The “New Agent Crisis” is a figment of our own imagination. Or rather, it should be. After reading an article by Barry Moltz, 7 THINGS MILLENNIALS VALUE MOST AT WORK, (https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/7-things-millennials-value-most-at-work/), our industry seems tailor made for the single largest generation in today’s workforce. Moltz outlines seven characteristics of Millennials that affect job satisfaction. In Moltz’s words (parentheses mine):
1. An entrepreneurial spirit. They studied it in college and may have already started several small businesses on the side. (Seems a perfect fit.)
2. A small company with fewer employees. They’re not willing to be just a number in a large corporation. They don’t want their contribution and opinions to get lost in the larger crowd. (See item 1. It doesn’t get any smaller than one employee.)
3. Frequent feedback from a boss. Gone are the days of the annual performance review. Gen Y grew up with “helicopter parents” who were always telling them how great they were. (Wife? BGA? Company agency manager?)
4. A connected, social atmosphere. This is a connected group of employees and will socialize in the office and online. (Satisfied by another soapbox of mine—the necessity of belonging to your industry associations.)
5. A tech-friendly environment. They know how to use the most advanced technology tools and as a result are more connected to each other than any other generation. (Can you say, “Name-Your-Price Tool?”)
6. Work-from-home and flexible-hour options. Unlike in the 1980s, Gen Y doesn’t see the need to relocate to where their job is. As a result of the Internet, location is no longer associated with work. According to the recent PwC Next Gen: A Global Generational Study, 66 percent of Gen Y expects to be able to work flexible hours at home and in the office. (Independent agents are the epitome of “set your own schedule”-ers.)
7. A chance to give to the greater good. Employees are traditionally driven by pay and promotions. However, Gen Y is also passionate about ways they can contribute positively to their world. (I wish every Millennial could accompany a life insurance agent delivering a death claim to a grieving widow. If that could happen, and the stated attitude is valid, we should have 50 million new agents in short order.)
Although the insurance industry has trailed many in various facets of tech adoption, our industry is on the upswing regarding tech adoption finally and social media marketing and mobile device tools are now commonplace. Millennial’s would find fertile ground for influencing and innovating in this critical area. The remaining points outlined above seem like a Password description of our industry. So where’s the disconnect?
Is it that insurance, Art Jetter notwithstanding, isn’t sexy? I didn’t see “Cultivate an Alluring Image” on the list. I’ve often postulated that televised attacks on “insurance” have been responsible for the gradual souring of public sentiment toward insurance companies in general, although largely unrelated to the life insurance side directly. Our past President’s strident trumpetings of “We’re not going to let your insurance company discriminate…” when pushing for public acceptance of the ACA, and a host of P&C targeted ads from “best plaintiff’s law firms” vilifying simply “The Insurance Company” are bound to have a subtle corroding effect on word-associated entities. I cannot recall a single “Action Reporter On Your Side” visiting a grieving widow or a disheartened disabled breadwinner to chronicle the receipt of a check from an insurance company and the swell of relief it engendered.
But like most things that vex us, I suggest we take a long hard look in the mirror before we impotently lash out at our own determined set of menacing monoliths. In the mirror do you see any semblance of the young person just starting out in the insurance business, yes wondering how he/she was going to attain and/or care for a family, but also determined to help other families protect themselves against the great financial burden attendant with unthinkable sorrow and misfortune? How often, in those early days, did you ask a husband, “What would your wife do if you were hit by a bus tomorrow?” I bet the whippersnapper-you wasn’t asking the bulk of your early clients how much of their estates they wanted to pass tax-free to their heirs.
When most of you started, a $50,000 whole life sale was a big deal! A $500,000 term sale took a bit of finagling, both with the customer and the home office. Because the bulk of your prospective clientele—those in your centers of influence—resided with you in the middle market. And the worst thing people said about the insurance industry was the smirking allusion that hell on earth was being caught in an elevator with an insurance salesman. Why? Because a good percentage of the people in the middle market had either direct or indirect knowledge of bad things happening to good people and how life insurance had mitigated their financial distress—or unfortunately had not—and trust of the insurer was never a consideration when either the positive or negative example moved them to seek protection for their families. Plus, insurance salesmen were known for their bulldog tenacity pursuing a sale to Anyone! Anywhere! But then again, we had only three TV channels and the news we got was a great deal more objective. The sway-intending pieces were clearly marked as “Opinion” in the daily paper, and you usually got one of each slant in the same issue. Lawsuits were not the wingtip-delivered version of the lottery. Personal responsibility was not painted as the laughable forefather of plausible deniability, nor were the vicissitudes of fate compelling impetus for a financially motivated witch hunt.
But I digress. My point is, if we reach more of the rank-and-file middle market consumers with compassionate concern and counsel about the benefits of our products and their unparalleled ability to mitigate misfortune—and further then help the bereaved to best position death benefit assets—wouldn’t we at least be able to gradually enter into the consciousness of the general public a reinforced differentiator regarding life insurance and the benefits it guarantees? LIMRA indicates that the middle market is distinctly underserved and that the major factor behind record lows in individual policy ownership lies in that underserved market. If ours is truly a benevolent business, we should be able to attract these like-minded Millennials. But the best way to impress upon them our sincerity and integrity might just be to lead by example—and dedicate time to help those most in need and yet individually…initially…financially least profitable. [SPH]
