Friday, September 30, 2011

Commercial Lines CSR - Atlanta, GA

This is a great opportunity for someone that is looking to get into a niche.  Our client is a well respected organization that focuses exclusively on insurance for the healthcare industry.  They are looking for a sharp individual with p&c experience that can step in as a CSR.  The biggest requirement is that this individual must be high energy, task oriented and be able to manage multiple things at once.  Please let me know if you have any suggestions or if you are interested.

Commercial Lines CSR
Our client is a specialized property and casualty agency focused on providing exceptional customer service.  The position, Commercial Insurance CSR, is responsible for providing sales support and building client relationships.  Teamwork is an important part of the agency's client service success, so your ability to communicate and support the work of colleagues is critical.

Commercial Insurance CSR Responsibilities:
Provide support to account managers and producers; help to coordinate renewals, prospective clients and respond to customer inquiries in a timely fashion.
Be thorough and accurate with all client correspondence, checking to make sure requests are completed and documented in the agency management system.
Conduct quote and policy reviews as well as assist with certificate and billing questions.
Learn the agency's comprehensive list of commercial and personal lines product offerings.

Commercial Insurance CSR Qualifications:
Bachelor's degree is strongly preferred; equivalent work experience will be considered.
Active GA P&C license.
Minimum of three (3) years experience in property and casualty customer service; prior agency experience is required.
Can manage a high volume of calls and emails from insureds.
Strong command of Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel.

Please contact Scott Thompson for immediate confidential consideration and additional details.  Email:  sthompson@insurance-csg.com  Phone:  515-987-0242 x17  Fax 515-987-0004  See our website at, www.csgrecruiting.com/ins_opportunities.htm for a complete listing of nationwide opportunities.


Check out some of my recent articles on the blog here:






Thursday, September 29, 2011

Three Things Every Account Manager Should do to Improve Their Career

Hi Everybody!  I hope you are doing great.  Today, I’m going to circle back around to account managers and account executives and discuss how to make yourself more valuable.  First off – why do you want to be more valuable?  Good question. 

In my opinion the best solution for anyone I talk to is for them to stay in their current position.  Making a move is messy, difficult and stressful.  That said, there are times when it is unavoidable.  With this in mind I’ve come up with some ways that you can make yourself more valuable to your company and in the worst case scenario make yourself more marketable.  Here goes:

1.  Develop a specialty or a niche

This is huge.  The one way you can set yourself apart from the rest of the pack is to be a specialist.  This will make you invaluable to your current employer and in the event you need to make a move will give you the opportunity to find a position looking for your skills.  Additionally, the ability to become a specialist will give a future employer confidence that you could do it again in another segment. 

So – how do you become  a specialist.  Every book of business has some common denominator.  Typically it is in an industry segment or a line of coverage.  Immerse yourself in this and get to know as much about it as possible.  Spend an extra five minutes on the phone with your client or underwriter.  Take notes when talking to your producer.  Slowly but surely you will notice that you will be able to speak their language and be able to make educated recommendations.  Give yourself the gift of a specialty – it will pay you back.

2.  Build up your marketing skills

This one is really important.  It doesn’t matter if you are in a centralized marketing organization led by a marketing manager or a decentralized organization where you do all of the marketing.  You will be in touch with underwriters and have an impact on submissions.  The best account managers I know make a positive impact on the marketing process.  There are a couple of ways you can do this:
  • Build a relationship with your underwriters – people do favors for people that they like
  • Be proactive and intuitive – know ahead of time what additional information underwriters will ask for – have it ready
  • Be responsive – to a degree the underwriter is your customer as well – go fetch additional information that they want in a positive and timely manner
  • Choose your battles – don’t ask for favors with every submission – save up that goodwill you are building
  • Don’t cry wolf – don’t put a rush on things for every submission it will decrease the likelihood of you getting that really important one through.

3.  Increase and improve your client facing activities

Perhaps the best way to make yourself indispensible is to make your customer love you.  Take advantage of every opportunity in front of your client to make an impact.  First of all this will make them very responsive to your needs.  Secondly, your producer will hear about it.  Just like with an underwriter build a personal relationship.  Take notes about their family, hobbies and vacations so you can ask about them later.  Be very responsive and solution oriented.  If you solve their problems in a timely, polite and pleasant manner they will love you!

