Things I learned from Jack Fries 

In 1997 I attended an Agency Management Camp sponsored by a client (The Worcester Insurance Company).  It featured Jack Fries as the “camp director.” 

I recently pulled out one of the pages from Jack’s playbook.  It is entitled, Ticket to Success.  It features nine critical success points.   

.  Employees are Number 1.  The way you treat your employees is the way

   they will treat your customers. 

.  Think small and grow big. 

.  Manage in the good times for the bad times. 

.  Irreverence is OK.

.  Have fun at work.  Take the competition seriously, but not yourself. 

.  It’s difficult to change someone’s attitude, so hire for attitude

   and train for skill. 

.  Think of the company as a service organization that happens to

   sell insurance. 

.   Do whatever it takes. 

.   Always practice the “Golden Rule,” internally and externally.  

THANK YOU, JACK! 

Howard Candage stresses innovation 

We had the pleasure of catching up with a prominent insurance agency management adviser Howard Candage last month.  He was presenting to Providence Mutual Fire Insurance Company agents at a seminar in Taunton, MA. His subject was Surviving, Buying or Selling. In this blurb, we will share some of Howard’s comments about agency survival.  His major premise:  to survive and thrive today, agents need to innovate. 

Insurance companies are process-focused  

Howard points out that insurance company capital “resides on the risk-bearing side of the insurance business,” and that the risk-bearing side is by nature process-focus. Insurance companies have to generate policies and follow through on promises behind those policies. They do this by building large organizations that are not necessarily customer-focused or consumer-focused, he says. 

In short, insurance companies are akin to “manufacturers and wholesalers.” 

Agents as intermediaries and facilitators 

Insurance agents are local retailers.  Howard asserts “if there is to be innovation in the insurance business then it must come from the customer-focused side of the business which is represented by agents who work directly with insureds.” 

He says there that is a natural dichotomy between the goals of insurers and insureds. He sees independent agents as intermediaries and facilitators who make sure that the needs of customers are properly meshed with the products, coverage benefits, and pricing levels offered by the risk-bearers who want and need to make profits on the capital they invest---the insurance companies. 

The role of the facilitator  

Customers often suffer from what Howard calls “pre-loss apathy” and “post-loss aggression.”  “Pre-loss apathy” can cause a customer to make insurance purchases that are not grounded in good risk management logic, Howard says.When a loss occurs, these same customers may realize the impact of their lack of interest and a poor decision about coverage.  They then exhibit “post-loss aggression”, toward both the insurer and the agent. 

Howard goes on to say,” The role of the agent as facilitator is to awaken the post-loss emotions on a pre-loss basis.”  This is easily accomplished through the sales process if one practices a bit, and develops the proper tools to awaken these emotions. 

He also pointed out that customers think (and have) insurance needs that are “horizontally integrated” across insurance product lines. They are concerned about coverages that give them peace of mind, not about individual products.  Insurers, however, are “vertically integrated” by product line.   

This gives rise to consumer conflicts with the insurance industry, Howard says.  He says the agent as the facilitator and intermediary between insurers and consumers, plays the pivotal role in handling misconceptions and issues. 

Agents as innovators 

In their complex roles as local “retailers” and professional advisers for    customers, AND “manufacturer reps” for multiple insurance companies,  independent agents must, of necessity, think innovatively.  For example, learning to sell value instead of price. 

What successful agents do 

.  Successful agents adopt innovative selling and servicing systems which  include productive uses of customer contact technology.  For example, regular e-mail contacts with clients in a positive way. 

.  Successful agents use innovative approaches in their personal and media communications with clients and the companies they represent.  Agents need  focus sessions with their carriers to highlight client needs, and the needs of  the community. 

.  Successful agents are innovative in devising and applying solutions that bridge the natural dichotomy between the goals of insurers and the insured.   They establish a dialogue with their clients and with their carriers to  improve the relationships required in an environment that has so much inherent conflict. 

.  Successful agents have a plan and execute that plan effectively to avoid being   In a reactionary position constantly. 

.  Successful agents create a vision for their organization which includes their customers, their communities, and their product niches.  

.  Successful agents understand they have a client base that purchases insurance  from them, and a sub set of those clients who experience claims. 

.  Successful agents are proactive in claims and policy delivery processes in order to strengthen relationships with their customers and their carriers. 

Claims handling is a major key to client building 

.  Successful agents add value to the client relationship by understanding the needs of those involved in claims experiences, and making sure clients know how much they care about satisfying those needs. 

.  Successful agents are adept at communicating the positive claims experiences  of clients to their entire client base, new buyers, and prospects. 

.  Successful agents are adept at leveraging claims satisfaction into referrals and  new business opportunities.  They know how important it is to be seen as an active participant in the claims process because they understand that the positive environment for referrals is principally the result of the way their carriers handle claims.      

