Ask any broker: you never really leave the office, even on vacation. But there is a place where you can truly get away from it all – even email.
“You know what a good spot is? Cuba,” says Mark Jackson, president of The Insurance Market in Ajax, Ont. “Even if you wanted to get an email, they don’t come through. You’re away from everything. Last year when I was there, that is exactly what happened.”
Although the sudden cut of the internet umbilical was unsettling, it didn’t take long for Jackson to soon appreciate it.
“The first day I was a little bit nervous,” he told Insurance Business, “but by the end of the trip, I thought, ‘This is great. This is a real vacation!’”
The email firewall surrounding the island country is attributed to censorship from the government, says Jackson. You won’t get them while in country – but they will be waiting for you upon your return.
Although Cuba was a nice break, it isn’t realistic to conduct business in insurance, says Jackson.
“No matter where I am, I’m locked in 24/7 with my smart phone, with emails, and everything else,” he says. “Even in my office, we’re set up on a cloud-based system, so even using a tablet we can log in to our server and get right onto our broker-management system and do quotes. So for me, it’s constant.”
However, even though brokering does seem like a 24/7 business, you do need to unplug from the office, says Peter DaSilva, chief operating officer of Cornerstone Insurance Brokers. (continued.)
#pb#
"There are times you have to turn off your devices,” says DaSilva. “Like your children’s music recital. The phone gets turned off.”
It is a decision that every broker has to make for themselves, says DaSilva, who has developed a strict regimen for himself and for his family.
“My phone is set to turn off at 10 p.m. and to come on at 7 a.m. every day,” he says. “If not, it would be going off constantly. That’s a choice I make. Every phone has an ‘off’ button, and it is up to you when that should be.”
It is an industry where you have to be always available for people, says Jackson – especially for personal lines – as others will be there to scoop up clients who want more than just a 9-5 broker.
“Our competitors are open to 8 or 9 o’clock,” he says. “And we show our value when in a claims situation, and that client needs to get a hold of us on a weekend or the evening because they are in distress. It is very important; it has always been like that, but technology is making it easier.”
But it doesn’t mean that a broker’s life must only be insurance; there can be room for family – but it does require good time management – especially for Jackson, who has three young children and is always looking for that work/life balance.
“There is a balancing between family and business; but it is the nature of our industry,” says Jackson. “You can do business while you’re away, and work on a big deal or renewal. The technology doesn’t limit you to the office.”
At Cornerstone, those on vacation take one hour out of each day to deal with any emails or work-related issues - or just to catch up on what is happening at the office.
"That's our way of making sure we get some down time," he says, "but there is no full day without. I get 70 to 100 emails a day, and on a two-week vacation I would have a lot of emails to go through. Not to mention the texts and the BBMs."
As for the lack of email communication in Cuba, Jackson did have this to say.
"I'm gonna have to go to Cuba!" laughs Jackson."I guess Cuba's the place."
Are you ‘always at work’ with today’s smart phone technology, even on vacation? Is there such a thing as ‘office hours’ for you? You tell us by taking our new poll on our home page.
