Thoughts from the Home

Let things go their way

 When I answered the phone I could hear the happy excitement in my Aunt Judy’s voice. “What’s up?” I eagerly asked. “Great news. My car was hit in a parking lot. Since it’s so old, it doesn’t pay to repair it. I’ve been hoping something would happen to that car so I’d be forced into getting a new car. And it did!”

 My neighbor Jim has his own contracting business. This year has been brutal. He’s gone through cutbacks, refinancing, and reassessing business strategy.  Things have now settled into a new scaled-back norm. When I recently saw him walking his dog, he said, “I’ve actually had a really nice year. I’ve been spending more time with family and was able to take everyone to the beach for a week. With my business so busy in past, I hadn’t been able to do that.”

 Peter, a producer, lost a long-time renewal. He was disappointed but knew he had done everything possible to retain the account. Within a month, the account filed for bankruptcy protection.  When Peter heard the news, he felt really bad. Then he breathed a sigh of relief.

 Moral to the story: Having an attitude that things happen for a reason helps to better handle the rollercoaster of life.

Thoughts from the Office

It’s all in the family

I’m thrilled with the number of family members, including children of owners, coming into the agency business. However, it concerns me that family operations may inadvertently fall into bad practices that harm the business in the long term. Here are a few thoughts to avoid the pitfalls of a family business.

Apply consistent employment practices.  Job descriptions and personnel manuals apply to family members, too. Set up a job training schedule employing the assistance of coworkers and carriers rather than a relative. Utilize personality and skill assessments to uncover issues that may affect job effectiveness. Not only are these resources great management and development tools, having an objective third party perspective can help handle or avoid uncomfortable situations.

Office rules apply to everyone.  Generally, family businesses are family friendly. Be careful that the children of family members don’t take liberties that non-family children don’t have. Disrupting workers, playing on the computers, and making a mess in the break room are behaviors that may be tolerated, but compromise business professionalism.  Non-family employees rarely say anything to the owners about this. Instead, they silently fume.

Recognize the perspective of non-family members.  Right or wrong, non-family employees believe that family members share information with the owner. Employees may see a family employee as unapproachable on certain subjects, wondering if a conversation will be kept confidential or what impact certain private information will have on his or her job. Be sensitive to the situation employees are in when dealing with family members. 

Don’t allow employees to play one family member off another. “But I talked to your wife (or son, daughter, father) about ...” can be used by employees to get what they want in a situation. All family members need to understand the limits and boundaries that exist in their job position.  When a family member is approached about a matter that falls outside his or her responsibilities, he or she must refer the employee to the appropriate person.

Recognizing, acknowledging and addressing these issues up front with all the parties involved will support an emotionally healthy and professional business environment.

Coming Soon! 

My new book and audio - Great Service Sells – How CSRs Turn Service into Sales.

What people are buying from Selling Strategies to help their people and grow their business:

Soft Market Selling – a CSR and producer audio seminar

Handle Sales Objections – a CSR and producer audio seminar

How to Compete with Direct Writers – a Personal Lines agent seminar

How to Create a Sales and Marketing Plan – a producer self-guided program with workbook

Go to www.sellingstrategies.com for information and to purchase.

On the road in 2009

Here’s where my upcoming schedule will take me:

·         Agency Management CIC, Omaha, NE November 4, 2009

·         Underwriting Executive Council, Las Vegas, NV  November 5, 2009

•       Speaking engagement in North Carolina – private client - November 11, 2009
•        Speaking engagement in Wisconsin – private client - November 18, 2009

Please get in touch if you’d like to connect when I’m in your area.

Strategies for Success Newsletter is published by Emily Huling Selling Strategies. www.sellingstrategies.com

For further information E-mail: emily@sellingstrategies.com