“I try not to say ‘no’,” said Cynthia Yap (pictured above). “Instead of saying, ‘no, you’re not the right fit for me,’ I try to dig a little bit deeper and find out how I can motivate them intrinsically or align them to our values.”
Yap is managing director of Dynamic Insurance Services. In an upcoming IB Talk podcast, the Perth-based brokerage leader discusses her strategy for choosing the right authorised representatives (ARs) to join her growing firm.
“When I’m doing the due diligence process with new authorized representatives, I look at every perspective,” she said.
Yap said the process of due diligence includes examining a possible new AR’s experience, strengths, business model, what they offer and company objectives. Unless the firm has “major flaws,” she said first impressions don’t deter her from trying to form a relationship.
“I try to find a solution and think outside the box to work with their strengths,” Yap said. “Instead of shutting them out and saying, ‘No, you’re not the right fit for us, find another licensee.’”
Listening, she said, is a key ingredient and also informs her management style.
“I hope to bring innovation,” said Yap. “And really listen to what the authorised representatives, brokers and the staff are asking of me.”
One reason for her open-minded management style, said Yap, is the lessons she learned early in her career. More than 10 years ago, when the AR model in Australia was relatively new, she was starting her insurance career. Her licensee, she suggested, could be controlling and restrictive.
“When I started off as an authorized representative, I was paying a 30% commission to my licensee,” she said. “I wasn’t allowed to do simple things like put a photo on my email signature because [according to the licensee] it looked too much like a real estate agent.”
Yap also wanted to call her team “the dynamic team.” That wasn’t permitted, she said, because, according to the licensee, it might make other teams look less dynamic.
This brokerage/AR network business model, she suggested, created a lot of conflict.
“I could see there was low morale and the culture was inspiring conflict amongst the directors,” said Yap.
Her response, she said, was to try and help offer solutions “to lift the spirits of the workplace.”
“One of the directors may have mistaken my enthusiasm for aggression because he said to me, ‘Cynthia, you have no credibility, I have more money than you and you are insignificant’.”
Yap said instead of appreciating her potential as a leader and working with her to find solutions for this seemingly toxic workplace, “he just shut me down.”
“I find there’s nothing more frustrating than being managed by someone with a limited capacity to understand your vision,” said Yap.
However, in hindsight, she said, her experience helped her become resilient.
“I figured out what works for me and I attracted people and managers that were aligned to my goal and my brand,” said Yap.
Today, mentoring is very important to the brokerage MD.
“My aim is to create more leaders,” she said.
Yap said she wants the leaders she nurtures to be “unapologetically authentic.”
“I want to give them autonomy so they can shine and their brand can shine,” she said. “Through that, they’ll be able to tap into creativity, connectivity and innovation.”
Yap said she would like to see more women in the insurance industry and wants to encourage female insurance professionals to be more confident to ask for what they want and negotiate for their needs.
“I think that’s important,” she said. “[But] my style of leadership and mentorship is transformational and it’s not gender-based.”
Instead, Yap said she considers personality, strengths, potential and needs.
“So that I can inspire them and intrinsically motivate them to do the best they can to reach their goals,” she said.
One way Yap’s firm tries to remain competitive and attractive to potential ARs is by keeping one eye firmly on the market. For example, in 2019 the firm commissioned a competitor review of the broker network market. Yap said they found gaps in the support for smaller independent brokers.
As a result, she said her firm boosted IT investment to make it easier to onboard smaller brokers and also simplified its commission structure.
Are you a brokerage that works with ARs? How do you go about choosing the right ARs? Please tell us below
