If Things Are Really Looking Up, Then It's Time To Staff Up

Some have several newer staffers on board who are eager to help but who are frequently unaware of key issues, products, transactions and the like. They must therefore hunt for answersby finding a veteran at the firm, checking a book, doing online research, taking a class, networking or whatever.

Others just dont have enough people, period. So, they cant quickly answer calls, e-mails or faxes. Sometimes, I am told, they never answer at all.

As for the product development function, what I am hearing is, “too few actuaries, designers and related experts.” Naturally, many of those professionals werent perceived as “needed” when sales were down and cost-cutting was up. But that was yesterday. Today, they are needed but not there.

This situation is not all bad. It creates an opportunity for less experienced professionals to become more seasoned, and creates work for industry consultants and downsized veterans, who are now being called to come in and help. That, in turn, can be cost-effective for the enterprise, in comparison to actually hiring seasoned professionals.

However, for those looking for a competitive edge, this is a good time to take a more comprehensive approach. Some ideas follow, and they apply to product distributors, as well as home office product teams.

If your firms product expertise is already greater than that of your competition, promote it like crazy. In a rebounding market, new product and product expertise are strong pulls.

If your newer staffers are not yet up to speed, get them training now or steer them to appropriate education programs. In a growth market, know-how wins.

If you use consultants to fill in the gaps, consider using them for more than patching and plugging. Many consultants today have deep knowledge, sufficient for handling strategic initiatives, not just fix-ups. Outsourcing at this level does require certain safeguardsnon-disclosure agreements and the likebut good matches can get your organization back on a growth track quickly and efficiently.

If you have the go-ahead to hire, well then, do it sooner rather than later. Depending on your needs, you might want to add wholesaler, advanced sales and promotion support, as well as development staff and service staff.

Products and services are what you have to sell. They are what your customers buy. Because of that, they deserve as much care and attention as you reasonably can afford to give, including sufficient expertise from development on through sales and support.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Life & Health/Financial Services Edition, February 27, 2004. Copyright 2004 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved. Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.