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For The Manager: Good hiring, traning practices yield top-notch CSRs

A RECENT U.S. Department of Labor report puts the national unemployment rate at 5.4% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Economy at a Glance, Sept. 24, 2004). This is considerably higher than the unemployment rate between 1998 and 2000, and yet agency

By Chris Burand | Updated on October 31, 2004

A RECENT U.S. Department of Labor report puts the national unemployment rate at 5.4% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Economy at a Glance, Sept. 24, 2004). This is considerably higher than the unemployment rate between 1998 and 2000, and yet agency after agency tells me it cannot get anyone to answer ads for commercial-lines CSRs. Are agencies stuck in the “Employment Twilight Zone?”

Plenty of people are looking for work; by and large, however, they are not the employees agencies are seeking. The commercial-lines CSR position is no longer a clerical position, and anyone treating it as such could be sitting in an E&O minefield. The position requires a great deal of unique skill and knowledge. What other non-degree profession requires considerable insurance technical knowledge, a knack for details, great communication skills, an ability to deal with hard-driving salespeople and detailed knowledge of industry-specific software? Agencies cannot simply “poach” CSR candidates from other industries. For example, even if a CSR in the rental-car industry had all the right personality traits, someone still would have to train that person in insurance.

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