I know that football season is upon us and that is where my focus should be. My son has his first flag football camp tomorrow morning at 7:45 am, as a matter of fact. But several recent conversations with agency clients of mine have me thinking about the topic of a farm system. For those of you that are not baseball fans, this is simply another term for the minor league franchises affiliated with the corresponding major league team. We are fortunate here in Des Moines to have the Triple-A affiliate of the Cubs, hence the logo of the team on this week's blog.
Here is where we can all learn something. All major league teams focus on blockbuster trades after the All-Star break to propel them to the playoffs and hopefully the World Series. But unless you have the budget of the New York Yankees, you do not have an unlimited budget to make those moves. So you have to focus on developing younger players and have them work their way up from Single A to Double A and Triple A. You might have to throw a signing bonus or two at the best younger players, but for the most part they are playing for small weekly stipends to get them through each and every day.
There are several reasons why this is successful for the baseball profession and I believe they translate into the insurance industry. The first reason is that the potential is there for every player to reach the big leagues and sign a multi-million dollar contract. While in the minor leagues they focus on the details and even learn from some veterans that might be in town for a re-hab assignment. The parallel here is to make certain your older, tenured, and successful producers are always spending time with the newer and younger producers. Simply being around someone who has been successful at another level will rub off on you.
Secondly, players go into the minor leagues knowing that playing baseball is what they want to do. They are not plumbers, carpenters or realtors that one day decided that playing baseball for a living would be fun. So naturally you should align yourself with people that have an understanding of insurance, are committed for the long run, and maybe even have some outside influence of other industry professionals that have been successful and might be able to mentor them in the early years.
Third, and perhaps most important, is that the team does matter. Although each player is grinding through each practice, game, road trip, and workout to achieve an individual goal, they all know they will go farther with the team's best interests in mind. You must foster an open environment within an agency that promotes the idea of helping others. When I was a young producer I had the opportunity to work with a few of the interns that were working with us in the summers. As much as I had going on with my own production goals, I always thoroughly enjoyed bringing an intern with me on a sales call or renewal meeting to show them what I had learned at that point in my career. It was usually invigorating for both parties and a great way to keep me on my toes as I had another pair of eyes watching and ears listening to my every move.
The last point I will make will also show where my big league loyalties lie, if it isn't already obvious. The Cubs right now are sacrificing short term success for a bigger and better long term plan. Sometimes you have to commit to the future by working hard on a plan in the present that may not be widely accepted. You might have to make changes that the "veterans" won't like but that could improve profitability or productivity going into the next 2-3 years. Instead of spending big money on a well-known producer with a large book, you decide to hire three or four younger producers with a lot of upside. There is no one magic formula, but I sure believe that there is some great benefit to developing a well oiled machine called a farm system.
