ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 14 - The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA) is unveiling its first national offering of the highly successful Elite Force Sales Training Program that has a proven history of taking newer producers with a basic understanding of the sales process and dramatically increasing their sales production.

“The Elite Force Sales Training course creates selling machines,” says IIABA Vice President of Education & Research Madelyn Flannagan. “Sales skills are critical to the success of any producer, however, selling is arguably the most elusive skill in the insurance industry and certainly one of the most difficult to develop.

"This program is ideal for producers who have a general idea of the sales process but are lacking the foundation of a strong sales-skills program,” Flannagan continues. “The small class size ensures the individual attention necessary to recognize a producer’s sales strengths and weaknesses and quickly transform them into extraordinary sales achievers.”

The alumni sales results of the Elite Force Sales Training Program courses IIABA previously offered in Florida and South Carolina prove that the classes literally pay off. Graduates of the class of 2001 earned an average yearly commission of $71,399 after completing the course. One agent earned a whopping $175,581 in commissions.

The program is geared toward producers with less than three years experience in sales and less than five years in the insurance industry. The course consists of 12 full days of training conducted in three-day, quarterly intervals. The first trio of classes takes place May 27-29 followed by August 19-21, November 18-20 and January 13-15. The classes will be held at the Hilton Alexandria Old Town in Alexandria, Va.

Agents will work with experienced instructors and widely recognized industry speakers throughout the year. They will receive practical education and use books and videos written and produced by some of the best sales minds in the industry. The class consists of many educational elements that have proven essential in the success of sales professionals, including role playing, etiquette enhancement and effective negotiation training.

Among the many program highlights:

·         Class size is limited to 15 students to ensure everyone receives individual attention during and after each class.

·         The awarding of the Associate in Insurance Production designation to every student who completes the course of study and all sales-reporting requirements.

·         Maintains contact and reinforcement through monthly e-mail exchanges with each student.

·         Students are required to report sales activity and review the results quarterly with instructors.

·         Builds accountability into the daily habits of students.

·         Friendly, competitive environment with peers.

Registration forms and more-detailed information can be attained by contacting Jennifer Becker in IIABA's education department at (800) 221-7917 or jennifer.becker@iiaba.net.

Founded in 1896, IIABA is the nation's oldest and largest national association of independent insurance agents and brokers, representing a network of more than 300,000 agents, brokers and their employees nationally. Its members are businesses that offer customers a choice of policies from a variety of insurance companies. Independent agents and brokers offer all lines of insurance-property, casualty, life and health-as well as employee benefit plans and retirement products. Web address: www.independentagent.com.

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