The War for Service Talent

Customer service representatives and account managers are the heart of agencies. They retain valuable business year after year. They are the guardians and caretakers of the agency’s most valuable assets — its book of business. Service and support positions are also the jobs that agency owners need to fill the most right now.

“There’s such a huge need right now,” says Art Betancourt, founder and CEO of AEBetancourt, a national professional placement and executive recruiting firm for the industry. Recruiting for CSR and account manager positions represents about half of the total recruitment efforts of his firm, he said.

Mary Newgard, partner at Capstone Insurance Recruiters, a national recruiting firm based in Iowa, is seeing the same trend. More than half of Capstone’s recruiting efforts today are for agency service positions, she says.

Newgard and Betancourt both hear the same story. It doesn’t matter if the agency is a 20-person shop or a large top 100 firm — insurance agencies simply cannot find enough skilled, experienced client service/account management talent.

“It’s such an important role in the organization and they’re not making new ones fast enough,” Betancourt said.

Chris Burand, owner and founder of Burand & Associates, an agency management consulting firm based in Colorado, hears the same from the agency owners he works with.

“Everywhere I go I hear, ‘I need quality account managers, ones I can afford, and I can’t find them. What are your suggestions?'” he said. “I’d like to tell you they are looking for X-years’ experience, and this talent or that talent, but agencies are just looking for people to show up and work.”

Agencies are searching for CSRs and account managers that can hit the ground running, Betancourt says. They want experienced staff but that is not always available.

“Unfortunately, these are roles where agencies are typically a little bit more reactionary when it comes to hiring,” he said. “That’s created a pretty large vacuum in the industry.”

When agencies need to hire service staff, their need is often immediate, Betancourt said. “They need it right then and now, and they don’t have a year or two to train somebody new.” In addition, smaller or midsize regional agencies must compete against much larger national firms. “And a lot of the large nationals are coming in and just paying crazy money to people.”

All About the Money?

While money is crucial, it is not the only thing quality CSRs and account managers seek.

“What good account managers are looking for is kind of the same old stuff,” Betancourt said.

They want an agency that will invest in their employees, have a good culture and invest in technology. That means supporting growth through continuing education, he said. “But two things that are just really key right now, more than ever, are flexibility and compensation.”

The reason experienced service staff begin a job search has changed, as well. According to Newgard, people search when they lack the opportunity to grow professionally.

“We see 10-, 15-, 20-year veterans saying they feel a little too boxed in,” she said. “Maybe they are working just one type of account, not feeling challenged within their role, or not feeling diversified enough in what they’re doing,” she said.

That dissatisfaction in their job can lead an experienced account manager to search for a new one, Newgard added.

Another common reason people search is pay. “Number two, for sure, would be compensation. There’s a desire for people to move up, and be compensated,” she said.

Another reason — many agency service staff feel stressed out in today’s agencies. “A lot of them feel like they’re doing the jobs of two or maybe three account management desks. The harder it gets to stay fully staffed, the more pressure that you put on your current account managers.”

If agencies don’t solve that problem, then their CSRs and account managers lose confidence in management, she said.

Betancourt says that agencies looking only for 100% in-office employees will find their search more challenging than those that are willing to offer hybrid work.

Newgard agrees. She finds service staff searching more often when management fails to provide some type of remote work option. But it is not all about remote; it is more about being flexible, according to Newgard.

“As much as we hear about this idea that everybody wants to work remote, that’s not entirely true for insurance,” she said. “There’s plenty of agencies that still want people to come in five days a week, and there’s plenty that will allow hybrid and anything in between.”

When people reach out wanting to find a new position and explore the job market, it’s because their agency is not having an open conversation about flexible work arrangements, she said. If an agency doesn’t want to offer flexibility, then they can expect to keep those positions open longer, she said. “You have to pick your battle.”

Betancourt adds that as long as an agency is willing to be flexible, that’s good enough. “Some people don’t even use remote options. They just want the option to be there.”

Retention

Client service is the heartbeat of any insurance agency. As much as agencies want to focus on new business growth and new client development, none of that does any good if every time they bring in a new account, an existing account goes out the back door, according to Newgard.

“So, what you are really trying to do every single day as an agency is to retain and to build relationships, and who does that? Yes, there are producers, but the heavy lifting in an agency is done by their client service people,” Newgard says. “That’s where the relationship building really comes from.” And, that is ultimately what builds the character and the culture of an agency, what makes one firm different from the one across the street, she added.

While retaining top talent in service positions is key for an agency’s success, there is a growing concern among agencies that they are playing more defense these days than offense when it comes to recruiting. So, what keeps top service talent in the agency?

According to Newgard, what retains top talent ebbs and flows with market conditions.

“A few years ago, it was all about employee benefits and wellness,” she said. Today, that has shifted more toward flexibility and compensation.

Betancourt agrees. “Frankly, the number one reason why people are leaving right now, and this goes pretty much for any role, is money,” he says.

“Then tied for second is the agency culture/values, and flexibility,” he says. “Before, they just didn’t have a lot of options. But now the world is their oyster, right?”

From the employee’s perspective, agencies that have a good reputation for supporting their staff have fewer problems finding quality people, according to Burand.

Agency management that enforces proper procedures for everyone, including producers, demonstrates support for their staff, and that they will support those service staff when producers try to cut corners, he said.

“Those agencies have far less problems in finding quality people,” he said. “On the other hand, agencies that don’t cause producers to follow procedures and maybe don’t even have decent operational management at all, those agencies have far higher turnover.”

He believes these points can be more important than pay or virtual work options at times. “I don’t want to suggest that virtual work environment and increased pay are not key factors. But an agency that provides all three … they simply don’t have staffing issues.”