That’s all I have for today!  Have a great weekend out there and as always please let me know if you have any suggestions or comments.  I’m always available at sthompson@insurance-csg.com

Check out some of my recent articles on the blog here:





Thursday, September 22, 2011

Commercial Lines Account Manager - Greensboro, NC

This is a great opportunity with one of my best clients.  They are looking for a very sharp account manager with large account experience (average accounts in the $10K - $50K revenue range.)  This place offers terrific benefits and a great work life balance.  As always please let me know if you have any suggestions or are interested yourself.

Commercial Lines Account Manager

Our client is a Top 50 independent agency with annual revenues in excess of $20 million.  They are a seven generation company with offices throughout the Mid-Atlantic to position themselves next to their clients.  They have a dynamic, professional sales and service staff that strives to offer service above their competitors.  Their service department seeks a knowledgeable, senior client manager with experience handling large, complex accounts as the primary account service coordinator.

Commercial Account Manager Responsibilities:
Serve as the primary client service point of contact to the insured.
Answer questions about coverage and pricing, create and execute the renewal cycle, coordinate all renewal marketing and create RFPs.
Be a resource for producers and client service colleagues concerning markets, coverage issues and claims.

Commercial Account Manager Qualifications:
At least five (5) years of commercial insurance experience as an Account Manager or Account Executive.
Bachelor's degree is strongly preferred; pursuance of continuing education like CIC, AU or ARM is highly desired.
Large account experience exceeding $100k-$200k in premium.
Broad coverage proficiency in general liability, commercial auto, large property, and workers compensation; construction exposure is highly desired.

Please contact Scott Thompson for immediate confidential consideration and additional details.  Email:  sthompson@insurance-csg.com  Phone:  515-987-0242 x17  Fax 515-987-0004  See our website at, www.csgrecruiting.com/ins_opportunities.htm for a complete listing of nationwide opportunities.


Check out some of my recent articles on the blog here:





Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Commercial Lines Account Manager - Denver, CO

I've got a great commercial lines account manager position in Denver.  This is a great spot for someone looking for a stable position with a well respected growing company.  Our client plays in the middle market arena with clients in industries such as retail, contractors and construction.  If you have an interest please let me know!

Commercial Lines Account Manager - Denver, CO 
Our client is an independent insurance agency well established in Denver.  They have two client service opportunities in the commercial insurance division.  Both roles are designed to support the renewal process and the ongoing administrative needs of the agency's clients.

1) Customer Service Representative- Responsibilities of this position include responding to customer inquiries, processing policy changes, resolving billing questions, issuing certificates and auto id cards, and gathering updated information for renewals.

2) Commercial Insurance Account Manager- Responsibilities include managing the client's renewal process, identifying gaps in coverage, negotiating pricing with underwriters, and preparing proposal presentations.  You will serve as the agency's primary point of contact for the insured next to the producer.

Commercial Insurance Account Manager Qualifications:
Current Colorado P&C license.
Minimum two (2) years of commercial insurance client service, account management or underwriting/marketing experience.
Broad property and casualty exposure working with major coverage lines like general liability, commercial auto, work comp, property, and BOPs.

Please contact Scott Thompson for immediate confidential consideration and additional details.  Email:  sthompson@insurance-csg.com  Phone:  515-987-0242 x17  Fax 515-987-0004  See our website at, www.csgrecruiting.com/ins_opportunities.htm for a complete listing of nationwide opportunities.



Monday, September 19, 2011

Four Keys To a Great Reference


Happy Monday!!!  I had some situations arise last week that made me think about references and how many people are stumped by this issue.  Personally, I've always thought that references were a little silly.  Why would a company be interested in the thoughts of a pre-selected person that will say nothing but good things about a candidate for a job. 

However, I’ve since found that much like other things in getting a job a reference is not as much about what someone shares about you as it is about the candidate’s ability to follow directions and present them.  While it seems obvious that you should have several professional, positive references in the stable when you are in job search there are many people that ignore this step or don’t give it the attention that it deserves.  I honestly don’t believe that references get people many jobs but they lose them for people.  With this in mind I put together some tips for people.  Read away!

