Global Business Management Advisors

Traditional management philosophies take a top-down approach to organizational structure. Staff and management are separated into layers, arranged into a heirarchy, and lines of supervisory authority and responsibility are written on an organization chart. In today’s world, this model just doesn’t work. The best-run and most profitable businesses in the modern era have the flattest organizational structures. In a flat organization, managers have a much wider span of control. Typical command-and-control management strategies are ineffective in this environment and a different management approach is required.

Employees who aren’t used to working in a self-directed environment may experience confusion about “who the boss is” or what is expected of them. The self-managed team can’t achieve cohesion unless individuals understand the purpose of the team and how performance will be measured. Putting these directives in writing allows all stakeholders in the team, including management and internal or external customers who rely on the team, to understand what the team will do.

1. A Mission Statement

The mission statement should describe the reason for the team’s existence. Vague platitudes should be avoided, and conceptual phrases should be concretely linked to strategic activities and specific stakeholders. “To provide excellent customer service” is a nice idea, but it is not a mission statement. “To provide excellent customer service to [customers of XYZ division] in the process of [executing the team’s core responsibilities]” is much better.

2. A Statement of Service Standards

The statement of service standards tells team members and other stakeholders what the team’s inputs and outputs are, and lays the groundwork for performance measurement. This document should clearly explain what the team does at the operational level, including major internal processes of the team. It does not need to describe each team member’s duties in detail, but it should be substantial enough to allow team members to see the “big picture” and to understand what roles they play in the process.

3. Quality Guidelines

Quality guidelines tell the team how its performance will be monitored and defines management’s expectations for specific performance. A published set of quality guidelines also helps set expectations for internal and external customers so that these parties can understand how long it should take for the team to accomplish specific tasks or complete particular projects. These guidelines also allow management to more effectively manage conflict and resolve complaints by quickly identifying the nature of problems. If the team’s output does not meet quality guidelines, an internal problem exists. If the team’s output does meet quality guidelines, then the problem is likely a disconnect between external stakeholder expectations and management expectations.

Flat organizations experience unique challenges that traditional management methods do not handle well. Using these three tools for self-managed teams will enhance performance, team cohesion, and reduce the perceived need for command-and-control management tactics.

General Ledger and Bookkeeping: GnuCash

Project Management: Open Workbench

Email: Mozilla Thunderbird

Customer Relationship Management: SugarCRM

File, Intranet and Extranet Servers: CentOS 5.3

By all accounts, 2009 looks like it will be a tough year. A slowing economy and uncertain outlook leave consumers reluctant to spend money and agents face a tougher market than we’ve seen in years.

Surviving and thriving in tough times is possible, and easier than it seems! The key for agents and agencies of all types and sizes is to get back to basics. Everything starts and ends with the client! In a world where life products are a commodity, it pays to focus on your competitive advantages. Your competitors can bring the same products, quotes, and spreadsheets, but what they can’t bring is the personal commitment to excellence that you and your staff embody.

2009 will be the year of the client-centric practice. The most successful agents and agencies will be those who commit themselves to building relationships and standing out as an island of stability in the economic storm. Successful agents will go back to the basics of good customer service, such as returning phone calls promptly and making sure clients understand that you are committed to solving their problems.

Remember to say “thank you” to your clients! Start every appointment with “thank you for coming to meet with me”, “thank you for taking my call”; don’t forget to say “thank you for your business”, and most importantly “thank you for the referral!” Use your client’s name five times in the first five minutes of conversation. This habit will reinforce the personal nature of your discussion. After the greeting, when you start to talk business, lower your voice! This technique reinforces the perception of confidentiality sets the correct tone for a private discussion of important financial matters.

For financial planners, life agents, and even those who only write the occasional life case, finding the right wholesale partner is the most important thing for you to do. Getting access to product is easy, but the insurance business isn’t about product. We are in the financial service
business and at a higher level the relationship business.

Picking the right wholesale partner is the key to success in turbulent times. Not all wholesalers are created equal, and the services they provide can vary dramatically. Most have access to the same range of products, but the back-room support is what enables you to spend more time selling and advising, and less time with doing paperwork and wrapping up loose ends.

If you are a do-it-yourselfer, find a wholesaler who will give you what you need, and otherwise stay out of your way. If you want to run your own quotes, and download forms off of a web site, make sure your wholesaler will provide you with this capability. Just remember, every hour you spend tracking down forms or dealing with home-office headaches is an hour you could have spent in front of your clients.

Building a client-centric practice requires a commitment to being in front of your clients, and showing them the added value you provide. A full-service wholesaler is not just a product provider, but a business partner that can help you grow. Outsourcing administrative work can be a successful strategy, if you can find a reliable partner. The agents positioned for success in 2009 are those who understand that they can let someone else handle small details such as finding the right forms, ordering exams and medical records, and making sure an insurance company doesn’t let an application sit in the mail room for weeks without being processed.

• Before you choose a wholesaler, decide what you’re looking for.
  Do you want product and nothing more, or are you looking for a full-service backroom?
• Ask about the size of the marketing and new business staff.
  How many people stand ready to help you when you need quotes, applications, or have a problem with a case in underwriting?
• Ask how your wholesaler is organized.
  Is it a one-man shop, a monolithic bureaucracy, or something in the middle? Does the new business department use a team-based model, or are your cases assigned to one person? If the latter, what happens when that person is out of the office?
• Make sure your key point of contact is ready to take ownership of your problems – and make sure that there are other people ready to help, if you can’t get in touch with your normal contact.
  What kind of credentials does the support team have? How long have they been in the business? Do they really understand how the products work, or are they just order-takers punching data into the quoting software?

Building a client-centric practice is the most important thing you can do to be successful in 2009. Choosing a wholesale partner for various product lines is a key decision that will determine how much time you actually have to spend with your clients, compared to how much time you spend doing back-room work. Remember, clients can only recognize the work they see you doing! Focus on your clients, help them with their problems, and delegate as much of the behind-the-scenes tasks as you can!