Posted On: April 20, 2004, 10:08 pm CDT

Posted By: Not Just A CSR

producers, account executives, account managers, customer service representatives. out of all four of those titles only the title "producer" is consistently and properly identified by the commenters here. having worked at a large brokerage firm, a small agency and spoken with many captive agents the title CSR is used to describe far too many of us in the insurance industry.

i firmly believe that using the term CSR is problematic- the title customer service representative, for many, brings to mind someone who is not very technical or knowledgeable about the industry in which they work, and that their main purpose is to "process the paperwork" and be a live body for the client to speak to, basically the csr is a 9 to 5 clerical person that is just there for a paycheck. and for some producers that is exactly what they have, a csr. however, the other 95% of us are not simply csr's , we are account executives and account managers who are highly educated, have a considerable amount of technical knowledge, who are instrumental in helping the producer not only land the account but also help the producer retain the account. there is a saying that you are only as good as the people beneath you. the most successful producers that i have encountered understand this saying and realize that it takes a TEAM to build a profitable book of business.

this brings me to the second misunderstanding that has occurred here- �not all producers are created equally�. many producers have worked very hard to become a successes and i can understand why they would be offended by others telling them they didn�t deserve the amount of commission that they receive. however, there are many producers, young, fresh out of college, that are given books of business and have done virtually nothing to earn the commission that they receive. those young producers are hired based upon their perceived potential. many of these young producers never make it and they are cut, some of the young producers do make it but it takes them many years to become an effective salesperson. in both cases it is the account executives and account managers who keep the book of business going.

in todays market the competition is great and the prices are high and as a result a high level of service is being demanded by the client. the brokerage firms and agencies need to realize that it takes a team to be successful and that �service� sells. And if service is what will separate one from the rest of the competition the brokerage firms, agencies and independents would be wise to get the best and the brightest service team that is available.