Who Do You Talk To? Professional Development for Employee Benefits Producers and Agencies

Summary

Sustainable growth and independence in benefits agencies requires deliberate professional development for producers, account managers, and leaders. Goose delivers agency-specific training, peer coaching, and leadership support through membership subscriptions, equipping teams for sales, service, and strategy.

Employee benefits agencies, including their leaders, producers, and account managers, need to engage in ongoing professional development. As business owners, we no longer have the luxury of showing up each day to see what it holds and what the clients may need.  

We must be strategic in our thinking for our businesses and our clients’ businesses. Just selling health insurance plans is not enough. Agencies must continually consider education, strategy, and the efficient execution of the plans they build.  

Teams must be current on policy, plan design options, and technical skills, and they must be effective communicators and leaders, whether they’re leading clients or team members.  

As an agency leader, if you’re not preparing your team with these ideas in mind, you are falling behind every day. The pace of change is accelerating rapidly, and it takes constant vigilance to keep up.  

Company growth requires dedicated attention 

Agencies that are serious about growth and remaining independent take professional development for their entire team very seriously. They collect regular feedback from the team, schedule group working sessions and trainings, encourage team members to take courses, and engage their companies in coaching and professional development programs.  

As entrepreneurs, independent agency owners take on a significant amount of risk. Leaving growth and independence to chance is a risk these agency owners can’t afford to take.  

Who do you talk to?  

We’ve built professional development programming specifically for employee benefits agencies and their entire teams. We deliver the programs through our platform, Goose, Your Ultimate Wingman.  

Because that’s exactly what we are for agencies: we’re your wingman who is always there with you, showing up to help with planning, strategy, and thinking about your business alongside you. Helping you make the tough decisions, feel good about them, and execute effectively.  

Prior to us starting Q4intelligence, I asked Kevin, as the leader of his agency, “Who do you talk to?” He didn’t immediately recognize what I was asking, but I clarified that as the leader, you carry the pressure, expectations, and weight of the business, and you're supposed to have all the answers.  

No one really teaches you how to run the business itself or how to handle the personal toll it takes. 

He clearly understood and had a simple reply: “No one.”  

We feel you. And we built Goose just for you. To help you grow and thrive as an entrepreneur, and to provide the support your team needs to grow and thrive with you.   

Professional development for employee benefits sales teams 

Despite popular belief, no, producers are not better when they just wing it. The agency and the client are better off when the salesperson has a consistent process they follow. What Goose offers:  

• Online on-demand sales training supported with ready-to-use materials and peer and coach assistance 

• Training on how to effectively engage prospects  

• Learning how to have better conversations with prospects and clients 

• Understanding that positioning your message is as important as the idea itself for connecting with your audience  

• Peer group conversations about all things sales, prospecting, time management, goal setting, and skill development 

Professional development for employee benefits account managers 

Account managers are the core of the client delivery system, and they should be treated with the same level of importance. They need to know what the producers know and more. What Goose offers: 

• Peer group account manager training for building an efficient, engaging, and empowered service team 

• Training on the same sales system the producers use, so they can support the process during the sales conversations and know how to seamlessly take the baton when the sale is closed 
• Peer group conversations about all things service, organization, communication, and technical skills 

Professional development for employee benefits leaders 

Back to the idea that most business owners have not been taught how to run a business. You can run a company for quite a while without a deep understanding of business practices. But if you want to grow and scale and push past plateaus, it’s time to get serious about those business practices. What Goose offers: 

• Agency leadership planning, from long-term vision to quarterly objectives 

• Training to analyze your company’s numbers and take action based on them 

• Guidance for organization and development of your sales, marketing, and client service operations 

• Support, training, and ready-to-use content for engaging your audience through messaging and marketing 

• Peer group conversations about all things leadership, strategy, planning, and keeping the team engaged 

Which of these ideas resonates with you?

Regardless of where you are in your career, Goose has a place for you to get started making a difference in your business and with your clients.  

• Test out sales training and professional development for a single producer with a 6-month trial offered exclusively through our association partner, NABIP.  
• Ready for more? Select one of our ongoing membership tiers to access sales training and comprehensive professional development for yourself or your entire agency.  

Reach out to Wendy Keneipp or Kevin Trokey with a LinkedIn message or on our website to explore how Goose can be the catalyst you need to be that growing, thriving independent producer or agency. We’d love to hear how you want to grow your business!