1.  Choose the Right Person

This is one of the biggest mistakes I see out there.  To be clear – nobody wants to hear from your mom, pastor, neighbor or best friend.  While I’m certain that they do love you and think highly of you they are not people that are imminently qualified to discuss why you would be a strong candidate for a job and probably can’t offer the relevant information that people are seeking.  Instead focus on people that you have worked for.  The single two best references in my opinion are managers and customers.  Essentially it is anyone that you have professionally given a deliverable to.

These are the people that can make you look good because they will speak the same language as the person trying to hire you.  If you don’t have a manager or a customer that you can use as a reference you have a problem as it will raise red flags for the future employer.  Your third option by a longshot is a co-worker that can speak about your work.  However, if you go this route this person has to be familiar with your work.  Just saying that you were a really good cubicle mate will not suffice.

2.  Ask For Permission

Call and ask your potential references for permission to use them.  This is really important.  First, nothing looks worse than someone supplying a reference that says bad things about you.  People do not want to give bad references and will most likely tell you that they aren’t comfortable providing a reference if this is the case.  Secondly, you want them prepared for the call.  The next worst thing that can happen with a reference is if your reference doesn’t remember you or hasn’t been thinking enough about you to give meaningful information. 

3.  Ask What They Will Say About You

This is another step that can really set you up for success.  After you get permission, ask what they would likely say.  This fulfills two purposes.  First, you can root out if they will actually say good things about you.  If they don’t know what to say you can think about crossing them off of the list.  More importantly, it gives you the chance to impact what they are going to say.  When starting this discussion you should take some time to tell your reference about what you are interviewing for and then ask them what they might offer up to the employer.  By doing this you are setting them up to be successful.  Now they will be talking about why you would be good for the company as well as why you are a good employee.

4.  Prepare Them For the Call

Typically when companies ask for references it is because they are planning to call them and move towards making an offer.  Having unresponsive references will reflect poorly on you!  Once you have been told that someone will be calling – give your references a heads up.  Ask them what number they should be called on.  In short, make this a short and painless process. 

Those are my thoughts for today.  Have a great week and as always please let me know if you have any questions or comments! 

Check out some of my recent articles on the blog here:





Thursday, September 15, 2011

Marketing Manager - Houston, TX

Hi Everyone!  This is a terrific opportunity for someone with a strong marketing background.  Our client is a well respected agency in Houston that has several offices.  They are looking for someone that can step in as a marketing manager and fulfill two goals.  First - they need someone who can manage the carrier relationships to help facilitate growth.  Secondly, they need someone that can create a centralized department , facilitate on-line submissions and know how to market difficult risks.

Marketing Manager
Our client is a regional insurance agency with the capacity to provide insurance and risk management programs for complex, high risk insureds.  The goal of this position, Marketing Manager, is to centralize the agency's marketing functions for new and renewal business.  It’s important this role can balance traditional relationship building with the ways technology has changed marketing in recent years.

Marketing Manager Responsibilities:
Oversee the accurate compilation and timely release of prepared submissions to market.
Assist in the ongoing training of account managers and producers with respect to submissions, proposals and renewal marketing.
Seek out appropriate relationships within standard and E&S markets; work closely with wholesale brokers and insurance companies as the agency's primary point of contact for contract negotiations, premium commitments, etc.
Contribute to the overall business and sales strategies of the agency's Texas operations.

Marketing Manager Qualifications:
At least five (5) years of commercial underwriting and agency marketing experience with multi-line commercial coverage like general liability, commercial auto, large property and workers compensation.
Knowledge and design capabilities for unusual or high risks clients including large deductible, SIR and captive programs.
Ability to partner with sales executives, client service staff and marketing specialists to analyze risk, strategize renewals and help advise clients on appropriate insurance programs.
Must have extensive Texas carrier and wholesale brokerage relationships to provide an advantage when negotiating the best coverage and rates available.

Please contact Scott Thompson for immediate confidential consideration and additional details.  Email:  sthompson@insurance-csg.com  Phone:  515-987-0242  Fax 515-987-0004  See our website at, www.csgrecruiting.com/ins_opportunities.htm for a complete listing of nationwide opportunities.


