Employee Benefits Producer - Charlotte, NC

The Employee Benefits Producer is a new opportunity for an experienced employee benefits producer to join a successful, highly specialized insurance agency that's based out of Charlotte with market expansion.  The division president looking for a larger group contributor akin to his own sales focus within the team.  Where some of the other producers have worked on smaller groups, he's the type of person who loves the thrill of the hunt with self-funded cases ranging from a few hundred lives to several thousand.  He would like someone with a strong benefits sales acumen to pick up that torch with him and grow the benefits practice out of Charlotte while also serving as a major resource to commercial producers in satellite offices.   

Employee Benefits Producer Responsibilities

• Start by ingratiating yourself to the current accounts that will be handed over to you.  Set appointments, review policies and get organized on upcoming renewals.  Work with the service team to make sure current policy needs and upselling opportunities are covered. 
• Develop a sales plan to generate additional new business in the 100+ ees space which is the direction the agency wants to concentrate the majority of its attention and resources.  Create partnerships with the property and casualty team where cross selling leads are reciprocal.   
• Participate in all areas of the client management process as needed with a watchful eye on key renewals, critical pricing and coverage issues and claims data interpretation.  Set monthly and quarterly meetings with clients.

Employee Benefits Producer Requirements

• At least five (5) years of direct group employee benefits sales experience; retail agency production is most desired and preferably at least three years spent through the validation cycle on a book of business.
• State insurance license.
• Equally as strong of closing and client consulting skills as door opening.  The business development and prospect lead generation piece is still critical to building your book, but the agency's structure will rely on you to lead marketing choices with the account service team and work closely with your clients on all the strategic, high level discussions about benefits management.
• The agency has a strong investment strategy in its producers.  This position has a base salary with a variable income structure based on new business sales.

Please contact Scott Thompson for immediate confidential consideration and additional details. 

Email: sthompson@insurance-csg.com

Phone: 515-987-0242 x 455

See our website at www.csgrecruiting.com/jobs for a complete listing of nationwide opportunities.

Commercial Lines Sales Producer - Rockford, IL

The Commercial Insurance Sales Executive is responsible for business development and direct client consulting with a unique opportunity to join this growing insurance agency in the Rockford area.  The firm’s model is built on organic growth with producers building terrific careers starting out in this same role.   The very special part of this role is that you’ll be hired as the successor on a large, established book of business.  Someone with a proven track record of new business origination and strong client retention will work closely with the senior producer to be mentored on the ins and outs of the existing accounts.  The ability to build strong relationships with C-level decision makers is key to success in this role. 

Commercial Insurance Sales Executive Responsibilities:

• Focus on learning the special nuances of an established book of business.  Many of these accounts are industrial, heavy casualty and have ties to the construction industry.  Work to become an expert in risk management for those types of businesses.
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• Participate in renewal preparation, marketing, underwriting negotiations and direct client consulting.  Visit clients; conduct presentations and mid-year reviews.  Discuss program options, coverage enhancements and service deliverables. 
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• Seek out additional new clients developing a business plan to target middle market and risk management business.
•  

Commercial Insurance Sales Executive Qualifications:

• At least three (3) years of commercial lines sales experience with direct responsibilities for new account development, insurance consulting and retention of accounts.
•  
• Broad property and casualty coverage expertise; construction and/or surety specialization is helpful but not required.

State insurance license.

Please contact Scott Thompson for immediate confidential consideration and additional details.

Email: sthompson@csgrecruiting.com

Phone: 515216-5455

See our website at www.csgrecruiting.com/jobs for a complete listing of nationwide opportunities.

Is it time to sell your insurance agency?

As a consultant to the insurance industry, I work in many facets of the industry.  One my favorites is in the mergers and acquisitions field.  Over the past several years I’ve worked closely with many agency owners that were considering a sale.  I’ve found that lots of owners have thought about selling.  However, the ones that move from thinking to acting have one thing in common – they know why they want to sell.  Below are some of the top reasons people decide to sell their organization

Have you been thinking about selling your agency?

