A Proven Formula for Personal Lines Sales Success

This article should challenge your thinking and management style and create new opportunities for you to build more Personal Lines sales. To improve your sales, your staff must change how they see themselves, develop their own reasons for doing what you want them to do, establish strategies to use the skills they already have, and adopt new ways of communicating. Here's a typical scenario:

THE PROBLEM: The Personal Lines department wasn't growing. The numbers showed that business was going out the back door somewhat faster than it was coming in the front. The agency principals had a strong feeling that the opportunity for growth was there, but growth wasn't happening.

MODUS OPERANDI-GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT

One problem was that the owner/principals didn't have the skills or inclination to work with the Personal Lines department. They didn't feel comfortable relating with the staff, certainly not comfortable enough to build the kind of rapport that opens personnel up to do things in a new way. In effect, management was more fear-based than associated with coaching or training.

Also, the principals had created a lot of tension and resentment over the years by getting upset with Personal Lines CSRs whenever Commercial customers would call in with a complaint. When evaluating the CSR's response, the modus operandi was guilty until proven innocent: The Commercial customer was always right, and the Personal Lines CSR had to defend whatever action he or she had taken.

Based on my experience as a consultant, this scenario is more the rule than the exception. In this situation, the task is to turn the Personal Lines department around, getting the CSRs to feel good about themselves, take greater control in retaining the book of business, and sell more.

TAKING OWNERSHIP

A Personal Lines department that takes responsibility for things is rare. If you asked a typical Personal Lines department to answer the question, "What are we?" the answers might read like this:

• The bottom of the heap
• Choked out by direct writers
• Overworked and underpaid
• Not appreciated
• Slaves

The first step in making any change is getting people to accept responsibility for having created their current situation. If they feel someone else put them there, how can they possibly have the power to get out of that situation? The common attitude is, "Management doesn't provide us the tools we need, like better markets, more equipment, and staffing help." Most Personal Lines departments are experts at blaming the agency, ignorant clients, and misinformed prospects, overpriced markets that won't approve anything, having to remarket business, poor automation, the long distance to the copier, and 47 other reasons for not having the time, talent, or energy to improve.

Getting someone to admit, "I put myself at the bottom of the heap by accepting my own mediocre performance" is crucial in creating change. The staff must accept that they got choked by direct writers because they never developed a strategy to fight back, that they feel overworked and underpaid because they are paid what they are really worth at this particular time. If they don't accept responsibility, they will always feel victimized by the system. "If it's going to be, it's up to me" is the attitude the Personal Lines department should adopt.

In summary, you had to facilitate change on several levels:

LEVEL

Belief/Value: "Why?'"

CHANGE FROM:

It's management's problem to find a way to develop this dep't. I don't want to bother people by asking them to buy something that they probably shouldn't. We're not worth the extra money it costs to deal with us. Insurance is insurance; they should buy it whereever they can get it cheapest-that's what I'd do.

CHANGE TO:

I value the agency's growth because it fuels my growth and offers greater security. Clients need to know why we are better than a direct writer, and I value having the opportunity to convince them this is a better place to do business.

LEVEL

Capability

CHANGE FROM:

I don't know how to sell and don't really want to learn. I do my job well and that's pretty much all I need to know.

CHANGE TO:

I want to learn ways to grow our dep't. through being more efficient, working as a team, and doing a better job of promoting ourselves to both internal and external clients.

LEVEL

Skills

CHANGE FROM:

I ask the right questions to get the info I need to prepare a quote and I'm good at that. I also know the computer, markets, and processes to get things done.

CHANGE TO:

To grow the business, I need to learn how to ask better questions, listen better for the real reason someone would change to our agency, and find better ways to support my co- workers so we can all grow.

LEVEL

Environment

CHANGE FROM:

The office has been set up this way for years and it isn't going to change. We tried once four years ago and they turned us down.

CHANGE TO:

Let's set goals and keep them posted on the wall every day. I'm willing to be on a team if it helps the dep't., sales, and other support, such as paper work. I think that if we could get our equipment rearranged to be more efficient, we'd have more time to work with clients, rather than chasing down copies and faxes.