Check out some of my recent articles on the blog here:




Wednesday, September 14, 2011

High Net Worth Personal Lines Account Manager - Chicago (Downtown)

This is a great opportunity for someone with light high net worth experience that would like to transition into working with some of the wealthiest people in the country.  Our client is one of the most well respected High Net Worth agencies in the country.  Must have a college degree!


High Net Worth Personal Lines Account Manager 

Our client is a retail agency focused on catering to high net worth clients.  They are subject matter experts able to introduce risk management solutions to protect personal assets for the wealthy.  The agency seeks an experienced high net worth insurance professional to join the private client service team.  This is a junior associate opening and will support the agency's other account managers.

Personal Lines Account Manager Responsibilities:
Answer and respond to client inquiries; process policy changes, issue certificates and auto id cards.
Assist with the preparation of renewals; gather updated client information, review accuracy of submissions and quotes.

Personal Lines Account Manager Qualifications:
Bachelor's degree is required.
Only applicants with demonstrated experience in high net worth personal lines will be considered.
Prior related work experience that will be considered: Personal Lines CSR or Account Manager, Associate Underwriter; again your experience in personal lines must be tied to private client group services.
IL P&C license or able to obtain one shortly upon hire.

Please contact Scott Thompson for immediate confidential consideration and additional details.  Email:  sthompson@insurance-csg.com  Phone:  515-987-0242 x17  Fax 515-987-0004  See our website at, www.csgrecruiting.com/ins_opportunities.htm for a complete listing of nationwide opportunities.


Check out some of my recent articles on the blog here:




Monday, September 12, 2011

How My Bad Customer Service Experiences Can Make you a Better Account Manager or Producer

Hi All!  I’m sorry for not being on for a couple of days.  Between the short week, a full inbox and an identity theft crisis I’ve been a little tied up.  Today I want to talk about customer service and how it can make or break you.  I’m going to start out by telling two stories that recently happened to me demonstrating poor customer service that should make you cringe. 

Example 1 – But you aren’t my customer…

My wife and I purchased a really expensive mattress a couple of years ago at a well known local furniture shop.  Recently the mattress has been sagging really bad and we filed a warranty claim.  The process was very long and involved me having Megan taking pictures of the mattress while holding a level and a 2 X 4.  Believe me it was very scientific…

The issue arose after I submitted the claim form to the furniture store.  I waited two weeks for a response and finally followed up with their customer service department.  After about five minutes on the phone trying to determine if  I even had an account the CSR had an “a ha” moment.  Here is a direct quote:

CSR:  “I see the problem now.  You are assigned to a CSR that is out of the office today.  I’m really sorry but there is nothing that I can do.”

Scott:  “Really, you can’t look at the notes?”

CSR:  “There is nothing that I can do because you are not my customer.”

Scott:  “You do work for XYZ furniture store right?”

CSR:   “Yes.” (sarcastic tone)

Scott:  “Then I would like to disagree – I am your customer!”

The CSR continued to argue with me before I finally just gave up and told her to have my assigned CSR call me back.  Once I  got off of the phone I was royally upset.  However, the point is that I wasn’t upset with the CSR – I was mad as hell at the XYZ furniture company and I immediately walked out of my office and told everyone I work with how bad XYZ furniture was to work with.

Moral of the Story – A simple mistake by one person can ruin the reputation of an entire company. 

Example 2 – I don’t care about your problem…
My wife and I had our identity stolen over Labor Day weekend.  If this hasn’t happened to you – let me tell you – It sucks!  Long story but our car was broken into last month and then Friday some lady from Florida walked into a branch of our bank  three states away with my wife’s ID and drained our account.  She proceeded to write several bad checks and then was caught trying to board a plane with her ID.  The TSA caught her in her lie and confiscated her ID but allowed her to escape – this makes me hope that she is some kind of master criminal otherwise I’m left to believe that the TSA couldn’t catch a real criminal like a terrorist. 

