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It is common knowledge that insurance agencies and the whole industry face a massive wave of retirements. Many of these employees are leaving after 30 or more years serving an agency and building relationships with clients. Not only does this mean that a significant amount of knowledge is retiring out of the industry, but it can also leave client relationships in jeopardy when this person was a key contact for the insured.
And while there is no way to replace long-term experience, service, and friendships that an employee built, there are ways for agencies to prepare for their departure.
While it may seem easier in the moment to bury your head in the sand and pretend one of the agency’s most prized employees is not going anywhere, this type of mindset will not help anyone. Once an employee expresses a desire to start working towards retirement, it is time for the agency to start planning to accommodate this.
Employee retirements are not specific to the insurance industry, and businesses of all kinds are experiencing the same loss each day, just like your agency. Attempting to avoid the subject with clients does a disservice to them, the retiring employee and the agency. Chances are if the employee has a long-term working relationship with the client, the question of eventual retirement may have already come up in conversation. Just as insurance agents want a heads up when a client is transitioning from one key person to another, you now owe that same courtesy in return.
Be honest and communicate with the client about the timeline, the transition plan, and introduce the new service person. Open communication will allow everyone a chance to work collectively and get familiar with one another and avoid disruptions down the road.
It is understandably difficult to watch a good employee leave the industry for the next phase of life. However, using these steps will help position the new employee and the agency to pick up where they left off and continue building on their predecessor’s successes.
For more on this topic, check out the full episode of The Independent Agent here.
Justin Goodman has spent the past 20 years in insurance. He is the co-founder and CEO of Total CSR and co-founder and Managing Director of Project 55. By the age of 29, he was recognized as one of the top five construction insurance experts nationwide by Risk and Insurance Magazine. He also was named to Insurance Business Magazine’s Hot 100 and most recently the 2024 Insurance Journal Agent of the Year. Justin has trained over 50,000 CSR’s, account managers and producers through his work at Total CSR. He has a passion for developing the next generation of insurance professionals. When not with his family, he devotes his free time to speaking engagements and advising agency owners across the country.
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