You are tired of the “burden of ownership”

This one is by far the most common.  What is the “burden of ownership?”  It’s writing checks.  It’s waking up at 2:00 in the morning in a cold sweat.  It’s making the hard decisions where it feels like nobody wins.  For many people, the burden starts to weigh on you getting heavier and heavier each year.  If this is happening to you – you may want to look at selling.

You don’t have a perpetuation plan

This is the second most common one I see out there.  Here’s the deal – hiring young talent is difficult.  Training young talent – especially producers – is even more difficult.  Retaining them is even worse.  Because of this I see a lot of companies where the owner is ready to retire and there is no one to hand the agency to.  If you don’t have a perpetuation plan and you are planning on retiring in the next five years you should start making one right now.   If you are planning on retiring sooner and don’t have one you may have to look at other options. 

Your agency needs cash

This is one of the more delicate situations we encounter.  It’s embarrassing to many people but it’s important to know that good and valuable businesses sometimes run into problems.  Losing one big account can change the whole picture.  Sometimes you just need an exit strategy that pays the piper.

You need more resources to grow

This last one is one that I wish more people considered.  When I talk to agency owners there are two common barriers to growth.  The first is resources.  Resources make you more competitive and make you money.  However, resources cost money and don’t always yield a strong return in the beginning.  The second barrier is overhead.  Wal-Mart doesn’t have lower prices because they have lower profits – they have lower prices because they have the power of volume.  Sometimes merging with the right organization can solve these problems.

So that’s the first step – you need to know why you might sell.  This is so important because now you have the ability to listen to suitors and see if they can offer a solution to your problems.  This is also important because it allows you to explore alternatives to selling as well.  If you have a perpetuation problem, maybe you just need a good recruiter to help you with a couple of key hires…  I know a good one that specializes in the industry if you need a referral.  The next step is to identify potential suitors – I’ll cover that in another blog. 

So there you go!  What do you think – you can leave comments below or as always you can email me directly at sthompson@insurance-csg.com  

Employee Benefits Producer - Washington, DC

This is a unique opportunity for a dynamic producer candidate that has a strong technical background working with mid-sized to larger employee benefits accounts. The agency is well positioned to provide opportunities for success in two ways - through leads provided internally with a lead generation team and also through referrals to cross sell from the P&C team. The ideal candidate will be a strong closer and possess a thorough understanding of group insurance industry trends and information.

Employee Benefits Producer Responsibilities

Ability to create an aggressive business marketing plan to drive revenue in a 3-5 year period.
Ability to network at the C-level to determine the customer's business needs and subsequent insurance requirements.
Will meet often with producers in the Employee Benefits division to gain introductions to existing clients.
Cross-selling additional lines of coverage to round out accounts.
Up-sell and renew existing clients with additional products and services.


Employee Benefits Producer Requirements

3-5 years of experience working in an independent agency or applicable direct marketing.
Must have experience calling on larger accounts with 100+ employees.

Must possess applicable state insurance license, with additional professional designations preferred.

Please contact Scott Thompson for immediate confidential consideration and additional details. 

Email: sthompson@insurance-csg.com

Phone: 515-216-5455

See our website at www.csgrecruiting.com/jobs for a complete listing of nationwide opportunities.

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

Get Lucky!  Four Things you can Learn from Daft Punk's Success and Apply to your Career

Peyton Manning's Amazing Comeback and How You Can Apply it to your Career

Learning from Microsoft's Mistakes and Applying it to your Career as a Producer/Salesperson

The Six Biggest Challenges Faced by Insurance Producers

How Insurance Producers Can Use Social Networking to Increase Sales

Four Skills that Every Account Manager Needs to Succeed

Bad Customer Service Experiences

Four Keys to a Great Reference

Commercial Lines Producer - New York, NY

This is a unique opportunity for a dynamic producer candidate that has a strong technical background working with commercial lines Property & Casualty accounts.  The agency is well positioned to provide opportunities for success in two ways - through leads provided internally with a lead generation team and also through referrals to cross sell from the Employee Benefits team.  The ideal candidate will be a strong closer and possess a thorough understanding of middle market P&C industry trends and information.

