A regional health insurance firm had added some additional states to its core base of business but had not increased the number of employees. The sales staff focused on bringing in new business in these new geographic regions, which resulted in a 20% increased workload for the underwriting staff. The complexity of the underwriting process to evaluate new customers, combined with the fact that the number of underwriters had not increased, created stress among the underwriters to do more work that was deadline-driven.
Sales Training Needs Assessment
A Peak Selling sales training consultant spoke initially by phone with the Director of Underwriting, during which the above issues were first identified. A follow-up meeting helped to clarify the specific training needs but also revealed a critical new piece of information, namely that the underwriters were working together as teams to handle the increased workload in the new states.
Sales Training Solution
A customized 1-day sales training program was designed for this client, and used certain sales training modules from Peak Selling’s Time Management for Sales and Team Selling workshops. Each participant also completed a self-survey to identify their strengths and areas for improvement when working on teams. To ensure that the underwriters used the skills afterward, we provided them with a variety of reinforcement tools such as "Solutions for Common Time Wasters” and "Weekly Worksheet for Setting Priorities”.
The Director of Underwriting reported afterward that the attendees had learned and applied many practical sales and time management skills, and that the managers and senior underwriters were also using the sales training workshop concepts to mentor the newer underwriters.