Aflac’s new sales director uses skills as coach to climb corporate ladder [Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Ga.]

Aug. 19--When Tom Giddens first joined Aflac in 1983, he had no experience in insurance sales, but he had a knack for coaching.

After all, Giddens came to the company after teaching physical education and coaching boys' football, basketball and track for five years.

His first job at Aflac was as an assistant vice president in the marketing department, where he developed new sales training curriculum and taught it to other Aflac trainers across the country. And it was in that position he began coaching again -- sales agents, that is.

"When we hired Tom in 1983, he was a coach. And that's really what Tom's been," said Paul Amos II, Aflac president and Aflac U.S. chief operating officer. "Tom leads by finding the positives in people and really caring about them as individuals."

That leadership style has been key as the Albany, Ga., native has advanced his career at Aflac. Twenty-seven years after joining the supplemental insurance firm, Giddens was promoted in May to senior vice president and co-director of Aflac U.S. sales. He now manages a field force of more than 70,000, and is responsible for training and recruiting Aflac sales agents. His fellow co-director Ron Sanders focuses on broker initiatives.

Giddens' new position may present one of the biggest challenges of his career. Over the past few quarters, Aflac's domestic sales have been lagging, which officials attribute to a weak U.S. economy. Last month, the company reported total new sales declined 2.4 percent to $333 million in the second quarter of 2010. For the first half of the year, sales were down 6.3 percent compared to a year ago.

But Giddens said he is up for the challenge and plans to focus on -- among other goals -- what he's good at: energizing the veteran sales team and pushing them to find new business.

"The success I've had has been to lead and motivate and look for a person's strength -- not elevate what they're not good at," Giddens said.

A different kind of coach

Giddens decided to make the switch from coaching at an Albany middle school to sales after talking with some Aflac employees. He loved being around his students, but the pay was difficult, he said.

"I got a phone call one day, literally, while I was on the practice field," Giddens said.

He soon learned his coaching skills would be invaluable in the realm of sales. After three years at Aflac, he was promoted to regional sales coordinator in Atlanta in 1986. On his first day, he met with his three district coordinators and five associates.

"My message to them was, I don't know how to sell insurance," he said. "(But) I know how to lead, motivate, and love a team."

As regional coordinator, Giddens went on to earn the company's No. 1 spot in sales four times. In 1997, he was promoted to state sales coordinator for the northern half of Georgia, where he became Aflac's top salesperson three years in a row, snagging the firm's all-time sales record.

The size of his team helped their sales. Hardly any associates left the team -- it just kept getting bigger, he said. By the time Giddens was promoted again, his responsibility had grown to 12 regions and about 100 district coordinators.

"I definitely say people buy the sales associate," Giddens said. "We're selling peace of mind, but they're buying, 'Do they believe this person?' 'Do they trust this person?'"

During that stint, Giddens also worked for two years with Amos, who at the time worked as his co-state sales coordinator. Amos, whom Giddens now works under, said he has a special way of recognizing an individual's ability and helping them reach their own goals.

"It's very easy to throw people into a job, but it's difficult to help them succeed," Amos said. "Not everybody can be a star, but Tom brings out the best in every individual, from top to bottom."

In 2007, Giddens became the youngest inductee in the Aflac Sales Hall of Fame. He was promoted again in 2009 to territory director of Aflac's southeast region before taking his current position.

Game plan

So what is Gidden's game plan for the coming year?

The sales executive said they have four goals: hire new recruits, train associates, motivate their veteran agents and of course, sell Aflac products. In its second-quarter earnings report, company officials said they remained hopeful U.S. sales would turn in the second half of 2010.

"If it doesn't involve those things, then we don't need to be involved with them," Giddens said of the goals.

And though it seems Giddens has left his sports days behind, the married father of two still makes time to cheer on the football team at the University of Alabama, where his two daughters attend school. Giddens said he also enjoys working on his farm, raising cattle, hunting and fishing.

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