Skills and personality traits of successful brokers (Part 2)

By Oren Jacobi, Founder of Insurance Training Australia

This is the second of two articles that explores the important topic of skills and personality traits of successful brokers.

If you haven't already read the first article, I suggest you do so before reading this one. It can be found here.

Note that some of the skills and personality traits that I will outline are inherent to an individual. Others are learned. As you would expect, some are interrelated and several fall under the broad heading of “Professionalism”.

Many of these will sound obvious to you, however, the obvious things are often overlooked.

6. Honesty & Trustworthiness

Clients and underwriters want to do business with brokers who are honest and that they trust. Apart from knowing that you are doing the right thing, which in itself is worthy, the concrete benefits you will enjoy by being honest and trustworthy will help project your career.

Note that these principles are consistent with certain regulatory requirements as well as the NIBA Code of Practice.

Tips: If it doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t! Don’t compromise your values for a quick win which will be short-lived and could affect you negatively in the future.

7. Strategic & Negotiation Skills

Along with organisational skills, as discussed in the first article, you also need skills that enable you to plan a strategy and negotiate with underwriters. This skill can become more important in a hard market or with hard-to-place accounts.

An obvious example of where these skills come into play is when renewing a client’s policy. Having a clear idea of what you want to achieve for your client’s policy renewal, as well as understanding your client’s expectations, allows you to approach the underwriter with a clear picture of your priorities and renewal plan.

Depending on the nature of the risk, its size, and other variables, detailed planning may not be as needed. But beware, complications can arise when you least expect them to. Having some form of a “Plan B” can really save the day!

Tips: Have a pre-renewal discussion with the underwriter to get a sense of their thoughts regarding renewal pricing, excess, capacity, coverage changes and general underwriting. Communicate this with your client making it clear that it is only a guide and will be subject to completed renewal information.

8. Setting Expectations

In your communication with your clients and prospects it is very important to manage expectations. One way to put it is “don’t over-promise and then under-deliver”.

An example of how this often occurs is when an underwriter provides you with a timeframe within which they will quote your client’s renewal terms. That timeframe, which you had passed onto your client, ends up not being met leaving you looking unprofessional in your client’s eyes. The reason for the delay, which can be anything from a change in underwriter guidelines to human error, doesn’t matter in the eyes of your client. They only see that you did not deliver on the expectation that you had created with them.

Therefore, rather than providing concrete time deadlines or specific renewal premiums to them, try to provide them with a “range” and focus on explaining the factors that will need to be considered as well as the process.

Note that this could relate just as much to a discussion about a coverage enhancement or a renewal premium as it could to a timeframe.

Tips: Focus on doing the things that are within your control exceptionally well (like providing them regular updates in-line with what you have promised them).

9. Patience

A certain degree of patience will serve you well in your insurance careers. This applies on both the client-side and the underwriter-side.

For example, avoid following up either the client or the underwriter within an unreasonable timeframe, particularly if they have already communicated their likely response time.

Sometimes you may have a rush of blood and feel frustrated. This is understandable given the pressures of the job. What worked well for me was taking a few long, deep breaths to bring me back to a clear mind rather than acting impulsively, erratically and/or irrationally. If the matter isn’t urgent, I recommend sleeping on it.

Tips: Obtain permission from the underwriter or client to follow them up at an agreed date. This way when you follow them up you are doing so in a timeframe that you agreed on together. This makes the process far more collaborative and reduces the potential of you or the other party getting frustrated.

10. Attitude, Effort & Hard Work

I can’t talk about skills and personality traits of successful brokers without mentioning this obvious yet critical one. And, as with many of the skills and traits already mentioned, this one ties-in with others already discussed.

This trait is one that I share with anyone, both inside and outside the insurance industry (and on a personal level as well, like when I coach basketball).

When hiring, employers often try to gauge the prospective employee’s general attitude. How easy will it be to train this person? Are they interested in learning? How will they get along with other staff and clients? Are they a doer?

Given the lack of talent in the industry, it is difficult to find experienced brokers so hiring is expanded to outside the industry. Whether the individual has experience in another industry or is someone straight out of school or university, a good attitude can seriously trump all other elements noted in my articles – at least initially.

Tips: Convey openness to new ideas, be persistent, be curious and listen well! View failures as learning opportunities. Be self-motivated. Find like-minded people and role models.

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