Major Training Problem...is It Just Me?

[briko3]

What I've found to be a major flaw in most company training is they want you to set appointments with people and then take your manager along. That's fine and it works. Wouldn't it be better, however, to go with the manager to his meetings?

Am I missing something here? Do some places do this or is my experience more typical?

 

[scagnt83]

What I've found to be a major flaw in most company training is they want you to set appointments with people and then take your manager along. That's fine and it works. Wouldn't it be better, however, to go with the manager to his meetings?

Am I missing something here? Do some places do this or is my experience more typical?

Yeah that would make a bit more sense probably.
But being such a high turnover and not to mention cutthroat industry, most managers that are able to produce are very protective of their clients from what I have found.
Plus a lot of managers out their arent that much better off than their agents, and the last thing they want to do is split business with some new guy who may or may not be around in 6 months.

The idea is that if they go along on your appointments, its getting you the commissions that you need, and its getting them the overrides that they need. Flawed or not. Its the predominate industry logic being used in training.

When I started at Aflac my manager took me to some group enrollments and presentations that he had set up. It was an invaluable learning experience considering that I was very young and brand new to insurance. It also gave me the self confidence boost to know that if could get in front of people, I could do this job.
So I would say that there is some logic to your argument.

 

[Full Throttle]

My thoughts:

1. If you go to your manager's meetings, you will learn the technical side of the business, but it won't matter if you don't learn to prospect.

2. If you learn to prospect, you'll learn from the joint work the same as you would otherwise. The difference, your manager won't have to worry about wasting time teaching someone who doesn't know how to prospect the technical/sales side.

I heard one successful agent say in the first five years, 95% of the business is prospecting. You can't afford to outsourse it, however, you can outsourse the rest of it (selling, servicing, ect.) for pennies on the dollar until you learn it as you go.

 

[briko3]

I didn't meant that he would split with you; just that you could be there as he presented, etc. so you could learn.

I do agree with the prospecting, but I believe that would improve as well if the new agent could get some confidence on what to do from that point on. I also think that if your manager is good at B2B for example, they should take you along to show how they prospect for that, ask for referrals, etc.

Personally, I think new guys are told a lot of stuff that isn't being done by the manager just to "see if it works".

 

[scagnt83]

I didn't meant that he would split with you; just that you could be there as he presented, etc. so you could learn.
.

I understand, I guess I was trying to say that they might feel obligated to do so.
But IMO new agents should have shadow on a certain number of appointments before being turned loose, and with no commissions.
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Personally, I think new guys are told a lot of stuff that isn't being done by the manager just to "see if it works".

Oh, I guarantee you that goes on. Ive seen it first hand!!

 

[Full Throttle]

Personally, I think new guys are told a lot of stuff that isn't being done by the manager just to "see if it works".

I would guess most don't know how to help a newbie get off the ground. "Get referrals" sounds great and works for some to get off the ground, but many newbies need some other avenues to get off the ground as well.

 

[scagnt83]

A perfect example of this was an agent that I used to work with at NYL. He was great on the phone, and could set appointments from calling cold lists like crazy.

But he could not close a thing!! He refused to take other agents on appointments with him because he didnt want to split the $$. And his manager would always work with him in the office on what to do during an appointment, but would never go with him to the actual appointments.
At the end of his stint, he started letting some of us come along on appointments, but it was too late. He was too much underwater to make it.

The sad thing is that he set twice as many appointments than anyone else in the office. He just never had the support to close them. He could have easily made $100k+/year. Now he sets up A/V equipment for $15/hour last I heard.
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Ive tried to hire him as an appointment setter, but his wife told him she would divorce him if he ever got into insurance again!! lol

 

[johndale]

My thoughts:

1. If you go to your manager's meetings, you will learn the technical side of the business, but it won't matter if you don't learn to prospect.

yes right. I've been there. We can learn when we are just starting from scratch.