Young Agents Survey:

Why Young Agents Stand by Their Career Choice

Most enter the insurance business by accident but for young independent insurance agents, the decision to stick with insurance as a permanent career is a matter of choice.

A healthy 84 percent of young insurance agents say they consider insurance to be their permanent career, according to Insurance Journal’s 2010 Young Agents Survey.

The reasons young agents — those 40 years old and younger — enter insurance vary significantly.

Of the 631 young agents who responded to this year’s survey, some came to work in the independent agency ranks after testing the waters with a captive agency. Others found their way because their families worked in insurance. Others became agents after taking educational courses or majoring in risk management. Still others came to the industry after leaving careers in another industry – ranging from arena football to financial services to hospitality.

Some became agents because they were customers in the right place at the right time. “Someone approached me from the agency while I was in making a payment for the local fire company that I was treasurer for,” one young agent wrote.

Opportunities

Why or how young professionals got into the insurance agency business is not necessarily what keeps them in it. Most in the industry agree that the desirability of an agency career is not well known to those outside the industry.

But their brief tenure in the industry has opened young agents’ eyes to the advantages they might not have appreciated when they first walked through their agency’s door.

Their overall experience has been so positive that 70 percent would recommend a career as an independent insurance agent to another young person. But today’s young agents also realize – or 43 percent do – that other young people may be where they were several years ago and not recognize insurance as a career of choice.

Now, these young professionals say they have been convinced to stay in the business by, among other factors, the professionalism of their peers and the way the industry treats its employees. Young agents are encouraged by how the industry treats its employees, with 60 percent rating the treatment as good. Also, 61 percent say the level of professionalism in the property/casualty industry is also good, affirming their career choice.

“I don’t think insurance is a career choice that most people would say, Ôthis is what I want to do,'” says Elizabeth Byrd, a 27-year-old account executive for large independent broker Lockton Cos. LLC in Kansas City, Mo. “The people that I meet with risk management degrees, I question them on how did they know what they wanted to do. Now looking back I see why a lot of people are drawn to insurance.”

Young agents also appreciate the flexibility the job allows.

“I like the freedom that we have to come and go as we please. I like the fact that the harder you work and the more people you build relationships with, the more money you can make,” one agent wrote in the survey.

Another young agent said in the survey that he enjoys the flexibility of schedule and the freedom to sell his own way.

Young agents have also been convinced to stick to their insurance careers because they love the regular challenges they encounter trying to meet clients’ needs and they believe that the industry offers opportunities for advancement, according to Insurance Journal’s survey and interviews.

Young insurance agents point to the opportunities for advancement as a main reason for making a long-term commitment to the business. Even in the midst of an economic recession, a majority (52 percent) rate their opportunities for advancement as good.

“It is an underrated job; there is endless opportunity for advancement and you can make a very good living,” one agent wrote in the survey. “It is not what I dreamed of doing as a child but it isn’t as bad as people make it out to be. There are good people doing good things.”

Rapid Advancement

When Lockton’s Byrd entered insurance, she didn’t know anything about the industry. She majored in finance but had no interest in the standard banking and investment fields. She found out about Lockton’s training program and soon learned how she could use her finance knowledge in insurance.

Lockton’s year-long training program – the Associate Account Manager Program – taught Byrd the fundamentals of insurance. Then, advancement came quickly. Within six months she was handling her own book of small business accounts. By the end of the year, Lockton interviewed her for a more permanent position in the health care practice.

The health care industry seemed like a natural fit for Byrd. Her father is an Army hospital commander and her sister is a nurse. Now, she works on property/casualty insurance for all types of health care organizations – hospitals, medical centers, physician groups, nursing centers and more. Client diversity keeps her motivated and drives her commitment to the industry, she says.

In addition to the advancement she has experienced, Byrd loves the challenge of identifying clients’ changing needs and finding solutions. Right now, she is focusing on privacy and security; four years ago these coverages were rarely discussed. “There’s no set prescription. I don’t go in and plug in the numbers; it’s completely different and it can change every single day.”

Byrd thinks her personality is well-suited for her work as a broker. “You have to have the ability to take charge,” she says. “You are responsible for your clients, making sure their needs are met. You have to be somebody that likes to be in control, to be that point person, be that leader in pulling everything together before getting in front of clients.”

Since she likes the challenge, and the responsibility, she’s certain an insurance career is for her.

“I definitely see myself in insurance” for the long haul, Byrd says. “What’s so great about the insurance industry is that I don’t have a typical day.”

Ownership Dreams

While advancing her career working for the nation’s largest independent brokerage firm appeals to Byrd, for others the opportunities for advancement in insurance involve going right to the top, or even starting out at the top.

Of those responding to the survey, 12 percent reported they are currently the sole owner of their independent insurance agency, while another 13 percent say they share ownership with one partner or several. Of those who are not yet owners, 57 percent say they aspire to be an agency or brokerage owner someday.

