Advisors are not overwhelmed by the ongoing training provided by most insurance distributors, according to the 2005 Insurance Advisors’ Report Card. But the problem may not be the availability of programs — the firms say there is lots available — but the types of programs offered.

Toronto-based Equinox Financial Group Inc. claims the top score in what is generally a lacklustre field. Daniel Dessureault, general manager of Equinox, thinks he knows why.
“[Equinox] researched the marketplace and found most firms don’t do much in sales and business development training,” he says. “They are more interested in marketing training around product offerings. We are trying to address this gap in terms of business development training.”

Earlier this year, the firm introduced the Equinox business development strategy.
“It’s an e-learning program that can be taken at any time, and it’s provided in partnership with a professional training company,” Dessureault says. “We customize it for insurance advisors and it is available to our advisors through their marketing centres.”

There is a fee for the program but, Dessureault says, because of the company’s size, it has been able to negotiate a “very good price.” And the fee is sometimes subsidized by the independent agencies.

Despite the low rating its advisors have given it for the second year in a row, Waterloo, Ont.-based Clarica Financial Services Inc. takes a comprehensive and continuous approach to training, according to Jack Garramone, Clarica’s president. The company makes a “skills development commitment” to help advisors develop all the competencies they need to build strong businesses. This includes client identification or marketing, approaching or prospecting, referrals, needs analysis, customer services, products, presentation and sales skills. Training is delivered through the Internet, CDs and at meetings, which are often held weekly. Material is constantly updated.

All this is free. Advisors select what they need and when they need it. New advisors would probably attend all the meetings but might postpone, for example, the estate training module for a few years, Garramone says. In an advisor’s first four years, he or she would probably spend five to 10 hours a week on training.

As well, there are financial and technical trainers, product specialists, regional business development managers and about 300 members of the management team whose role is to “help advisors be as productive as possible,” Garramone says.
There are also national sales congresses across country that typically have platform speakers and workshops on everything from hiring assistants to specialty products.

Derek Fee, State Farm Canada‘s senior public affairs specialist in Toronto, says that firm provides a lot of in-house training.
When new agents start, they go through a nine-month training process before heading to their own offices.

State Farm has what it calls “agency field offices” — branch offices that are similar to MGAs. They assist with training programs and provide help and direction “in terms of business planning cycles,” Fee says. In the past year, the firm has introduced a developmental AFO program, “in which there is an AFO staff member dedicated strictly to the trainee agent to ensure we are providing the best up-front assistance and training,” he adds.

At London, Ont.-based Freedom 55 Financial, senior vice president Nick Pszeniczny says new advisors with less than two years in the business receive “very, very broad support.” When they join Freedom 55, advisors attend a seven-week licensing course, at which they earn their mutual fund licence, life insurance licence or the life licence qualification program designation. They then work at a financial centre with a training manager.

“They go through our sales processes and take product training and process and technology training,” Pszeniczny says. The next stage is working on salesmanship skills.

For seasoned advisors, Pszeniczny says,
the firm provides business coaching support and thorough product support. “We offer access to industry-affiliated training programs — for example, the one offered by the Covenant Group. We provide access to company conferences, educational summits, professional development forums and other educational platforms to help advisors position themselves in higher-end markets,” he says.

Both Winnipeg-based Great-West Life Assurance Co. and Guelph, Ont.-based The Co-operators Group Ltd. offer practice management training. Practice management is one of the most important subjects for any advisor today, says Leander Dueck, Great-West Life’s senior vice president of individual distribution. The firm has integrated outside consultants and vendors into its training. “One of them is Norm Trainor from the Covenant Group — he is integrating the ‘eight best practices.’
He is one vendor; we have a series of others,” he says.

@page_break@Co-operators, too, has programs to help agents become better business and performance managers. “We help them with the software we’ve given them to manage their books of business.” says Jim Wingrove, director of the agency department. IE