Producer School

To an inexperienced agent, learning the insurance industry’s ropes – and many acronyms – can be difficult. Yet there are many educational opportunities designed to coach young agents into better performers and top sellers.

One such program is the National Alliance School for Producer Development. The three week course, held in four locations throughout the year, is designed to turn novice producers into disciplined, street-smart sales professionals.

“We hope to provide the foundation for students’ careers,” said Jeff Wodicka, national program director for the Producer School and chairman/CEO of Casswood Insurance Agency.

The school targets producers with six months to two years of experience from all areas of the continent. “We like students to have a working awareness of insurance so that they’re in a position to speak the language, as well as have a willingness to learn,” Wodicka said. “They immerse themselves in the training so that when they leave at the end of three weeks, they have the confidence not to sell all aspects of insurance, but a specific niche.”

As part of the program, students receive hefty “game books” that become resources once they return to their agencies. They also roleplay to learn practical aspects about the dynamics of selling, managing the sales process and the importance of price, value, coverage, service and relationships.

The instructors, senior commercial producers and faculty from the National Alliance’s Dynamics of Selling training course, facilitate group work and hands-on training. “We don’t just focus on technical knowledge without the ability to function day-to-day,” Wodicka said. One of the hallmarks of the Producers School is to present students with real-life scenarios that they can practice solving.

Julian Summers of Julian Summer’s Insurance Agency sought the school based on information he had seen on the Internet. “I wanted to be the best in my field,” he said. “I looked around at a lot of opportunities and … the one thing I kept coming back to was the Producers School because it had a balance of technical, product knowledge and real world scenarios.”

According to Wodicka, that fits the goal of the school. “The end result is not just to train, but to give graduating students confidence so that they feel comfortable hitting the streets in selling insurance,” he said.

Additionally, the school helps to instruct managers. Agency and sales managers can participate in the opening program and attend special classes during the first week. “We wanted to make sure when we send students back to their agencies that the nests were ready. We decided let’s strongly advise students to come with the person they report to, so they can learn how to nurture them as well,” Wodicka said.

Matt Carlson, sales executive at Beecher Carlson based in Woodland Hills, Calif., believed he has benefited from the interactive training. “I’ll know how to handle myself when I’m in front of a client much better than I have in the past,” he said. “We have game plans and different strategies to go forward and to get those prospects and make them clients.”

Carlson is the recipient of the Matt Wells Scholarship for Producer Development. Matt was the son of Insurance Journal publisher Mark Wells.

The remaining 2006 National Alliance Schools for Producer Development are being held in Plymouth, Mass., and Dallas. For more information, visit www.scic.com.

Topics Training Development