PRISMS for Underwriters

Are your underwriters building agency relations - or tearing them down?

Are they attracting the best premium from the best producers - or turning producers off?

Do they negotiate to everyone's advantage?

Do they have great technical skills - yet lack people skills?

PRISMS for Underwriters is a skills training program that enables underwriters to improve agency relations, increase profitable volume, and support company goals with teamwork. It also provides underwriters a system for planning, strategizing, and successfully executing negotiations. Through this program, underwriters quickly learn to combine technical skills with proven effective people skills.

Performance Results & Benefits: 
• Better account acquisition 
• Improved agency relationships 
• Increased profitable premium volume 
• Support company goals 
• Better communication of benefits to producers

Course Overview
 
Formats: 2-Day Workshop; Self Study 
 
Summary: PRISMS For Underwriters empowers underwriters to improve agency relations, increase profitable premium volume, and support company goals with teamwork. 

Unit Summaries:

Introduction & Objectives 
In today's competitive environment, all company personnel must be encouraged to maintain a high level of sales, service, and company image. PRISMS introduces underwriters to the idea that everybody sells, the concept that helped Buck Rodgers, former chief marketing strategist for IBM, take his company from $250 million to $50 billion in sales. A video-taped interview with Rodgers and a class discussion based on quotes from today's business leaders show underwriters their effect on the sales process and how taking part in a totally sales-driven effort can benefit both their own success and the company's success 
 
Communication/Listening Skills 
Since producers deal with a company for their reasons - not the company's - underwriters must acquire good listening and communication skills to discover what those reasons are. This unit teaches underwriters to ask the right questions and actively listen for answers so they'll learn the motivation behind the placement of a piece of business. Different producers respond to different approaches. To help underwriters deal effectively with different producers, four primary personality styles are identified and skills for handling each are discussed. Listening habits are analyzed, and underwriters are taught to communicate benefits to producers. A fact/feature/benefit workbook is included to provide participants with an essential tool for addressing producer needs. When underwriters communicate benefits, they motivate producers to place business with your company. 
 
Time & Self Management 
This unit deals with setting goals, establishing priorities, and using time effectively. Participants evaluate their current use of time and identify barriers to productivity. They learn to prioritize, allocate resources, and classify producers to better manage their work load. When underwriters determine which producers deserve the bulk of their time, they leverage their efforts and become more productive and valuable to the company. Effective time management combined with a clear focus on goals gives underwriters the personal achievement skills they need to meet team objectives. 
 
Telephone Strategies 
Underwriters rely heavily on the telephone for day-to-day operations. Productive phone use involves much more than simply picking up the phone and dialing. This unit identifies the types of underwriter phone calls, the planning and preparation required for each call, and the skills that make calls more efficient and productive. With these skills, underwriters can be most effective on the phone. The telephone becomes a useful sales tool instead of an interruption. 
 
Putting it all Together 
After learning the elements of the PRISMS system, participants tie the process together in a single unit. Video segments show the elements and problems of the underwriter's job. Here, participants view the entire process, reviewing and defining the skills that lead to success. Following these segments, participants role-play and critique their own underwriting situations to help them gain confidence in their ability to apply PRISMS principles and skills. By directly relating skills to underwriting, PRISMS produces results not just in the classroom but - more importantly - on the job! 
 

Styles of Negotiation 
What is the best method for negotiating with agents, brokers, or company personnel? This unit reveals the characteristics of win/win negotiations. It identifies the criteria for evaluating negotiation success and examines the three basic negotiating styles. Using the correct negotiating style ensures that the agreement will be durable and durability is a critical factor used to measure negotiation success. To negotiate productively, underwriters also need an understanding of different personality types and knowledge of what techniques work effectively for each type. When underwriters are able to tailor their negotiation techniques to the individual with whom they are dealing, positive, durable agreements results. 
 
Pre-Negotiation Activities 
Statistics show that poor pre-negotiation planning is the single largest source of negotiation failure. In this unit, participants learn a comprehensive approach to preparing for negotiations that will help them determine and reach their goals. The importance of planning for negotiation is emphasized and critical issues - such as where, when, and with whom to negotiate - are discussed and resolved. Participants evaluate their present planning skills and apply preparation techniques to role-play topics. The Negotiating Planning Worksheet and Three Tiered Goal Analysis Form are provided to help participants learn to set and prioritize their negotiation goals. The underwriter who handles pre-negotiation planning well will achieve productive agreements. 
 
Negotiation Strategies & Tactics 
Productive negotiating is a process of communication geared toward a series of objectives. The plan of action negotiators select to reach their objectives is their "strategy." Without an appropriate strategy, negotiators have no format to direct them in pursuit of their goals. In this unit, underwriters learn how to construct a suitable strategy for any negotiation. If the strategy is the overall game plan, tactics are the "plays" a negotiator employs to implement the plan. This unit provides underwriters with dozens of tactics and counter-tactics that they will use and encounter. Exercises in this unit are designed to provide participants with the ability to strategize effectively and summon the ideal tactics and counter-tactics even in the heat of a tough negotiation. With these skills, underwriters are equipped to negotiate and to achieve better agreements in less time.  
 
Conducting Negotiations 
Adequate preparation and proper strategies and tactics are only useful if the negotiation itself is well executed. In this unit, participants learn the best techniques for opening, maintaining, and closing negotiations with producers and company personnel. They learn how to overcome objections, employ flexibility, and remove common negotiation "road blocks." Finalizing and verifying agreements is a crucial - and often overlooked - last step in the negotiation process. Also in this unit, underwriters acquire techniques to help them conclude negotiations effectively and productively. By effectively steering the course of a negotiation, the underwriter gains greater control over both the process and the result.
 
 Click here for detailed information about PRISMS for Underwriters.

For pricing information or a program sample please contact Insurance Learning Systems.