Like to talk with Howard Candage, CPCU, CIC, CRM  directly about this issue and others?  Contact him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .    

As Maine goes, so may you 

I recently received an e- note from Mark Trombly, vice president of marketing for Providence Mutual.  He explained how a Bangor, Maine agency and its personal lines manager had come up with a novel way to make the point about the value of on-going cross-selling activities. 

She asked her CSRs to collect competitor ads they saw in newspapers, magazines and direct mail, and make notes on television commercials they saw or radio commercials they heard on radio for one month.  She told the CSRs to bring their notes, sample ads, etc. into the office and put them in a giant fishbowl. 

She told them that their notes were entries for an opportunity to win a prize.  At the end of the month, all of the entries were laid out in front of staff members.  It was an impressive display and demonstration that made the point:  our competitors are out there going after our customers big-time! 

Oh, every one who entered received a prize with a grand prize for a lucky entrant whose name was drawn from the fishbowl! 

Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding did life commercials 

Bob Elliott and his partner Ray Goulding were the kings of hyperbole and parody on radio in Boston (WHDH) and New York, then later on television.  Their on-air characters included Mary Margaret McGoon, a take-off on Mary Margaret McBride; Wally Ballou, fumbling newscaster;  Mary Backstayge, Noble wife, a parody on radio soap, Mary Noble, backstage wife;  Mr. Trace, keener than most persons, a parody on a popular radio serial, Mr. Keen, tracer of lost persons; Buff Burns, sportscaster, whose famous closing line to his baseball reports was “this is Biff Burns rounding third and being thrown out at home.” 

Three Non-Smoker Policy commercials 

Bob & Ray did three life insurance radio spots for State Mutual Life Assurance Company, Worcester, when I was advertising director at the company.  We wanted to promote our then innovative non-smoker life policy, and we wanted to do it in a memorable way.  I can recall meeting with Bob at his unpretentious office/studio in the Woolworth Building.  We reviewed our objectives and left some literature.  Within a month, we had scripts for three hilarious commercials. 

A couple of weeks later, we were in a tiny recording studio in the city.  Bob & Ray did three or four takes.  The best from each take was spliced together by a miracle working engineer---yards of old recording tape and some scotch tape and a razor blade! 

Still have an audiotape 

I kept a couple of tapes for the dustbin.  Every once and a while, I revisit them.  They never fail to make me chuckle.  One spot, in particular, gets me every time. Bob, representing a State Mutual life insurance agent, makes a cold call.  He knocks on the door and introduces himself and his purpose.  Ray, the prospect, welcomes him with open arms saying, “Oh, a life insurance agent.  Come right in, I was hoping you’d call.  I love those charts and graphs.”   

What a memorable take-off this was during the days when people at a neighborhood party used to scramble for cover if they heard there was a life insurance agent in the room! Bob & Ray always had a way of hitting the sweet spot with their way-out parodies.  The three State Mutual life insurance commercials were no exception.  

Want a laugh? Try some Bob & Ray. 

Go to www.bobandray.com. Ray died some years ago, but Bob lives on.  He has a summer vacation home in Harpswell, Maine.  This month he is receiving a prestigious award at the Radio Hall of Fame in NYC. 

He son Chris has carried on the family tradition as a television and movie comedian.  

Travelers umbrella back on top 

More proof that what goes around, comes around.  The Travelers insurance group has regained possession of their red umbrella logo.  The only remnant for Citibank is a red curved blip over the “iti” in its name. 

In my opinion, The Travelers red umbrella is the best insurance company logo ever created.  Currently, the company is showing off its coverage and protection connotations with a terrific TV spot.  Have you seen it?  It features a grandfatherly gentleman with a huge umbrella.  He uses the umbrella to help others travel to their destinations – by air, by water, over land. 

Other effective insurance logos 

An effective logo tells a story visually. My candidates for the five best-ever insurance logos are: (1) Travelers umbrella;  (2) Allstate “good hands”; (4) John Hancock signature; (5) Prudential Rock of Gibraltar;  (6) State Farm three product circles when they were used to promote auto insurance---they were used as car horns beeping sequentially in TV spots.  

Developing your logo 

The whole idea is to use your logo as one more way to separate your agency brand from the competition.  It is worth investing time and money into developing a distinctive logo that tells a story. And it is worth doing it right the first time. Used on letterheads, envelopes, promotion pieces, in ads, on your Web site, it will be seen by thousands of prospects and customers in the years ahead.  

A sidebar: one consideration when you are working on improving the logo you have or developing a new one is to “think TV and think Web.”  Can the logo ideas you are looking at be animated simply and effectively?  Breathing life into logos through animation is a critical success factor.  Use the Travlers umbrella commercials as your guide.