Welcome to Oak Leaves
The Newsletter of Oak & Associates
Greetings!
Are your producers ready for 2010? Do you have a plan to guide them and your agency to follow your vision and reach your goals? This month, our focus is on ways to help you, your producers and your agency prepare for 2010. There is no magic formula. It is a matter of knowing the basics and then taking action. Our articles in this issue and webinars will provide you with some of the basics you need to know to manage your producers. Oak & Associates can also help you take action and implement the ideas that work for you. Please do not hesitate to call us if you have any questions. Warm Regards Catherine Oak, CIC, CRM, AAI Founder, Oak & Associates, Inc. |
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Producer Goal Setting & Performance
Sales management is vitally important to the growth and
survival of an agency. However, as important as it is, sales management does
not have to be a full-time job in most firms.
Often the task falls to an owner or the top producer in the
firm. This is not necessarily a good idea, because sales management can take
away time from the manager's own sales efforts. The key to effective sales management is to set up a system
to monitor performance and encourage the producers. 
Ideally, once an effective sales management system is
created, self-motivated and properly trained producers can essentially "manage"
themselves. The sales management
role, in this hypothetical situation, is to monitor performance, remove any
unreasonable obstacles to production and create an overall environment for
sales.
However, producers are human too, and in reality, need
guidance and support in order to succeed on a regular basis. A good sales
management system creates a structure for the producers to succeed while
minimizing the effort required by the sales manager.
Producer Performance
What is an acceptable level of producer
performance for experienced, "seasoned" producers? It depends on a
number of factors, such as...
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To read more click here
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Producer Contract Fundamentals
One of the amazing things
that occurs in some agencies, even successful ones, is that often the producers
have not signed contracts. There
are three main reasons for the lack of contracts. The most common reason is that the
agency owner and the producer have a verbal agreement. Usually the owner is reluctant to put the agreement in
writing for fear that the producer will not sign one anyway and might leave if
forced to sign.
The second reason is that the
owner just did not take the time to draft an agreement or did not know were to
start. The third most common
reason is that the owner feels contracts are a waste of time and money. They believe that if a producer wants
to leave and violate the contract they will. 
The last reason does have a
bit of truth to it. However, if a
producer does violate a contract, at least the owner does have a means of
recourse. This is especially true
if the agreement is fair.
Those who feel a verbal
agreement will suffice or fail to take the time to write an agreement are
playing with fire, and will get burnt.
Without a contract, any dispute must rely on verbal agreements, implied
agreements and common practices.
The results of such disputes are up in the air. At least with a contract both sides
have a common starting point in which to resolve their disagreements.
One of the biggest reasons to
have a contract with a producer is to clearly state who owns the business. Producers often feel that... To read more click here ____________________________________________________ |
Sales Management Coaching
We want to help get you and your business back on target with the help of our Sales Management Coaching Program!
Let us customize a program for you and your agency!
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Sales & Marketing Planning or
Business Planning for 2010
We want to help you get your planning on track for 2010! Call us today to arrange your one day sales or business planning session.
Cost is $750 to moderate a one-day session or $1,500 if you also want an action plan from the session.
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Call 707 935 6565 to speak with Bill or Catherine.
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Does your agency have a producer development training plan? A good producer training and development plan should address the common roadblocks that they face.
Here are the top ten difficulties that typical commercial lines producers face: - Cold Calling Prospects
- Managing Time
- Lack of Consistent Sales Process
- Lack of Technical Skills
- Finding Prospects
- Dealing with Objections
- Closing the Sale
- Active Listening
- Building Rapport with Prospects
- Getting Referrals
Adapted from Producer Profile from The National Alliance Research Academy |
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Producer
Management
Webinars
Join us for our two info packed webinars on producers.
If you are like most agency owners, there is not enough time to take
care of your own clients, sell new business and manage the agency. But,
in order to grow, you also need to manage the producers.
Now
is the time to get a jump start on your sales management for 2010.
Join us to for our October webinars on the producer issues you need to
know.
WEBINAR ONE Topic: Producer Goal Setting & Planning Thursday, October 22, 2009 Time: 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM Pacific Time Cost: $29 per agency Click here to sign up for the October 22 webinar WEBINAR TWOTopic: Producer Contracts & Compensation Wednesday, October 28, 2009 Time: 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM Pacific Time Cost: $29 per agency Click here to sign up for the October 28 webinar Sign up for both and save. Get both webinars for only $49 per agency! Just Sign up for both and we will bill you for only $49.
Click here to find out more about our online learning
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