By: Tony Alessandra, President of Insurance Solutions

Every agency has a top producer and the low man on the totem pole. Your sales manager should be an extension of the agency principal. Sales managers that can teach and provide guidance to your sales staff will, in turn, give you a more capable agent to go out and produce. The communication between your sales managers and the sales team and the communication between the members of the sales team will ultimately define your agency. Does your sales manager make himself available and easily approachable?
Sales Managers to Sales:
If you have an agent that is struggling, it is the sales manager’s job to pull them aside and figure out what is going on. As a leader of the sales team, they should be constantly checking in and making sure everyone has what they need to close as many sales as possible. By offering advice to help agents develop and hone their skills is a part of being a great sales manager.
If you are a sales manager, take the time to address agents individually and help them work out their sales techniques. If you have learned a sales tip or technique that you think can help your team, share it immediately.
As a manager you should be very clear on your sales objectives. From there you should be doing everything in your power to support your agents to achieve that goal. When your sales staff succeeds you become a more successful agency and as the sales manager, you have the accomplishment of managing a successful and productive sales team.
Sales to Sales:
It is called a sales team for a reason. If you have a solution to problem or you have input on how one of your colleagues can improve their technique share it. By working as a team, you will develop camaraderie to share sales tips with each other. If you have a producer who is has more success on sales calls dealing with California home insurance rather than auto policies, turn to your most successful auto insurance producer have them sit down and go through their tactics together to help make each agent more complete.
As the sales manager, it is your job to give your team as much support, coaching and guidance as necessary for your team to become successful. Each agent should be provided with the tools to develop in a successful and professional insurance agent. Their success depends on your ability to manage their strengths and mold them into complete agents who are knowledgeable about every policy your agency offers.