subject: Quality of Production Takes Center Stage [print this page] Quality of Production Takes Center Stage Quality of Production Takes Center Stage
Like with all Businesses, the quality of production is the most weighty aspect in keeping good service. I consider quality in three phases. Each one of these stages affects your earnings, above all your renewals.
Stage 1
The most decisive level to an Agent's profitability is when the application is taken to the field. No attempt is resilient enough to save a policy that shouldn't have been offered to begin with. This comes along to affordable needs-based selling. Do the services fit the wants of that applicant, as well as are they inexpensive to the applicant? Take into account, while it may be affordable at first, the plan as well needs to maintain value in the eyes of the policyholder in the foreseeable future as well. Thus, underselling can lead to a belief that if ever the cost of the plan is easy on the pocket, conceivably it retains less value. The needs-based notebook presentation is targeted directly to sales person profitability!
Essential to quality is following correct programs. Has the paperwork been filled out entirely, honestly, and accurately? If needed, were the right questionnaires submitted? Does the policyholder understand the lifetime commitment to provide for the monthly payment? Are you reviewing a specimen policy to aid the applicant comprehend the policy when received? Did you prepare the applicant for the potential for being rated or denied? Managers and sales leaders, how often do you retrain the basics and concepts of needs-based affordable sales?
Level Two
Once the form is brought into an Agency office, the second phase of our quality process begins. Is management reviewing the paperwork for correctness and completeness? Are mistakes made by other Agents used in the training process for all to learn from? Are the sales managers reviewing the specifics of the presentation that occurred while in the home? Is an Agency office verification process developed to see the eligibility, the affordability, the benefit knowledge, and the long-term commitment of the applicant?
Phase Three
Once the form is sent to Home Office, and assuming it fullfils the underwriting process, it becomes issued. We have now entered the third phase of this quality process. Does your Agency have a written policy on policy delivery? Have you been trained on handling rated cases? At the end of the work week, are you and your manager reviewing your advance report, and now have you been thoroughly trained in reading and interpreting the action items? Action items are losses in the advance report, i.e. lapses, cancels, withdraws, incompletes, declines and NTOs. Are you printing out any action items out of your weekly advance report and contacting the policyholder that week to see what we can do to get the policy back on the books?
Revising lapses from the moment they occur on your advance statement then getting them resubmitted results in your long-term profitability. The quicker you e-mail the policyholder, the more likely they are to reinstate the policy. Many lapsed policies are purely because of bank transitions. Set an appointment to visit the policyholder's residence to resell the contract, obtain new banking information, and gather the premium together with the good health statement. If you are unable to call the policyholder by telephone, make use of the lapse as a "door knock." You've a vastly fine grounds to prevent by the residence, along with be sure to demonstrate your sincere concern for the financial security of the household in the event anything happens to the insured.
There are more aspects caught up in quality and its relation to profitability. Still, the most crucial factor in the long-term profitability is acceptable point-of-sale abilities. Work attentively with your manager plus SGA, and prepare for those (additional) renewals!
