In past issues, we've addressed the importance ofprocesses, communication, client relationships and employeeattitudes. But we haven't yet discussed how training fits into theneed to make things better within your agency. Training alwaysseems to be the last issue to get attention by agency managementpeople, yet it really sets the foundation for the smoothfunctioning of all of the aspects we've presented in past columns.Some would say the topic is boring, but I say these areas on whichyou should focus training are the PITS:

ProductKnowledge, 

InformationTechnology, 

Service toClients.

Product Knowledge

One of the primary responsibilities of a client servicerepresentative is knowing the details of insurance coverage.Unfortunately today, many people working with clients possess anddisplay only a superficial knowledge in this area, deferring tounderwriters at insurance companies for answers. So how do weimprove the CSR's product knowledge?  

Related: Read another article by Philip Lieberman“Enabling Enthusiasm.”

Be willing to pay for CE courses. But don't write a blank check;monitor what courses are being taken and at what level. There aremany online opportunities for CE credit so it doesn't have to beexpensive; but talk to your employee about the importance of theknowledge and why it ought not be just a time-wasting exercise toaccumulate licensing CE credits.  

Supplement those CE courses with internalseminars. There are experienced people in your agency that can givea seminar, and it's a good opportunity for the manager or owner toconnect with his or her staff in a different environment. Bringingeveryone together can spark discussions about real-world problemsand improve the agency-client relationship. 

Because there are different levels of know-how among the staff,be careful to group attendees according to their level so thematerial taught is meaningful. The goal is to bring everyone'sknowledge up from wherever they were to wherever you need them tobe. 

Encourage migration to increased learning opportunities, whetherCISR, ARM or even CPCU designations. The more the better, becausethese designations are specifically geared to our businesses. 

Information Technology

To succeed in today's world, automation capabilities are a must.Vendors can be a primary source of training, but investment inadditional training by local individuals should be accessed(finding such people is easy these days). If your agency is largeenough to have a CIO or someone whose job it is to handle ITmatters within the firm, have him/her run training sessions on anongoing basis, building a foundation for increasing complexity overtime.  

Related: Read the article “Measure ClientSatisfaction” by Philip Lieberman.

You've heard the old adage that you need to “use it or lose it,”and nowhere is it more applicable than in automation. Have writtenprocedures at everyone's desk for procedural referral when a taskarises. Good training in this area will work wonders in creatingemployee enthusiasm (see the August 2012 AA&B column,“Enabling Enthusiasm”).

Service to Clients

This is perhaps the most important type of training because ithas a bearing on all of those issues we have written about over thepast couple of years: structured processes, effectivecommunication, energizing client relationships and creatingemployee enthusiasm. It's a trickier area to focus on, becauseproviding the right kind of service and communicating the rightkind of attitudes is something that goes on every hour of everyday.  

It's really a top-down training model. Theagency principals, who presumably have a clear vision of what theagency is and what it stands for, must instill that vision inmanagers and producers. Whether it's done in weekly meetings,occasional retreats or in one-on-one discussions at lunch, it needsreinforcement. The daily demands of our business can beoverwhelming and divert us from the underlying need to improveservice to clients and how to go about it.  

Managers need to constantly deliver the vision to desk levelemployees, integrating those lessons with the daily tasks that mustbe performed. The trick is to constantly show CSRs how theoverarching vision applies to the daily situations that arise—andit has to be done then and there. Waiting for a weekly meeting toprovide the reinforcement won't work.  

Related: Read the article by Philip Lieberman“Energize Client Satisfaction.”

Some excerpts from a 2003 article based on the Walker LoyaltyReport for Financial Services and Insurance are particularlyrelevant here: 

“One of the strongest drivers ofloyalty is customer focus.  It's the No. 1 driver in allareas of the market. 

“In today's market, when customershave trouble differentiating the products {and services] ofinsurance [agencies], distinguishing good customer service isneeded to create more 'truly loyal' customers. 

“It's not just low prices that countbut the customer service provided that determines customerloyalty.”

What could be more essential in today's insurance agency worldthan creating loyal customers? And how much more important is itnow than in 2003 (yes, almost 10 years ago), when this article waspublished?   

Perhaps the most important idea is that on-the-job training(OJT) is not a substitute for real training. Even today, withlittle more than a cursory orientation session, the new employeeoften is shown his or her desk and a stack of files to deal with.Although they may have a more experienced person to ask questionsof, this “sink or swim” technique doesn't lay the necessaryfoundation for the future health of the agency. It's asold-fashioned as the price-fixed insurance environment that existeduntil the 1970s.   

That is not to say that OJT isn't important. It is, in fact, avital part of the training experience for all new employees. But ithas to supplement the kind of real training described throughoutthis article, not be the exclusive training technique. Justremember that training is really not the PITS, and focus on thosecomponents throughout the agency, in all departments, all thetime.  The reward for doing so is a competent staff thatinspires great customer satisfaction. What more could you askfor?