The topic of this episode of the Ridiculously Amazing Insurance Podcast is the secret life of account managers. Kelly wants to point out that while there are a few male account managers, most are women with families at home, hence the generalizations made here.
Typically, account managers are the matriarchs of their homes, taking care of others from the moment they wake up until the moment they go to sleep. They have likely made breakfast for the kids, packed their lunches, gotten them dressed, shuttled them off to school, done a load of laundry, and emptied the dishwasher before they even get to work, where they jump right into serving their clients. In their conversations with clients, they feel a responsibility to look out for the best interests of their people and are sometimes resistant to directly asking for the sale. Every single client conversation could result in 15 or more logins or steps to make even a simple adjustment, so they feel like they are exhausted from taking care of others by lunchtime.
Account managers never feel like they will get caught up at work or at home, so they are on the verge of burnout and struggle to be enthusiastic about their work, even though they are loyal, personable, and love their customers and their jobs. It is important for leaders to understand and recognize these aspects of account managers’ daily lives and provide affirmation and encouragement to keep them motivated. Account managers are used to feeling guilty for not being able to get to everything on their plate and unappreciated or taken for granted at home and work, but that doesn’t have to be the case.
Kelly’s advice for account managers is: keep an open mind regarding working cross-selling and retention into your existing customer conversations and delegate some of your responsibilities at home. Whether you sign up for a meal kit delivery service or you teach your kids how to do specific chores consistently, give yourself a little margin to not be solely responsible for your home. And for those in leadership over account managers: be intentional and consistent about expressing gratitude and appreciation for them because your acknowledgement of their efforts could make all the difference.
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