Golf: Recreation And Business Tool For Agents

Until recently, Kemper was associated with the longest continuous sponsorship of a single Professional Golf Association tournament, the Kemper Open in Potomac, Md. Marsh & McLennan Companies, the parent company of insurance broker Marsh, was a key sponsor at this years British Open.

It is a popular sport among agents, and one that agents say allows them to become familiar with their clients in ways that other sports or social activities do not. Plus, it brings out a persons character, and that can tell a lot about a person to an agent, they say.

"I use golf on a regular basis for both clients and prospective clients. And I use it to entertain company people, representatives, underwriters, etc." said Ron Wininger, senior vice president of Houston-based Brady, Chapman, Holland & Associates. "The reason is you have the other party captive for four to five hours, plus lunch and cocktails after, if you have that.

"But for that four to five hours in a cart, playing a game that drives everybody crazy, it really gives you an opportunity to get to know people," Mr. Wininger, who is also serving as the National Chairman of the IIAJC, went on.

"It is something that is very hard to do otherwise, in any other business setting, even a business lunch, which is very limiting as far as time is concerned. It gives you a good opportunity to learn a lot about a persons personality, and for that matter, their ethics."

Golf is a game of rules, noted Mr. Wininger. He is a 15 handicap and a member of the Raveneaux Country Club in Houston. While there are local rules to help play the course, when a playing partner does things like kick the ball out from a bad lie or shave a few points off their score, "it tells you something about the person," he noted.

"Its not a big issue," he said. "It just tells you to watch your business dealings a little closer."

There is also a bonding that takes place from playing golf that does not take place under any other circumstance, he continued.

"There have been many occasions where [playing golf] has just changed the relationship, deepening it and making it more personal," he said. "It turns a prospect into a friendship," he added.

The mixing of business and golf is something, other agents say, they have no problem with.

Bill Hofmann, vice president and treasurer of Provider Insurance Group in Belmont, Mass., is a 20 handicapper and a member at Winchester Country Club in Winchester, Mass. He says that when it comes to mixing golf and business, he has no problem with it.

"Im a very outgoing individual who has a reputation for saying what is on his mind," said Mr. Hofmann.

Playing golf gives an agent an opportunity to be "very frank with his company" in a setting where no one else is listening. It gives one the opportunity to say things without fear of huge embarrassment before a group.

"Sometimes its nothing more than a thank you, but at the same time it gives you the opportunity to talk about the business you dont have," he noted. "It gives you the opportunity to place a whole host of ideas in your client or prospects mind."

It is also a great mixer of people, an opportunity to meet new people and possibly generate some new business from those meetings.

Bill Stiglitz, an account executive with HBH Insurance Group in Louisville, Ky., says that golf is a great prospecting tool. Much prospecting is done during what is commonly referred to as the 19th hole (a round of golf usually consists of 18 holes). Traditionally, golfers try to have a few drinks or lunch after a round. An agent can talk to the client and cement a relationship by getting to know them better, he said.

It is a sales technique, the 17-handicap player and member at Owl Creek Country Club in Louisville, says, however, that younger agents are not utilizing.

"The younger agents are not learning all the sales techniques," he observed, adding that he wished more of them would start taking up the game and rely less on the sales call.

He noted that getting to know the people through golf at his 275-member club has helped him grow his business over the years.

"Its nice to get into a certain situation where its a really nice day, you are sitting, waiting to tee off, and you [casually] ask about business," said Mr. Stiglitz. "You ask how they are doing, where they need help, and bring up what you know that might help them. It makes for an intimate situation and its a lot easier thing to work [talking about business] into.

"Youll find that almost all golfers talk about business," he continued. "When its a business situation, the client or prospect knows he will be asked about business. They expect to talk about it."

"Most clients and prospects understand that this is part of the business and do expect some questions and business discussion," explained Mr. Hofmann. "The informal nature of playing golf gives an agent an opportunity to discuss in four or five hours what you could not cover in a one-hour meeting where the client is too tied up with other things.

"This relaxed atmosphere allows you to bring up a lot of topics, like claims, or talk about what the agency is not doing so well," he continued. In this "informal" atmosphere, the discussion is very different."

Another nice aspect of golf is the handicap system. No matter what the players ability, the system gives golfers strokes depending on the rated difficulty of a hole and their ability. It is a system devised by the United States Golf Association over the years to make tournament play more enjoyable, no matter what an individuals level of play. This helps a client to never feel out of place.

The handicap system is also a great help to women, says Janie Porter, a partner with John L. Worthan & Son, LLP in Houston, who feels women should learn the game to help them open the doors of opportunity.

"In any business, it is important to learn how to play golf, not just insurance," she points out. "Its especially helpful when working at the management level."

Ms. Porter, a member of Inwood Forest Country Club in Houston, said that, for her, golf allows her to "become one of the guys and to fit in better." It also helps that she learned to love the sport as a child. Her only disappointment with the game is that she does not get more of an opportunity to get out and work at lowering her 10 handicap.

Ms. Porter says, in her position, she deals with marketing to company people. One way that playing helps in her business dealings is in bringing out character. A day on the course will leave a prospect knowing her integrity and honesty. Back in the business setting, she says, "when I put something out on the table, they know it is true."

When doing business with a company executive she has played with, golf is usually the first subject they discuss, which relaxes the atmosphere, she observed, and allows them to get down to business on a more relaxed footing.

For women who may be afraid of trying their hand at the game for fear of embarrassment in front of the men, she says, it should not stop them from learning and getting out there to play.

"Women do not have to be good golfers in order to play," says Ms. Porter. "As long as they know the rules and the etiquette, they will do fine. That is why they have the handicap system."

She suggested one place women can turn for help is the Executive Womens Golf Association, which has chapters throughout the United States. The Association is dedicated to teaching women golf to help them advance their business careers. The Associations Web site is www.ewga.com.

"A lot of women are hesitant because they fear men will make fun of them," she continued. "As long as you know to keep up the pace, you can play with anybody."

Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, August 4, 2003. Copyright 2003 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.