Agency Management: Managing a Multi-line (1.5 Credit Hour) TDI Course No.

 

Chapter 4:

 

4.1   The Impact of Effective Management (EM) on a Multi-line Agents/Adjusters:

• High morale
• oFeeling of being a valued member/employee
• Enjoyable, fun work
• Feeling of belonging to a winning team
• Feeling that he or she is making a difference in the community

Effective managers do a much better job of managing because they understand the needs of their workers. They understand very well, Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Maslow’s hierarch of needs, is often portrayed in the shape of a pyramid, with the largest and most fundamental levels of needs at the bottom, and the need for self-actualization at the top; while the pyramid has become the de facto way to represent the hierarchy, Maslow himself never used a pyramid to describe these levels in any of his writings on the subject.

Effective managers understand that the most fundamental and basic four layers of the pyramid contain what Maslow called "deficiency needs" or "d-needs": esteem (feeling of importance), friendship and love (belonging), security and physical (survival) needs. With the exception of the most fundamental (physiological) needs, if these "deficiency needs" are not met, the body gives no physical indication but the individual feels anxious and tense. Maslow's theory suggests that the most basic level of needs must be met before the individual will strongly desire (or focus motivation upon) the secondary or higher level needs. Maslow also coined the term Meta-motivation to describe the motivation of people who go beyond the scope of the basic needs and strive for constant betterment. Meta-motivated people are driven by B-needs (Being Needs), instead of deficiency needs (D-Needs).

4.2    The Impact of Effective Management (EM) on a Multi-line Agency’s Customers:

• Higher retention (many long-term customers)
• Customer satisfaction rating very high
• Very few complaints
• Many customers recommend agency to their friends, family and co-workers

4.3   What is the impact of ineffective Management on a multi-line agency’s customers?

• Poor customer retention
• More customer complaints
• Reputation for providing poor customer service
• Customers will buy less
• Some unhappy staff will have a poor attitude toward customers