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March 04, 2009 at 07:00 PM
A multi-faceted approach is the best way to enhance advisor performance, according to a new study of distribution in the life insurance industry.
Life insurance companies can significantly improve advisor productivity by recruiting well-educated advisors, launching them into team-based practices, tailoring support to maximize advisors’ value, realigning the role of sales managers to better meet advisor needs, and moving experienced advisors to multiple-advisor teams, according to the report by LIMRA International, Windsor, Conn., and McKinsey & Company, New York.
Advisors with at least a Bachelor’s degree earn about 40% more than those without it, according to the report. In addition, advisors with previous experience earn 40% more than those without experience in the first 7 years of tenure. After 7 years, however, those without previous experience (i.e. hired right from college) close that gap and earn a comparable amount. Junior agents with previous sales experience on average underperform their peers, the report says.
The study reveals that advisors placed in team-based practices are 10 times as likely to succeed than those who are not placed in teams. This factor was the most important predictor of advisor success, eclipsing even the impact of the individual’s attitudes, according to the report.
