The rising stars, the ‘Young Guns’ of the industry, it is they who will be the leaders of tomorrow. One such ‘Young Gun’ from Alberta shared his secret for success – and how that province is making it easier for newcomers to succeed in insurance.
“There are so many different roles, a person doesn’t really know what they want to do until they ‘job shadow’ with somebody,” says Chad Mackenzie, of Mackenzie Insurance Group Inc., The Co-operators, in Edmonton, Alta. “Most brokerages are more than happy to have somebody sit for a day to see what that role is like, and until they can actually sit in that seat and see what the claims adjuster does, or the owner of the business, or a producer, they can get a pretty good idea whether they like that.”
Mackenzie, who is a contender for the upcoming Insurance Business magazine’s ‘Young Guns’ July issue, feels that Alberta’s approach to licensing has made it much easier for those considering a career in insurance.
“On the sales side, the Alberta Sales Council has introduced a ‘probationary license’ that lasts 90 days,” says Mackenzie, “so people can come in to the office and work without a license, and see if they really, truly like this job before they do the work. And that was a big problem before – we usually want somebody licensed before they come in.”
It was difficult for the brokerage in the past, he says, because a lot of people didn’t want to go through the hoops to get a license when they potentially may not like that job. (continued.)
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“I don’t know if the other provinces have done that or not,” he says, “but that is how it has been in Alberta the last two years.”
As for what new agents should be bringing as a skill set to the industry, it can be boiled down to simple homework – know your product.
“A basic understanding of how the policies work, that is expected,” says Mackenzie. “Depending on what side they are coming in to, for example life and financial advising, they should have a fairly good grasp on numbers, and have the people skills to present in front of people.”
Sales is sometimes broken down to ‘nature versus nurture,’ a debate on whether it is instilled from birth or a talent that can be learned. For Mackenzie, it is something you either have or you don’t.
“When it comes to business insurance policies, a lot of times that’s something that can’t be taught – that’s my opinion,” he says. “It is something that a person has or doesn’t have.”