Commercial Lines Producer Responsibilities

Ability to create an aggressive business marketing plan to drive revenue in a 3-5 year period.
Ability to network at the C-level to determine the customer's business needs and subsequent insurance requirements.
Will meet often with producers in the Employee Benefits division to gain introductions to existing clients.
Cross-selling additional lines of coverage to round out accounts.
Up-sell and renew existing clients with additional products and services.


Commercial Lines Producer Requirements

8-10 years of experience working in an independent agency or applicable direct marketing.
Must have experience calling on complex large lines clients ($500,000 in premium and up), preferably with a broad range of risks, not niches.

Must possess applicable state insurance license, with additional professional designations preferred.

Please contact Scott Thompson for immediate confidential consideration and additional details. 

Email: sthompson@insurance-csg.com

Phone: 515-216-5455

See our website at www.csgrecruiting.com/jobs for a complete listing of nationwide opportunities.

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

Get Lucky!  Four Things you can Learn from Daft Punk's Success and Apply to your Career

Peyton Manning's Amazing Comeback and How You Can Apply it to your Career

Learning from Microsoft's Mistakes and Applying it to your Career as a Producer/Salesperson

The Six Biggest Challenges Faced by Insurance Producers

How Insurance Producers Can Use Social Networking to Increase Sales

Four Skills that Every Account Manager Needs to Succeed

Bad Customer Service Experiences

Four Keys to a Great Reference

Insurance Agency Leadership Opportunities Coast to Coast

Hi There!  I’m working on several  leadership opportunities with well-respected agencies and brokers across the United States.  Please take a look below and reach out if you have any interest or questions!  Please feel free to pass along to anyone that might be interested. 

Managing Director – Area Vice President – Birmingham, AL

Leading the branding and development of an insurance agency’s region is a job for an accomplished leader with his or her pulse on sales, marketing and business development that helps make any retailer successful but in this case taking into consideration the unique factors in leading the charge for the state of Alabama.  This is a terrific opportunity for a senior commercial lines professional who has built a successful career on the broker side and wants to continue on in a leadership role for a thriving firm with significant growth plans.

Vice President – Regional Marketing Leader – Jackson, MS, Atlanta, GA, Nashville, TN, Birmingham, AL

The term “marketing” has many different connotations within the insurance industry, but when it comes to the broker side often roles are black and white between individual contributions and pure management.  The differentiator comes down to how much the marketer is involved in doing deals versus strategic oversight.  This position is really a blend of both duties.  It’s a great opportunity to make an impact in a large portion of the agency’s operating group that handles large middle market and risk management accounts in complex verticals like construction, real estate, healthcare and transportation.  It also establishes a senior management role that will work closely with commercial sales leaders to analyze where profitable business comes from and create a strategy to recreate successful opportunities and even build out new vertical programs.

Director of Commercial Lines Operations - IA

The Director of Commercial Lines Operations will have significant influence in the development of this firm's risk management infrastructure. Specifically, this is a leadership role that will help the agency achieve its long term growth goals by advancing the mission and objectives of the property and casualty team. You'll be active in marketing and client service management as well as streamlining the way sales and service personnel work together. This is a tremendous leadership opportunity for an experienced commercial lines insurance executive who has dealt with retail agency transformation initiatives before. 

Director of Select Business – Little Rock, AR or Indianapolis, IN

The Director of Select Business Insurance is a newly created role designed to parcel out this large, multi-state brokerage's small business accounts from its middle market portfolio.  In order for the company to achieve its growth goals there must be uniform segmentation of business with a formalized brand, marketing and distribution management strategy in place for commercial accounts that generate under $50,000 in premium.  An accomplished commercial insurance leader with knowledge of agency infrastructure and operations to manage this type of business unit is needed to fill these important shoes.  This position will become the model by which the other area regions of the firm will build out its small business platform.

