Author: Al Diamond
An insurance agency is a reflection of its principal owner.
Agencies that start 'from scratch' all develop similarly as the conduit for the sales and service of an insurance agent. If the agent is sales oriented, the agency grows staff that key in on the sales and marketing process. If the agent is service oriented or process-driven, the agency staff develop as processors and concentrate on servicing the accounts that are on the books.
Agencies that are inherited or acquired take on the personality of their owners over time. This means that employees who "fit" with the prior owner may retire or leave based on their comfort level with the changed attitude of the business under the new owner. The wise successor or acquirer is aware of this fact and, while not trying to force personnel changes, understands that this is normal and plans for the new owner.
Another unusual evolution occurs when an agency becomes successful enough that the key success ingredient of the owner no longer works because of the economies of scale of the organization.
Many individual agents are Type A controllers who use their staff as assistants and as leverage to serve the customers exactly as the agent would serve the customers. These agents feel that they must be in control and must be aware of all situations and resolutions for every customer transaction. But what works when you have 100 or 300 or even 500 customers may not be possible when you have thousands of customers.
It is impossible to be 'in control' of every situation or to be aware of every transaction, problem or solution. It is natural for competent staff to assume control of the routine transactions without involving the agent in each situation. Most of the time the routine transactions are just that - routine-and the agent need not be involved. Even when the situation is unusual, process-driven transactions must be left to the lowest level of employee capable of managing that situation.
But what happens when the personality of the owner is such that they feel uncomfortable to the point of paranoia when situations arise that may or may not have been handled properly but still explode into greater problems that need greater attention?
Unless the agent personally grows with the agency, the growth and retention that marked the success that permitted the agent to adopt staff and become a business instead of an agent with a few assistants will slow and stop. The indicator is when clients are lost who would have remained loyal to the agent when he was smaller. The agent may seek to blame many other reasons for the unusual loss of clients, but, in reality, the agent did not grow into the manager needed to command the activities of a larger number of employees who became responsible for client sales and/or service.
So there remains two types of agents in our industry, the Journeyman and the Business Owner. Both are likely competent insurance professionals. Both care about the customer. And both fit the appropriate business model. But if you put a Journeyman Agent into a larger agency with a larger number clients than can easily be managed and controlled by the agent or if you put the Business Owner personality into an agency that has few enough clients an/d staff to involve the agent in daily routine, neither will enjoy their roles - they will be miscast.
The Journeyman is an insurance technician, salesperson and/or advisor. He thrives in chaos because he knows he is fully involved and can control or solve most situations arising in his domain. If he finds himself insuring more customers than he can comfortably control himself or through the delegation and direct control of his employees, he becomes uncomfortable. The Journeyman grown too large becomes frustrated and usually questions his staff's competence while he, himself, has kept them from taking more direct responsibilities for account management. He requires his staff to do exactly what he would do without their exercise of creativity and personal initiative. If they do things that he would have done differently, he criticizes his staff. His organization has outgrown his ability to manage. Unless he changes from Journeyman to Business Owner, he will continue the balance of his career very frustrated and will lose any innovative staff he may have hired, retaining the 'drones' who need the job and are willing to yield to the agent without any decision-making roles for themselves.
We have also encountered Business Owner personalities who were not successful enough to generate sufficient clients to allow him to hire and manage the number and competent staff that would permit him to leverage his personality to be the sparkplug for agency growth. Unless the Business Owner can partner with a Journeyman Agent or acquire additional business he is doomed to frustration because he inherently knows he can manage a larger business if he didn't have to attend to the daily routine of processing and transaction based service issues.
If we could realistically identify ourselves as Journeymen or Business Owners we could adapt our organizations to utilize our talents and enjoy our careers in the insurance industry. Both Journeymen and Business owners can make a good living. But the point is that a career becomes a life sentence if you don't enjoy what you do.
If you are a Journeyman you will be better off in a smaller organization, controlling a manageable number of clients with fewer employees. If more is needed because of financial considerations, partner with a Business Owner type so you can attend to the needs of your clients and a partner can manage the rest of the business model of a larger organization. This would accomplish your financial needs as well as the management needs of your partner.
Similarly, if you are a Business Manager type of personality, unless you are also a good producer and customer relationship manager, you will find it difficult to attain the scale required for you to maximize your management skills through the efforts of a producer and service force. You may also want to consider a strategic merger to meld the Mr. Outside personality with your Mr. Inside management skills.
A few minutes of introversion is required to determine whether you are happy and satisfied in your career as well as financially stable. But when you realize that you may not be happy and are frustrated most of the time please be aware that organizational solutions exist beyond early retirement and selling your life's work. Consider organizational solutions as described here. Agency Consulting Group, Inc. can help you turn a 'life sentence' back into a satisfying career and keep you in your business for many more years. Call us at 800-779- 2430 to discuss your situation.
Last Updated: February 16, 2018
Reprinted from The PIPELINE, the national newsletter for agency principals. The PIPELINE is published by Agency Consulting Group, Inc., a leading consulting firm for independent agents in the U.S. for over 35 years. Call 800-779-2430, E-mail info@agencyconsulting.com, or visit www.agencyconsulting.com for information about the content of this article or PIPELINE subscription information.