The Other Perspective

Peggy MacMillan has worked as a commercial service agent (CSA) at J.D. Fulwiler & Co. for more than 10 years. She attributes her longevity to not just her own talents, but also to an agency culture that promotes respect for and among its employees. She also notes that no matter the job assigned, the agency gives its people the tools and the authority to do their work well.

“We don’t have a we-versus-them attitude or a good-ole-boy culture,” MacMillan says. “This is an equal-minded place, and everything that comes into the office is shared.” As a result, employees take ownership of the accounts they handle, be they owners or service workers.

At Compass Insurance Agency in Dallas, Michele Tweddle appreciates being able to take ownership of an account whenever the need presents itself. As marketing manager, Tweddle can ask agents to collect additional information she needs, or she can get it herself. “Sometimes it’s a lot better that way, because I know what questions I want answered so I can better market the account to our carriers,” she explains.

Tweddle has a stake in her work. In addition to her salary, she earns commission on the business she brings in. She firmly believes that an agency’s sales and service departments should be separate, but at the same time, she thinks service employees might better develop sales opportunities if they were rewarded for doing so.

Most important to an agency’s enduring success, Tweddle believes, is its people’s ability to work together in harmony. “It’s ideal when producers can be helpful to internal staff, and staff members can help the producers,” she says. The way to get there is different for each agency, but a dose of mutual respect and more attention to job descriptions won’t hurt anyone. Have you appreciated your service people lately? If not, they’re waiting…

Personality Checks
Jason Besse is something of a guinea pig at C.T. Lowndes & Co. in Summerville, S.C., because he has his own CSR. The arrangement is an experiment that Besse says, so far, is working well. “Denise Perkins and I deal directly with each other and are a self-contained unit,” he says. The two also have similar personalities, which Besse believes is part of their success. “We’re both feisty, A-type personalities,” he says with a chuckle. “If I lash out at her for any reason, she gives it right back to me, and then we laugh it off. When there are personality conflicts, they only make the job harder.”

Prior to teaming with one CSR, Besse recalls general tension between producers and CSRs. He says that although you can’t pinpoint the source of the feeling, he suspects it stemmed from a combination of issues that include workload, poor communication and differing selling attitudes. “The producer may know how he or she wants things done, but the CSR may have a reason for doing things another way,” he explains. Besse, who has a business book of roughly $3 million, believes teaming is the way to go. “But,” he qualifies, “you have to have mutual respect and personalities that work together.”