The Wedge: The Brutal Journey of a Newly Appointed Agency Sales Manager

Yes, I’m stuck in the middle with you

And I’m wondering what it is I should do

It’s so hard to keep this smile from my face,

Losing control, and I’m all over the place

Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right,

Here I am, stuck in the middle with you

Who knew this song would be so prophetic when considering the journey of a sales manager in the independent insurance agency world.

I was on the phone yesterday with a good guy who wants to do the right thing, by contributing to the growth of the agency. In his mid-30s, he’s got a nice book of business in the $700,000 range. He just bought enough agency stock to care about the growth of the agency, but not enough to affect his financial future in any significant way. He is one of five partners, but he’s a minority partner … very minority.

Lucky him, he’s been asked to take the sales manager job. Before that, he was a happy producer. Now, he’s frantically searching for a solution that doesn’t exist: A way to drive revenue without having to commit any time or money toward the outcome.

He’s stuck. Here are his three biggest problems.

Problem No. 1: He makes money when he grows his book of business. Anything that pulls him off that task is a big intrusion on his ability to feed his family, fund the cars, university and wedding for the kids. Then if he’s lucky, there’s enough left to poke some money away for retirement, even though it’s still 30 years down the road.

Problem No. 2: The other partners, and there are four of them, have zero appetite for improvement. They are all successful in their own right, but he says they sometimes forget that at least half of their book was inherited. Nevertheless, they are untouchable, which means anything he does will be shunned, ridiculed and mocked. Sounds like a fun role doesn’t it.

Problem No. 3: They hired four new producers in the past 18 months. Two are fairly seasoned salespeople but have no insurance knowledge. The other two are fresh as a daisy, no sales experience and don’t know insurance. The new producers are not the problem. The problem is no tools, no training and no process. That means he’ll have to make it up as he goes, or spend time developing something that works (that might take a few years).

This freshly appointed sales manager can’t make up his mind. “Should I focus on growing my own book, because that is what pays the bills. Or should I sacrifice bunt, and spend my valuable time with these newbies to ensure their success?”

Nothing is worse than having to play politics to get rid of a lazy or underperforming producer.

He’s stuck in the middle.

To add a little salt and pepper to the complex situation, three of his partners have an attitude about new producers. They feel these newbies should just pull themselves up by their bootstraps and make it happen. “No one helped me. What’s the problem with these guys?”

You’ve probably seen this scenario play out in agencies across the country. To make it just a tad worse, this guy has the responsibility to get better results and virtually no authority. Here’s a quick review:

• He makes no money by helping the new producers.

• His partners have no desire to be involved.

• He has no tools, training or processes in place (what is there to implement).

• He has the responsibility, but no authority.

It sounds like the making of at least six new episodes of The Office, starring Michael Scott (played by Steve Carrell).

What’s this guy to do?

Look to Nick Saban, head coach of Alabama Crimson Tide as a source of inspiration. Channeling Nick a little bit, this is what I think he would say:

• Negotiate full authority to hire/fire any producer you are responsible for. (If you can’t get this, don’t take the job).

• Every great coach has a playbook. (Without a playbook, you have chaos).

• Ask all nonparticipants (owners and producers that have an exempt card) to stay out of the way.

• Recruit assistant player/coaches to help you do training and drive the process (it’s the best way to get them involved in their own success and gain leverage freeing up your time commitments)

One of my bosses early in my career said, “responsibility without authority makes you an a__hole.” Nothing is worse than having to play politics to get rid of a lazy or underperforming producer. If you are going to be held responsible to make others better, you need authority.

Here’s another thing to consider. You can’t drive an idea, you can only drive a process. There is a good chance that your agency doesn’t have a sales process, it has a sales idea. An example would be, build a relationship, ask good questions, close hard. Those are great ideas, but hardly a process that can be driven. So, if you don’t have a sales process, you should get one.

In closing, avoid taking a job or responsibility if you don’t have the authority, the tools and support to make it happen. If not, you’ll be singing this song:

Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right,

Here I am, stuck in the middle with you.