By George W. Scott
From AA&B February 1945
In the insurance field, the National Association of Insurance Agents has successfully inaugurated an educational program which, in less than three years of actual operation, has had a cumulative enrollment of more than 11,000 students, who have participated in the Association's study courses in 125 different communities in 32 states.
The first local study group to sponsor the National Association courses was organized in Memphis, Tennessee, in April, 1942. If this rate of progress can be maintained under wartime conditions it is evident that the field for further development will be greatly enlarged when the war ends, and more time is available for concentration upon the work at hand, such as devoting a 2-hour period once each week for self-improvement in the specialized and highly technical business of insurance.
The National Association's educational program was developed originally for the use of member local agents and their employees but the study courses offer were practical and flexible enough also to meet the educational needs of local women's clubs affiliated with the National Association of Insurance Women. In addition, the program has also been used successfully by fieldmen's study groups organized on both a local and state-wide basis. At least one insurance company has definitely selected these National Association study courses as its ready-made answer to the future postwar problem of furnishing an up-to-date but practical refresher course for the benefit of that company's returning Servicemen. I just so happens that the National Association's program embraces a minimum total of 100 hours of organized classroom discussion sessions. However, 10 separate but complete courses in practically all branches of insurance except life insurance, ranging from 4 to 20 hours in length, actually constitute the entire course of study.
All of these 10 courses are based up on the discussion method and all class assignments are handled by discussion leaders who are specifically requested not to use the lecture method.
Most local study groups throughout the country that have sponsored the National Association program have been able to do so on the basis of the guidance and suggestions they received from two explanatory booklets, one called the "Prospectus" booklet and the other "A Manual for Local Study Group Committees." Experience proves that new study groups find it best to select a short 4 or 8-hour course initially and thus learn quickly how easy it is to follow the recommended discussion method of procedure that is the basis of the whole program.
These new groups, too, recognize that an effective way to introduce the program in their respective communities is to sign up only for the one course at the outset. True, there are 10 separate courses that are available but the record reveals once a new study group successfully completes the first course selected, the program will sell itself, because the students themselves are the first to request that another, and then another N.A.I.A. study course be sponsored locally. Before they realize it, they are actually well on the way to the completion of the full 100-hour program. Sixty-seven persons in eight states have already earned the National Association's Certificate Award for satisfactory completion of the entire curriculum.
These courses are not only creating greater confidence on the part of the students participating in them but they are widening the horizons of many persons in the business who heretofore felt their opportunities were limited. Producers invariably benefit from their participation to the extent of increased commission income. One loval agent, for instance, said that these course were first offered in his city at the time he was just entering the general insurance business. He says we would think he were boasting if he were to tell us exactly what premium volume this course has assisted him in gaining and the commissions it has helped him to earn. He recommends the entire curriculum to all who earn their living in an insurance office and he recommends that they attend the classes given in their respective cities.
Another local agent refers specifically to premiums totaling $2,200 which he credits directly to information he obtained in these discussion classes held in his city. He is a experienced local agent but he admits there was one little thing in classifying commercial automobiles that he had forgotten. He states that the class in automobile insurance refreshed his memory so that he was able to endorse a fleet policy to re-classify some of the vehicles properly.
"The resulted" he said, "in an unexpected but most welcome return premium to the assured. To show his appreciation he gave me his compensation insurance which had been written by a non-stock carrier. There were other instances, too, that goo to show the time I spent on the course was profitable.
"Another intangible result is the excellent reference library that the discussion outlines, together with my notes, give me. My office has formed the habit of going to them for information not only on coverages but also on forms."
Proof of the fact that insurance women, like insurance men, are eager to learn is the splendid record of participation compiled by a large number of insurance women's club's which last year were credited with sponsorship of exactly one half of the National Association's local study groups. One of the best letters received from the educational chairman of one of those women's study groups is offered here with as it is not unlike similar observations made by educational leaders of other local women's groups: "Six out of the fourteen in our class are employed in a Home office o General Agency which limits their sales ability, but they say their work is much easier for having taken the courses. We have gained - all of us - a lot of publicity due to the fact that so many agents are asking us for information. In my office we only wrote fire and allied lines, but now we have added Inland Marine and I have been able to increase our premiums about 15 per cent. We feel that our greatest gain from the courses is the self-satisfaction of knowing that we have been able to meet on a common ground and iron out many problems thereby making It possible for us to carry on our work without hesitation in the absence of supervision when it is necessary for us to do so."
Here is the report of a company man who has been in the insurance business 17 years and who now holds a responsible position as manager of the company office in his area. He served as discussion leader for the National Association's course in Automobile Insurance, He says: "Acting as instructor for this course has taught me that regardless of the years of experience in insurance there are things that you can learn. This course is well outlined not only for a beginner but also as a brush-up course for men who have been in the insurance business for years."
