Similarly, how can employers retain young talent?
It’s like what they say about Major League Baseball, the hard part isn’t getting there, it’s staying.

There is a lot to be said for the survival of the fittest method, but that can lead you and your young talent to do the wrong things for the wrong reasons.

Having a plan or system in place to help that young agent learn, grow and ultimately “produce” more is critical for retaining agents who do things the right way for the right reasons.

Also, try listening to their ideas from time to time. A lot of them will be nonsense, but us young kids like to try new things and knowing we at least have the opportunity to voice those ideas goes a long way.

How does technology fit into your work strategy?
That’s a loaded question. It’s really more like how does technology not fit in.

I leverage as many tools and resources that I can to improve or automate as many steps in the sales/marketing process as possible.

We have used Brokeroffice.com as long as I have been in the business to quickly and easily quote all of our health insurance carries and provide visitors to our website the same ability.

We also use a company called Hubspot to automate and track all of our marketing efforts. Additionally, I use everything from videos, blogs, automated email marketing, social media, to Google Hangouts on a weekly basis. Of course smartphones and tablets are necessary devices as well.

Who do you look toward as a mentor in this industry?
With insurance and family being so closely related, if I said it was anyone other than my Dad we would have serious problems. He has taught me everything I know and put up with a lot of crazy ideas.

What are your future goals in this industry?
My goal is to bring some transparency to an industry that is deathly afraid of it. The astronomical amount of opportunities that are missed to help, serve and educate the people they are trying to insure is a little embarrassing.

What legislative issues are you interested in?
Primarily focusing on health insurance, the eight ton gorilla that is the Affordable Care Act is the only legislative issue going for me right now.

What are your main priorities as a young agent (work/life balance, charity support, legislative issues, etc.)?
At the end of the day I want to do work that makes a real difference in peoples’ lives without compromising my ability to make a difference in my own family life.

Work when there’s work, don’t work because you think you should be working.

How do you balance work and personal life?
Being an agent who works primarily from a home office, only making a handful of appearances in the actual office each month, it’s easy for them to blend together and even harder to separate.

I challenge myself to commit to both equally. Every part of your life is connected; neglecting one in favor of another will only do more harm than good in the long run.

How does your office reflect how you work?
When I’m working at home, it’s obviously very casual, cargo short and t-shirts are the attire most days and that reflects the way I talk with every client or prospect. My desk on the other hand is completely organized, rarely having one or two extra items on it. It is all about efficiency and maximizing every opportunity when there's work to be done.

What do you see Gen Y/Millennials struggle with in a professional environment? What advice do you have?
Again, I can only speak from personal experience, but Gen Y/Millennials idea of “how” or “when” work is done is not the same as most baby boomers and even some of Gen Xers.

Given the opportunity and flexibility, we can accomplish more during “non-business hours” than before those baby boomers get to the office.

I guess the advice I would have from that is to not be afraid to voice your opinion on how things should be done. You may not always be right or acknowledged, but you have to believe in yourself and your ideas if you’re going to get anywhere.

Where do you hope to take your career? What direction would you like your career to go?
Can’t say I have really thought about this beyond constantly finding new ways to keep my current and potential clients as informed and educated as possible.

If one day I can be consider one of the agents who made insurance about more than a policy, or “put the health back in health insurance” as I like to say, that would be okay with me.

Have you ever experienced any "generation gap" issues with your carriers in terms of personal interaction or the products they offer?
Not sure this counts, but I have been unable to get even one health insurance company to agree to participate in a video interview. I host a weekly Google+ hangout series, and they have been unwilling to give their members an inside look at what they can expect from their insurance company in the wake of health care reform. The generation gap in understanding how and where people get their information today is limiting to say the least.

Many young agents enter this industry because other family members work in insurance. What advice do you have when working with family?
There will eventually be a time when family and business come to a head. Do the best you can with what you have. Again, I work with family but from a distance. If you’re able, don’t be afraid to remove yourself from the “office” from time to time and get work done elsewhere.

Also, remember it’s a high dynamic trade off of pros and cons as well, for every negative experience there is an equally positive one.

What do you see young agents struggle with in their first years in this industry? What advice do you have?
To say I know enough “young” agents to identify their struggles would be false. What advice I can give from my own struggles is to get out there and to discover how you are going to uniquely provide information that enhances not just the insurance buying process, but everything surrounded and related to it. This goes far beyond, price, service or convenience and to the core of why you do what you do. Find the closest passion related to whatever line of insurance you sell that can help your clients and amplify it.

What sales strategies worked for you this past year?
The only sales strategy I know is education. Simply being the best insurance teacher I can be and always making sure people have enough information to feel comfortable with their decision or my recommendation wins every time. Well, not every time, there’s always that one person....

What was the biggest challenge you faced as a young agent, and how did you handle it?
My biggest challenge is twofold. First, having no “sales” experience prior joining the industry, just becoming comfortable having that conversation with people took time. From there the next challenge became how to have more of those conversations.

I handle the first challenge with persistence. Practice makes perfect in this case, you do something enough and honestly evaluate yourself in the process and you will improve. The second, is one that still remains a challenge on some levels. I focus most of my time around “inbound” or “content” marketing tactics to start those conversations.

Similarly, what is your biggest weakness? How have you addressed that weakness?
I have a tendency to lean too heavily on digital communication, forgetting the importance of shaking hands and meeting people face to face. I have tried to look for more opportunities to attend different events and bring those connections and relationships offline.

What are some of your career highlights?
I haven’t really sat down to take a look. I will let you know when I’m finished.

How does social marketing make you a more productive employee?
The term “social marketing” has a lot of different meanings. If we are talking strictly the use of social media platforms like Google+, Facebook, Twitter and even YouTube, they provide you with endless opportunities to meet, discover and connect with new people and ideas that you may have never encountered otherwise.

I also believe, given the “boring” nature of our industry, it’s very easy for agents to get distracted by the shiny ball of influence social media dangles in front of us. It’s very unlikely our message and material will ever gain as much traction as other “sexy” industries and we need to be careful not to let it become unproductive by trying to make it do too much.

Joey Giangola was featured in the August 2013 Issue of AA&B. He is a broker at Giangola Insurance Agency.