Anyway… so I called US Bank’s fraud hotline and the lady on the phone was terrible. Here is what she did wrong:

  1. She seemed uninterested in my problem and didn’t even tell me she was sorry it happened.
  2. She lied to me and told me that the branch was closed that day and that there was nothing she could do until after the holiday weekend. (Just an FYI – the branch has people in the office until noon on Saturdays)
  3. She told me that I wouldn’t be able to get my money back for 60 days because the customer must accept some liability with “paper fraud” and then asked why I was so upset.
  4. When I asked for a manager she told me that there was no one there that could help me but that she could have someone call me back within 24 hours.

Please understand that this is by no means an indictment on US Bank.  I called my local branch afterwards and got a wonderful person to be my advocate and in general they have been pretty good to work with.  Additionally, I admit that I probably was not the most reasonable person on the phone given the situation.

However, US Bank has problems with their fraud department.  It is inexcusable to have people that completely lack compassion working with people that are going  through a crisis.  Having all of your money and identity stolen makes you feel really violated and to have the first contact from the company be cold and almost combative is equivalent to leaving a dire medical diagnosis on a voicemail.

Morale of the story:  Prepare and counsel your people to deal compassionately with expected situations.  My biggest complaint here is that I was calling the fraud department – this lady must deal with people having their money stolen all day and I can’t imagine that I’m the only person that felt this way.  Why wasn’t she – the first line of defense for US Bank – prepared to talk me off of the ledge and make me feel like things were going to be like things will be fine?

So how do we bring this back to insurance and doing a better job with customer service?  Customer service is an extension of the sales process.  Without good customer service you will lose accounts.  Below are my top four tips that are integral to great customer service:

1.  Treat Your Customer’s Problem As If It Were Your Own

This one is pure empathy and compassion.  Just because you deal with the same problem over and over again doesn’t’ mean that the problem isn’t unique for your customer.  If the lady at US Bank had told me how much my situation sucked and that she understood how bad I felt and then continued to do the exact thing that she did I’d be talking about how great of an organization US Bank was.  So when you customer has a problem all you need to do is acknowledge it, validate their concerns and assure them that you will do whatever you can to resolve the situation.  Nobody expects a promise that the problem will be solved – they do expect that you will treat it with respect.

2.  Be Honest with Your Customer

One of the biggest challenges of customer service is telling someone something that they don’t to hear when they are upset.  Another issue is that they make up an answer when they don’t have one  Many people in customer service situations avoid the conflict by lying or sugar coating the truth or give an inaccurate answer to avoid looking like they are stupid.  Let me tell you that this will damage a relationship beyond repair.  The lady from the fraud department told me that the person who stole our money must have had two forms of ID and insinuated that it must be my fault that someone had our identification.  This made me mad enough but I was livid when I learned later that US Bank’s official policy is that you only need one state issued photo ID to access an account and one teller candidly told me that if you look like the ID “I’ll give you anything – no questions asked.”  At the end of the day I was so upset for being lied to the first time but really appreciated the honesty of the teller – it made me understand what I was up against.  At the end of the day if you aren’t honest you will only add to the bad news.

3.  Everyone Is Your Customer

This one sounds really easy and it should be.  No matter your position in the company, be it the janitor or president – treat every potential customer like a valued one.  Customers will never remember that it was some part time person that upset them.  Instead, one action can destroy years of built up good will.  The feelings of rage I had towards the furniture company could have been avoided.  Instead of telling me I wasn’t her customer – she could have just said that she didn’t have the answer, would look into it and would get back as soon as she could – but it might not be today. 

4.  Don’t Share Unnecessary Information

When your customer has a problem they do not care who’s fault it is or what really happened.  They want two things.  A solution and validation of their problem.  If you were out to dinner and your food took two hours what would you rather hear:

“I’m really sorry – the kitchen is running really slow tonight – someone didn’t show up.”

Or

“I’m so sorry about this!  I’m sure you are starving.  I’m doing everything that I can to fix this.  Your food will be out as soon as I can get it to you.”

Same story – different spin.  Your customer doesn’t care if you dog died, you are getting divorced, it rained all day or if you are  sick.  They just want it fixed.  Explaining the intricate details of your backroom only opens you up to look incompetent. 


That is all that I’ve got – sorry it was too long.  I guess I needed to get up on a soapbox for this one.  As always please leave comments below or email me at sthompson@insurance-csg.com. 

Check out some of my recent articles on the blog here: