Does your agency have a culture of constant improvement? Do you make development and training a priority and part of who you are? If not, you are missing out.

Now, I know what you might be thinking – “You own a training company, of course you are going to say that.”

I get it. But hear me out…..

Here are some cases that would have NEVER been uncovered if it was not for consistent training, coaching, and role playing.

Case #1 – A customer service agent was talking to a customer about a payment and asked about their financial goals and objectives using a talk path that we teach. When the customer replied that they already had a financial advisor, most people would have stopped right there. But she didn’t. She overcame that objection with another talk path that she had been taught. She convinced the customer to meet with our financial team and set the appointment. In the appointment the financial specialist gave a second opinion and ended up helping the customer. The end result was $11,000 in production credit and a customer that was in a much better position.

Case #2 – A sales agent was working with a new customer and used a talk path that we teach and role play. There were several objections from the customer but she overcame all of them. An appointment was set and the financial specialist uncovered $1,600,000 in assets that resulted in $36,000 in production credit.

Now you might be thinking “We aren’t focused on financial services so what does this have to do with MY agency?” Financial services is one of the most difficult conversations to have because it is so personal and can make clients and prospects feel extremely vulnerable and sometimes embarrassed for many reasons. If coaching and role play can train team members to have these difficult conversations imagine what they can do for uncovering insurance needs and other lines of insurance. 

There are thousands of examples of increased revenue and items made by the sales team, customers saved and opportunities generated by the service team, and life and financial appointments set by everyone all through the power of training. I have seen customer service agents go from literally generating no revenue and sales opportunities to generating 20 items in a month in addition to consistently adding revenue. I have seen sales agents go from writing 30 items a month to over 100 items in a month and earn the the Century Club award. I have seen agencies go from writing 10 personal umbrella policies a year to writing 10 personal umbrella policies a month. This does not happen by accident. You must make training a priority in order for your team to get better.

What should you do?

Play a training video, talk about that topic, teach/coach on the topic and then finish with role play. Do it every single week. The objective is for everyone to get better, even if it is just a 1% improvement. Do individual coaching sessions on a daily basis, typically reviewing a call or working on a specific topic that you know someone needs to improve on. Over time, this will have dramatic improvement on everyone’s confidence and overall ability. It simply leads to more success, higher revenue, improved retention, and clients with better coverage. 

Whether you utilize CWC or train on your own, make development a priority. Make it a part of who you are and what your agency is all about. Your staff wants to get better. They want to learn how to do things in a better way. They want more success and they certainly want coaching and training, even if they don’t like to role play!

Your team is by far your biggest asset in your agency. Not investing time in their development is a huge mistake, especially in this day and age. The days of taking orders, doing the minimum or simply being transactional are over. You have to do more. You have to deliver. You have to do more higher level work. But it’s not going to happen on its own. Your team needs leadership, guidance, and training. They need someone who can provide the tools and resources they need to improve and develop. Whether you do it or not is entirely up to you. 

Agencies are spending money and time on technology, leads, warm transfers, but they are not investing in their team.  It makes no sense, but I was guilty of it for years. Once we started making constant development a priority, our business took off and improved in so many ways. Don’t make the mistake I made. Don’t wait years. Get started now. It is the most important thing you can do to help your agency grow, no doubt about it.