Venus And Mars In Benefits Advising

Copyright 2008 SourceMedia, Inc.All Rights Reserved Employee Benefit Advisor

August 1, 2008

496 words

Venus And Mars In Benefits Advising

Michelle Mc Mullen

When it comes to benefits advising, are men from Mars and women from Venus? Prevailing "wisdom" would have it that men excel at the strategic level, whereas women are more tactical or excel at account management. Are we really from different planets? Or is it more a case of how we are brought along on our career paths?

In this case, I think it's far more "nurture" than "nature." There is ample evidence of highly successful women sales executives in industries outside of insurance and benefits. And certainly, the human resources profession is dominated by women executives who make strategic decisions on a daily basis.

I think it has more to do with where people enter the industry than where they end up. Many women enter the industry on the account management side, some even on the administrative and service side, and work their way up through the department. Very few men begin their careers on the service side. They are more likely to jump right into sales organizations, even if it means building a book via good old-fashioned cold calling, networking and "pounding the pavement." As a result, we see the percentages of the ranks of salespeople weighted toward the male gender.

But I, for one, have always believed that there's no better way to prepare for a senior role in advising than by "being in the trenches" on a daily basis, and being able to see and experience firsthand the impact of the benefits decisions that clients make. After all, how can we be truly confident in our role as advisers if we don't have deep practical experience?

I predict that we'll see the gender percentages shift in the next decade, as women move up through the ranks on the account service side and make the jump to senior advisers. In our organization, in just the past five years we've gone from less than 10% women producers to close to 40% women producers in our employee benefits group. In fact, three women sales executives are among the top producers in the entire company.

When I interview young women, or even those who have been in the industry for awhile, I counsel them that success in benefits advising is not dissimilar to other types of sales. You must fundamentally know your product, know your customer's needs and act tirelessly to exceed their expectations at all times. And the good news is that those are not male or female attributes - they are personal attributes.

McMullen is an SVP at Kibble & Prentice, a USI Company. She was the first woman sales executive to join Kibble & Prentice's Benefits group about a decade ago. She has since been recognized for achievement both within the company ("Heavy Hitter" Award two years running) and within the USI organization (Pinnacle Club achievement). Michelle is also a new mom who made her yearly sales goal a mere two months after returning from maternity leave.

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August 1, 2008