Wes Becknell, Agent/Producer for BDIInsurance
Years at Company: 5
College: Southwestern Oklahoma State University'04

Read Wes' previous nGi Q&A.

How can employers recruit young talent?
Young talent needs to be engaged. Employers need to try and findnew people at the university level, but here in San Antonio thereis only one college that I can think of that has an insurance andrisk management department. The colleges and universities thatoffer these types of degrees are great places to look for emergingtalent in our industry.

Similarly, how can employers retain youngtalent?
Employers need to have young talent placed with a mentor that willbe available to help teach and train. I was blessed to have agentlemen by the name of Frank Pruski take me under hiswing. We still discuss the insurance industry and where it isheaded, what I need to do to become a better agent. If every newagent could have a mentor that truly cares about their growth anddevelopment, then this industry will be in great shape.

How did you determine that insurance was a viable careerchoice?
After about a year here at BDI, I felt like I found myniche. I was able to meet lots of interesting people who I wasable to help in one way or another. I don’t feel like I havehit my stride just yet. As I continue to learn and become abetter agent, I think that bigger and better opportunities willappear.

Who do you look toward as a mentor in thisindustry?
I have been blessed to have two. Frank Pruski has taken me underhis wing and given me real world knowledge. He has morethan 30 years of experience and he has forgotten more thanmost will ever learn. The education from him was more valuable thanany book I have ever read. My other mentor is the owner of ouragency, Bruce Barnard. Bruce is a great example of how to lead anorganization. He treats each employee as family and does his bestto teach and train so each person can succeed. These two menhave helped and taught me so much--I wouldn’t be in this businesswithout either of them.

What legislative issues are you interestedin?
The Healthcare Reform is such a hot topic right now. As agents weare preparing for the worst, but hoping for the best right now.After the general election in November, we may have some ideaswhere we are headed, but for now it is so convoluted.

How do you balance work and personallife?
It is tough and ever-developing process, but I have an amazingwife, who I do not deserve, who is supportive of my work scheduleand its demands. I like to volunteer for events, but try to makesure there is plenty of time for family or involve my family in theevent. Even though I have my phone with me, we try to take time outand play with our son at night before his bath and bedtime.

How does your office reflect how youwork?
I am in one of our satellite offices and we have to work togetherhere to make sure the office is staffed during business hours aswell as handle work flow. We all chip in and help each other if oneus starts to get overwhelmed. There isn’t a division here betweencommercial lines and personal lines; we are just BDI.

What is an important lesson you learned when joining aprofessional working environment?
As cliché as this may sound, that we are a team and that we alwaysneed to work together to accomplish our goals. I have been blessedto work with such great people here at BDI and we always look outfor each other and make sure that we always have the clients' bestinterest at heart.

What do you see Gen Y/Millennials struggle with in aprofessional environment? What advice do you have?
Too many people want instant success. Many of today’s owners andpeople from these generations expect success to be given tothem, but this business doesn’t work that way. As agents, it isvery important to work hard and become knowledgeable. The bestthing to do for credibility is to take classes and earndesignations as fast as possible. Even though that doesn’t make upfor real work experience, the classes will teach you what to lookfor and how to help your client.

Where do you hope to take your career? What directionwould you like your career to go?
I want to own an agency one day. I enjoying working for our agencyright now, but really want to be able to be the one calling theplays and making the tough decisions. I need more experience andtraining to get there, but have had that dream for some time now. Ialso want to get into teaching. I would love to teach CIC or evencollege one day. I enjoyed taking my CIC, CSRM and CRM classes andwould love to help someone else enjoy that experience.

Have you ever experienced any "generation gap" issueswith your carriers in terms of personal interaction or the productsthey offer?
I think that insurance companies are adapting well to the changingmarkets. It seems that every company is trying to evolve theirwebsites to become more user friendly and broadening their coverageto help insureds.

What do you see young agents struggle with in theirfirst years in this industry? What advice do youhave?
The first year or two it can be overwhelming to try and learn a newagency management system, agency procedures and try and go out andsell and meet your own sales goals. I was devastated personallywhen I had not met my sales goals after six months, but my mentortold me to look back at the last six months and see if I hadfocused all my attention on selling or learning. In reality, I hadspent that time trying to learn our system and procedures andhadn’t spent much time meeting new people and trying to build abook of business.

What do you see as your biggest strength in thisindustry?
I come from a family of teachers (my wife, my mom and mymother-in-law), so I have tried to use their techniques of teachingto educate clients about insurance and risk management.

Wes Becknell was featured in the October2012 issue of AA&B. He is an agent/producer for BDIInsurance.