Vice President of Recruiting – Austin, TX

The Vice President of Recruiting will responsible for the execution of growth initiatives to increase its group of affiliated members within the life and financial services practice. This is an organization has a national consulting platform for insurance, benefits and wealth management services distributed through retail agencies and broker/dealers.  This role will coordinate efforts alongside the leadership team and outside partners to source, analyze and ultimately secure new group's for the company's life insurance advisor network.

Director of Commercial Lines Account Management – Western Suburbs, Chicago, IL

Our client is a regional insurance agency who is actively looking for someone to manage a mid-sized team of commercial lines Customer Service Representatives, Account Managers, and Supervisors.  The ideal candidate will have current experience overseeing a team to execute team goals, professional development, and daily service process and procedure.

Commercial Lines Manager – Boston, MA

Our client is a large regional agency in the greater Boston area that is actively seeking a Commercial Lines Manager to oversee their service staff and operations.  This is a critical leadership role as you will develop, lead, and manage the service team to ensure client satisfaction and retention while meeting the agency’s overall goals and objectives.

Senior Commercial Producer, Construction – Lancaster, PA

The Senior Commercial Producer role is a very special position carved out by this independent agency to satisfy top line growth goals, future perpetuation and the rebranding of its construction unit.  Rooted in central Pennsylvania, this firm has its arms outstretched much farther than the local economy with its producers maintaining established books of business, many built around legacy construction accounts, into surrounding states. All the construction focused resources are in place; now it’s just a matter of finding a strong sales executive as the face of new growth in the practice.

This opportunity isn't exclusively for individuals already concentrating on construction accounts. Rather, if you're keen on specializing in a particular niche and see how opportunities in construction can be quite lucrative, particularly with strong resources behind you, then the agency will help you make the transition to this exclusive platform.

Executive Vice President, Agency Operations – Detroit, MI

This position is so all-encompassing that monikers like Sales and Marketing Leader, General Manager and Operations Officer could very easily follow this position’s Executive Vice President header.  This is a newly create role for an independent agency positioning itself for future growth through the addition of an experienced insurance executive.  Success in this position is determined when the agency achieves its growth and profitability goals through the big and little projects a great behind-the-scenes leader tackles.  In this role you’ll manage the agency’s administration, finances and all other units underneath the operations banner as well as branding, marketing and be closely tied to the sales team.

Commercial Lines Director, Managing Producer – Austin, TX

The Commercial Lines Director role will start up a property and casualty division from the ground floor for a retail agency in Austin.  The firm is well capitalized with a current portfolio that includes traditional insurance revenue and diversified, non-insurance business holdings.  Commercial insurance will be the main focus of the agency’s growth strategy moving forward, so its incumbent upon the person in the leadership role to develop and execute the successful launch of the practice.  Over time as the commercial division grows your role could be more heavily slanted towards management, but in the first few years of development the revenue needed to create the practice will come through your ability to sell.

Deputy General Counsel – Des Moines, IA

In this role you will be responsible for management of the company's litigation and its communication with insurance regulators and for providing legal support to the company's new business, policyholder resolution, agency services, suitability, compliance, and marketing areas.  It is an exciting opportunity to work with the EVP, General Counsel to shape the legal department of a vibrant, growing insurance company in the Midwest.

Please contact Scott Thompson for immediate confidential consideration and additional details. 

Email: sthompson@insurance-csg.com

Phone: 515-216-5455

See our website at www.csgrecruiting.com/jobs for a complete listing of nationwide opportunities.

