.
PHASE I AGENTS — THE RUNNERS
We've encountered Phase I agents in their 20s and in their 60s. Phase I is a state of mind, not of age or generation. Phase I agents keep their eyes fixed on the target of customer satisfaction and sales. They're sometimes hungry and sales-oriented because they still need the creature comforts that higher incomes supply. However, they're often already successful and now consider sales a game (albeit with good returns for a win) and a challenge to keep winning. Their motivation comes from pride in their personal service and the service that their agency provides both clients and carriers. All Phase I agents remain focused on growth and customer satisfaction and gather a staff that's just as dedicated to these goals.
Runners are avid record-keepers because focused activities can be measured. Phase II agents might also still be keeping records, but Phase III and Phase IV agents have often abandoned record-keeping as a useless activity for which they don't have time. The real reason is that they know what the records will show them about their performance.
So Phase I agents have almost a religious fervor about accurate records of suspects, prospects, sales calls, and sales within the sales cycle; and they try to keep enough activity going into the top of the funnel to yield the desired sales results. They know that sales result from combining technical and sales skills with disciplined pursuit of the “numbers” (keeping the number of suspects and prospects high enough to yield the appropriate number and quality of sales). Phase I agents also require their staffs to keep meticulous records of individual and department productivity and backlogs because they understand that customer satisfaction comes from doing what the customer wants and needs in an accurate and timely fashion.
Ask yourself “Am I running the race or running in place? And, if you're not in Phase I, what are you doing to break open the cage and regain your focus?
E Al Diamond is president of Agency Consulting Group, Inc., 507 North Kings Hwy., C., Cherry Hill, NJ 08034. You can reach him at (856) 779-2430, (800) 779-2430, toll free, fax (856) 779-6224, e-mail [email protected], or visit www.agencyconsulting.com.