“Having worked for a large corporation, I really enjoy the flexibility that the career allows for,” one agent wrote. “I also like that I am working towards something that I will eventually have the opportunity to own.”

Donna Chiapperino, 39, director of marketing for Montvale, N.J.-based Jimcor Agencies, an excess and surplus lines wholesale agency, senses a youth movement in the industry.

“I’m seeing more, younger agency principals, more [young professionals] in producer roles or owning start-ups. These are people who are 35 and younger. They are going out there and trying it,” Chiapperino says.

Chiapperino, who is active with the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents’ young agents group, says she has even seen young owners stay in the industry after their own start-up venture fizzles.

One start-up that has worked is Bryan Insurance Agency based in New Windsor, N.Y. Owner Amy Bryan founded the agency from scratch when she was only 22 years old. Now at the age of 28, Bryan employs two full-time service staff and two full-time producers and operates two locations.

Bryan grew up in the insurance business, but on the captive agency side of the distribution system. Her grandfather started a State Farm agency, and her dad, uncle and aunt also work as State Farm agents. But Bryan’s father suggested she become an independent agent. “He thought I’d be able to offer clients a lot,” she said. “It is creative and I have the ability to find the best fit.”

In 2004, after a short stint in the graphic design industry, Bryan opened her doors with no customers and no insurance companies. She developed a business plan that addressed how to market and where her competition was. “I was able to show that to the companies so they knew where I was going and what the objectives are,” Bryan says.

Bryan believes the insurance industry offers opportunities not just for her but for just about everyone. “A lot of people think that it is more sales-oriented but you can be an extrovert or introvert,” she says. “If you like helping people, I think it’s definitely a good industry.”

Technology and Relationships

Young agents, like their older peers, have learned that success in insurance revolves around building relationships. Some 93 percent in Insurance Journal’s Young Agents Survey reported that success in the insurance business is mostly about building relationships.

That was one of the first career tests for Bryan.

“Stuff didn’t move fast enough for me,” Bryan says. “It’s a marathon; it’s not a sprint. It’s more about building the relationships and building your business. I’ve seen it with other producers that work for me. For me it was never fast enough and I think I’ve learned to be patient.”

But agents who put in the time it takes to build relationships, soon discover the rewards – another reason they are likely to stick around.

“Being an independent agent allows myself and my clients to have a good relationship… The potential to grow (currently an account executive) seems endless. The harder you work in the industry, the more you grow and achieve goals. I feel hard work is not always paid off but as an independent agent, it is,” one agent wrote in the survey.

Many young agents go about relationship building using new technology. According to the survey, 71 percent of young agents use Facebook, 59 percent use LinkedIn, and 71 percent use an iPhone or other Smart phone device. Of those, 53 percent say they use online social networking tools for their business.

As Jimcor’s Chiapperino notes, relationships do not have to be face-to-face for this generation. “They build up these tech relationships via Facebook, e-mail, texting,” she says. “That’s how they get to know people. To the younger generation, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Young agents continue to build relationships via traditional methods, too. The survey found: 56 percent volunteer in their communities; 50 percent attend local business or community meetings; 47 percent attend insurance trade association meetings; 40 percent attend church regularly; 36 percent attend meetings of industries they insure; 31 percent belong to country or athletic clubs; and 16 percent get involved in local politics.

Credibility

The rewards an insurance agency career offers do not come without hard work. While they welcome the challenges of meeting clients’ needs and building relationships, young agents believe their age can be one of their biggest obstacles. Some 72 percent say as a young agent they must work harder to gain the confidence of their clients, bosses and carriers.

“Credibility comes into play,” says Lockton’s Byrd. “I always felt the most important thing for me to do was credential myself.”

But young agents are overcoming age bias. The best strategy appears to be education. Some 58 percent in the survey have completed or are working on an insurance designation program.

Byrd has already earned four insurance industry designations, including the Chartered Professional Casualty Underwriters (CPCU) designation and the Associate in Risk Management (ARM) designation, and is completing work on her master’s in business administration. Educational designations do not ensure credibility, but the added knowledge helps, she says.

Bryan is also a believer that education enhances credibility. She is currently working on her Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) designation. “I think those programs are awesome,” she says. “I think it’s important for everybody to keep learning.” She sends all of her staff to courses.

Young agents have their own age bias issues. According to the survey, 68 percent of young agents said they believe that older agents tend to be less willing to take risks or try new approaches.

Young agents also tend to see their age as a benefit.

“I think it can be viewed as a benefit because young people have a tendency to question more than someone who has been in the industry for 20 years,” Byrd says. A younger agent might examine a problem for the first time and come up with a new way to solve it, she says.

“The older generation of agents has to have patience and listen and understand” younger agents, Bryan says.

Topics Trends Agencies Market Training Development Lockton