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

Get Lucky!  Four Things you can Learn from Daft Punk's Success and Apply to your Career

Peyton Manning's Amazing Comeback and How You Can Apply it to your Career

Learning from Microsoft's Mistakes and Applying it to your Career as a Producer/Salesperson

The Six Biggest Challenges Faced by Insurance Producers

How Insurance Producers Can Use Social Networking to Increase Sales

Four Skills that Every Account Manager Needs to Succeed

Bad Customer Service Experiences

Four Keys to a Great Reference

Three Things that Account Managers Should Do

Employee Benefits Managing Producer - Atlanta, GA

Our client is a growing regional agency in the Atlanta market that is aggressively looking to add a Managing Producer, Employee Benefits to staff in the near future. The ideal candidate is going to be very entrepreneurial and able to get their hands dirty at the outset of a new business development campaign.  There will be an ability to cross sell with existing accounts and work with a team approach to building a burgeoning pipeline.    

Managing Producer, Employee Benefits Responsibilities

Ability to create an aggressive business marketing plan to drive revenue in a 3-5 year period.
Ability to network at the C-level to determine the customer's business needs and subsequent insurance requirements.

Cross-selling additional lines of coverage to round out accounts.
Up-sell and renew existing clients with additional products and services.

Managing Producer, Employee Benefits Requirements

8-10 years of experience working in an independent agency with proven track record of success in both sales and sales management.
Ability to transfer existing book of business a plus -- willing to purchase the book when possible.


Must possess applicable state insurance license, with additional professional designations a plus. 

Please contact Scott Thompson for immediate confidential consideration and additional details. 

Email: sthompson@insurance-csg.com

Phone: 515-216-5455

See our website at www.csgrecruiting.com/jobs for a complete listing of nationwide opportunities.

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

Get Lucky!  Four Things you can Learn from Daft Punk's Success and Apply to your Career

Peyton Manning's Amazing Comeback and How You Can Apply it to your Career

Learning from Microsoft's Mistakes and Applying it to your Career as a Producer/Salesperson

The Six Biggest Challenges Faced by Insurance Producers

How Insurance Producers Can Use Social Networking to Increase Sales

Four Skills that Every Account Manager Needs to Succeed

Bad Customer Service Experiences

Four Keys to a Great Reference

Three Things that Account Managers Should Do

Commercial Lines Producer - Chicago, IL

Our client is a well-established independent agency who has primarily focused on employee benefits for more than twenty years.  They are seeking a dynamic Commercial Lines Producer to open a Property & Casualty division for them this year.  It represents a ground floor opportunity to build out the entire infrastructure and capitalize on tremendous cross-selling opportunities.  The ideal candidate will be a strong technical producer, along with showing a consistent track record of sales success.

Commercial Lines Producer Responsibilities

Ability to create an aggressive business marketing plan to drive revenue in a 3-5 year period.

Ability to network at the C-level to determine the customer's business needs and subsequent insurance requirements.
Cross-selling additional lines of coverage to round out accounts.

Up-sell and renew existing clients with additional products and services.

Commercial Lines Producer Requirements

5-7 years of experience working in an independent agency setting.

Ability to transfer existing book of business a plus -- willing to purchase the book when possible.

Must possess applicable state insurance license, with additional professional designations a plus.

Please contact Scott Thompson for immediate confidential consideration and additional details. 

Email: sthompson@insurance-csg.com

Phone: 515-216-5455

See our website at www.csgrecruiting.com/jobs for a complete listing of nationwide opportunities.

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

Get Lucky!  Four Things you can Learn from Daft Punk's Success and Apply to your Career

Peyton Manning's Amazing Comeback and How You Can Apply it to your Career

Learning from Microsoft's Mistakes and Applying it to your Career as a Producer/Salesperson

The Six Biggest Challenges Faced by Insurance Producers

How Insurance Producers Can Use Social Networking to Increase Sales

Four Skills that Every Account Manager Needs to Succeed

Bad Customer Service Experiences

Four Keys to a Great Reference

Three Things that Account Managers Should Do