The Worst Ways to Manage Producers

One of the most difficult things agency owners deal with is motivating, training and keeping good producers to help the agency grow. In our experience working with hundreds of agencies and sales managers, when it comes to managing producers, there are clearly things that work and things that don’t work.

Producers come in all shapes and sizes. It is not easy to find the “right” formula to be successful. There is however, some common ground that will help any owner or sales manager be effective with sales and with managing producers.

In general, the default mechanism for people is to rely on their own experience when it comes to managing others. They expect producers to just figure it out on their own. And … when the producer fails, the owner is mad and wonders why! “I didn’t get any help when I started,” they say. Or, “I worked morning, noon and night until I developed my book, why can’t they?”

A good place to start to unlearn bad habits is to learn from other people’s mistakes, including your own. There are many things managers should not to do when dealing with producers. Here is a list of the top 11 mistakes people make when managing producers. It will be obvious to the reader of this article to do the opposite, which will most likely achieve better results.

1. You are on Your Own

Whether producers are new or experienced, showing them a desk and phone and telling them to “go for it” does not work. After a few days of dialing for dollars, without direction or assistance, they will have exhausted their friends and relatives, and all the things they might imagine they could write. Then they are left to stare off into space, listening to others in the office talking to existing clients and wishing they had someone to talk to that would want to write insurance with them. Starting with even a small book of house accounts or a retiring producer book for a new producer to spring board from can also help.

2. Giving Producers a Commission Goal

Owners will often tell the producer what they would like them to write in new commission by the end of the year. It is important for producers to have a goal. The key is that it needs to be their goal. Producers can always blame the goal-setter when they fall short. Make sure the blame goes back to them and not the sales manager. Don’t give them their goal, make them set it themselves.

3. Having Poorly Defined Goals

OK, the producer says they will generate $75,000 in new commission this year. Great. But, is it achievable? If they only sell personal lines or small commercial lines accounts, can they get there? Goal-setting needs to include the average size account, the number of contacts they will make, the expected hit ratios, etc. It should also include where the lead will come from and how many they will get or need to write.

4. Failure to Monitor Progress

What good is setting a goal if it is not monitored? Once the producer agrees to work toward a well-defined goal, the role of a sales manager is to now hold that producer accountable for his or her performance goal, on a regular basis. Monitoring goals on a monthly should be the minimum!

5. You Can Lead a Producer to a Prospect, but You Can’t Make Them Call

Many agency owners buy lists of prospects for producers, ask their carriers for lists or even hire a telemarketing firm to dial for appointments for their producers. Some even have an in-house person(s) dial for appointments for producers. In many cases, producers don’t seem to appreciate it or even show up for appointments that are set for them. Part of the monitoring needs to include the use of resources. If they don’t use it, they lose it. Leads should be given to those that follow-up and close. If the account is too tough, a more experienced producer should double-team with the newer producer, and commissions should be shared the first year.

6. Expecting Producers to Cold Call

It is funny because when you ask experienced owners and producers how they get new business, it is the rare person who says that they get or got the business from cold calling. Most say they would never cold call and usually get new business from referrals, which they don’t even ask for. Often, the referrals just come in because of networking or relationships. Yet the expectation is for producers to just get on the phone and call prospects they don’t know or just drop by businesses and ask for an appointment. Producers need to practice with a script and be taught how to get good leads to call from.

7. Motivation by Sales Meetings

Let’s be honest, most sales meetings are a waste of time. The typical meeting is a dry discussion of what the producers did or did not do, what accounts receivable are outstanding, new edicts from the carriers, blah, blah, blah. In many cases, the meetings are not used to train, practice, coach or acknowledge the sales force. If you want your producers to be motivated by the sales meeting, then make it motivating. Varying the leader also helps.

8. Maybe This One Will Stick

Owners often think that if the firm’s current producers are not producing enough new business (even if their books are not large) that hiring more producers will fix the problem. Throwing more bodies at a problem, rather than fixing the problem first, does not work.

9. Training is Too Expensive and We Know How to Do it Best

Most agency owners did not attend sales schools. They look at the sales schools as too expensive. We hear them say, “We can show them how to do it … our way.” If your way is not working, then why try to replicate it with another producer?

What is best is to give producers the tools they need to be successful. This can be done in a very short, condensed amount of time, especially with niches to specialize in, scripts to use and playbooks to hit the ground running. The Society of CIC and some carriers have great schools. It might seem like training is expensive, but in reality training will be well worth it for the producers to get quality training fast. In-house training most likely would take a long, long time to get to the same level.

10. Do as I Say, But Don’t Show Them

Many agency owners or sales managers do not go on calls with their producers to show them the ropes. For whatever reason, the skills, knowledge and techniques of a successful producer are not passed on through live field training.

Most people learn best with hands-on experience. It usually is very helpful for producers to accompany owners or successful and experienced producers on their calls to new and existing clients just to observe. After the visit, it helps to have a short debrief on what worked and what did not work.

11. Failure to Act on Your Word

When it gets to the end of the year, and if the producers have not performed, many owners will give them another chance. Keep in mind, the failure can be the fault of the producer, the owner or most likely, both. The key is to clearly evaluate the producer and the situation. Use a producer evaluation form and ask producers to rate themselves and what they need to improve on, as well.

If training or coaching is needed, then set up a specific producer development plan. If a producer cannot be rehabilitated, then let him or her go. Otherwise, the rest of the production staff will see that the rules are not enforced and then expect exceptions when they slip up.

Summary

Although there are many mistakes when it comes to managing producers, these are the top mistakes from our experience. If you want your producers to be successful, avoid these mistakes and model the techniques of those that are successful.

Take the time and spend the money necessary to give producers what they need. Growing organically and having sales in-house with the tools necessary will guarantee success for producers and growth for the agency. In the topsy-turvy market and with the economic challenges we have today, producers need more management and assistance than ever before.