You Can Never Take CSRs For Granted

I always look forward to receiving my packet each summer, with applications and essays from the five finalists. As always, the choice was hard, as all five candidates were outstanding CSRs who go above and beyond on a regular basis. The essays are usually enlightening, and this year was no exception.

I had to laugh when I read the opening lines of the winning entry from Suellyn Boastick, commercial lines manager at The Lewis Insurance Store Inc. in Champaign, Ill. "As a CSR with only [emphasis added] 10 years in the insurance industry, this is truly my first experience with a hard market." Good grief! Ten years! It was not my imagination–the soft market did go on forever!

"I read somewhere that the current tightening of our market is leaving some agents with a queasy stomach. I can see now what everyone was talking about," she went on to say. Don't we all!

My vote went to Ms. Boastick because I appreciated her approach and attitude. "I've always felt it was my job to help my client, not just by saving them some money, but by placing myself in a risk manager position." She said she strives to not merely react to questions or resolve problems as they are brought to her attention, but to "anticipate their coverage needs, and make sure the coverage is there if they need it."

She added that "this is my opportunity to really demonstrate my worth to my clients, and to make our agency stand out from the rest. I want our clients to see our agency and myself as partners in their business."

Ms. Boastick appears to be dealing with her share of panicked and angry clients in the hard market. With coverage shrinking and premiums soaring, she wrote, "I try to explainwhy, in more cases than not, this is NOT an attack on them individually," but rather the result of broader industry loss cost, financial, and investment return trends.

I gave Ms. Boastick extra credit for serving as her agency's systems administrator–a job that is usually even more thankless than being a CSR. Producers get tense when their computers crash, especially because today's agencies are so dependent on technology that a systems failure of any kind can be catastrophic.

Ms. Boastick has just the right attitude in her role as the resident tech-head. "When it comes to computer problems, I've never been one to just sit down at the workstation and 'fix' it," she wrote in her application. "I've always tried to involve the person who uses that PC, and have them go through the motions so they can understand what's going on and how to do something. Hoarding information–in my case about insurance or computers–does not benefit the advancement of my agency."

The other four finalists were also impressive, and each had their strengths.

Kris Kortum, commercial lines CSR for ISU/Corporate Insurance Management in St. Louis, Mo., sees her job as "keeping continuity between the producer, the company, and the client. I think of it almost like a magic act."

Still, she is quick to add that her approach is not merely "Hocus Pocus." She said that in today's competitive market, producers and CSRs "not only have to sell the product; they also have to sell themselves and the agency they are affiliated with. Price today cannot be the only factor."

This CSR knows she has to be on her toes with underwriters as well as clients. "Knowing how to present a situation can make or break a 'yes' answer," she wrote, adding that "sometimes you must find an interesting twist or creative idea that [sparks] the underwriter's curiosityThis does not change the facts; [it's] just tricks of the trade that simply give a fresh way to look at them."

A creative presentation of an account, she added, "is more than just selling it. It lets the underwriter know we understand our client, then allows them to feel comfortable in accepting [the risk]."

Ms. Kortum also knows who butters her bread. "The client's job is to keep me employed," she said. Earlier on, she wrote, "the producer's job is the hardest. If a producer cannot sell an account, I will eventually be out of a job." Her "duty," she said, is to fulfill the promises made by her agency, and to keep clients satisfied and on board.

Bonnie Avila, a CSR at Marsh USA in Grand Rapids, Mich., said the value of a CSR is "underestimated. Why?" Why, indeed?

She went on to point out that CSRs "must be well educated in the insurance industry, be able to communicate with clients effectively, have the patience to deal with problems on a daily basis, and be committed to service." You could almost hear her sigh when she added: "Sometimes this is not an easy task."

Lisa Lubey, an agent and CSR for the E.L. Webster Insurance Agency in Waldorf, Mo., wrote that a CSR "must learn to sell the value of the company and the agency, and not just the rates," adding that "clients must be taught to understand that not all insurance companies are alike." This means educating clients that price alone should not be the bottom line–that financial integrity and service are equally critical.

Indeed, Ms. Lubey said that while clients must make hard decisions in their choice of insurer and agent, agencies must make equally difficult choices when deciding which customers to represent.

"Reunderwriting is imperative," she said. "It's just as important to eliminate problem accounts as it is to add new accounts. Problem accounts cost money and time to both the agency and the insurance company. By eliminating problem accounts, loss ratios will go down, which will provide higher agency bonuses, and rates will not have to be adjusted as frequently. Also, there will be a better relationship between the agency and the insurance company since they will have a common goal."

Last, but not least is Margo May, a CSR for Marsh USA in Reno, Nev. The 30-year veteran concedes that, "with the hard market in our lives right now, the 'typical' renewal is a thing of the pastEach renewal now is treated like a new piece of business–new applications, everything. The underwriters want information that a couple of years ago wouldn't have mattered to them."

Yet despite the hassles and tension inevitable in a hard market, Ms. May remains upbeat about her chosen field. "The hard market has changed the way that insurance companies do business, and even though it has made the CSR job more demanding, the pleasure in getting the job done and learning something in the process is a great feeling," she said. She concluded by declaring that "I know that things will change over time, and I am ready to embrace whatever comes my way."

CSRs are worth their weight in gold. Too many organizations talk the talk about their dedication to customer service, but all too few walk the walk. Those with creative, resilient and can-do CSRs are a step ahead of the field before their producers ever make a sales call.

If you haven't done so already, take another look at your "front-line troops," and thank the "CSR of the Year" in your agency. Take CSRs for granted at your own peril, because that means you're taking your customers for granted. And that means you wont have those customers for long.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, September 23, 2002. Copyright 2002 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.