NAILBA Perspectives - July 2016 - 32

XXX nailba's agency successor networking group Building a Successful Sales Organization N Have you been identified as the next sitting principal of your agency? The ASNG Planning Committee works diligently to reach out to others in the industry who have transition experience and are willing to share what they learned in the process. Contact Annette Suriani, CMP, NAILBA's Manager of Meetings and Education, at 703.383.3069 or asuriani@nailba.org for more information on the Agency Successor Networking Group. 32 perspectives JULY 2016 AILBA and the Agency Successor Networking Group (ASNG) are continually looking at ways to provide members with value-added benefits. If you have considered applying for membership in the ASNG, consider the benefits of participating in semimonthly conference calls with peers who are in a similar career phase. Here's a summary of the March ASNG conference call on the topic of Building a Successful Sales Organization (Both Internal and External). George C. "Chip" Van Dusen IV, NAILBA 2016 Chairman and President of Minneapolis-based Diversified Brokerage Services Inc., served as this topic's featured guest speaker. As Van Dusen noted, this group is the future of our industry, and as such, participation in these networking groups that are peer to peer, is extremely important. With that being said, he dove right into the topic at hand. Three Ways of Wholesaling: ■■ Sales Desk Approach: a little bit of outbound but a lot of reactive; ■■ External Wholesaling: have a region or a group of producers reporting to them; ■■ External Retail: has become very popular and they provide a point of sales approach. It depends on your distribution makeup. If you have a number of relationships with a wirehouse or casualty, you might want to recruit someone for the point of sales space. Most agencies already have the start of a sales force. Whether you have one person or more calling on producers, this is your sales team and this is where your investment begins. As with any investment, there is risk, so you need to determine how much risk you are willing to take. There are certain steps you need to take to build a world-class team: 1. Install performance standards. Set goals that have benchmarks where results are measurable. For example, they can be a specific number of face-to-face meetings, or actual phone conversations (not just calls). 2. Coach. Have team meetings. Be transparent with everyone and let the team see how others on the team are doing. Bring in outside speakers to present new ideas or better approaches. 3. Don't settle for mediocre sales performance. Always remember that if a person isn't meeting these goals at the end of 6 months, you have to sometimes sever the relationship. 4. Know what each salesperson wants. You want your salespeople to know everything about the producers they are dealing with. How do they like to be contacted? How often? You should know what your salespeople want as well. What motivates them? Is it salary + override? Van Dusen noted that you must also identify what your agency needs to be successful long term. If you want to bring in top-notch sellers sometimes you have to use a draw to bring someone in at a specific level. And if you're willing to offer the draw, you need to be willing to forgive the draw. So where do you find these people? Van Dusen suggested several ways with the most important one being referrals from the network that your organization has created. Never be afraid to ask someone if they know of anyone. He also said that sometimes a recruiting agency can assist you because they administer tests based on your needs to help identify candidates. A barrier to your sales force is how to find the right candidate. What are the personality traits that make a good wholesaler? Will they hold up your organization's values? This is where your investment continues. In closing, Van Dusen reminded everyone that, "You can gain experience through your failures."

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NAILBA Perspectives - July 2016

NAILBA Perspectives - July 2016
Contents
Chairman’s Corner
CEO Insights
Mooers Award Nominations
Cyber Liability/Cyber Security
NAILBA 35 Program Preview
NAILBA Charitable Foundation
Life Happens
Member Profile
Agency Successor Networking Group
Calendar of Events
Brokerage in Motion
Index of Advertisers

NAILBA Perspectives - July 2016