Why Can't Insurance Companies Retain Their Sales Representatives?
It is endlessly frustrating to get a new representative for an insurance carrier every year. Having been in business for 37 years, I understand that carriers hire and fire rapidly but we are seeing a pattern that is not conducive to good working relationship between our marketers and the carriers. With one company, Gordon Marketing has had 6 reps in the past 3 years.
Oddly enough, many reps are on a circuit an go from carrier to carrier and end us working with us for many years--but for several different companies.
New reps all want to come out and "get to know us" and "build a relationship." That rings so hollow and has become such a waste of my time that I'm getting very resentful of the turnover. It isn't worth our time to get to know them when they are gone in a year.
Our best carrier relationships are built on long relationships with solid reps and of course, that holds true downstream as well. Our best relationships with agents are built on years of contact by the same Gordon Marketing marketer.
One of the things I'm proudest about as an agency owner is the longevity of our staff. Employees let you know how you are doing by staying and growing with you.
If your team has a lot of turnover, either you hire wrong, or more likely, you don't have a team people want to grow with. For a small company (100 employees) we have 10 people who have been with us over 20 years! Our marketing team averages over 10 years and our key support staff have been here even longer.
Why do the insurance carriers burn through their reps so quickly?
It's not the travel because the reps usually--almost always--move into another roll with another company that requires the same amount of travel. The reps continue to work with us and all the same key partners, doing the same job.
All fingers point to the culture of the company they are leaving.
The carriers with the most revolving employees are not only wasting our time, but they are wasting a tremendous amount of their own resources. Someone in oversight should notice and try to correct this pattern. It would help all of us "downstream" and make the partnership that is always being heralded, have the ability to really mature into reality.
