A Spotlight on LAMP | January 2002 Web Exclusive

Web Exclusive: A Spotlight on LAMP

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The multiline sessions are sure to teach, inspire and motivate.

By: Lucretia DiSanto Jones

On Monday and Tuesday afternoons, March 18 and 19, GAMA International's LAMP 2002 meeting will offer a number of educational sessions, including a multiline platform. This program, which will take place in Orlando, Fla., will feature multiline professionals who will share their ideas, techniques and methods for success.

Multiline-platform moderator Harlan Warthen of H. Sheeler Warthen and Associates, Morgan Hill, Calif., was an award-winning field-sales manager with Allstate for 32 years. As the architect of the multiline platform, he constructed the flow of the sessions so that each presenter builds upon the last.

On Monday, he will welcome Ted L. Blalock and Larry F. Miller. Their individual presentations will focus on the "nuts and bolts" that have made them successful. Blalock has been in the business since 1973 and is with Farmers Financial Solutions. Miller is closing in on three decades in the business and is with Farm Bureau Financial Services.

Harlan recruited Miller because of his knack for bringing his new agents up to speed quickly by teaching them to cross sell from day one. He will discuss the importance of taking advantage of the access you have to your clients and drawing from the successful, talented staff you already have.

Blalock was invited to speak because of his unique approach to recruiting. He nabs resumes from the Internet and puts his call center to work screening these potential candidates. Here's a chance for you to get to know Warthen, Miller and

Blalock: Meet Harlan Warthen, multiline platform moderator

Q: Who in the industry do you most look up to and why?

Warthen: Dick Geno and George Fraseer. My local GAMA chapter was very unique in that we had two excellent presidents, Dick and George. I saw them go from being the manager next door, to working their way up the hierarchy of GAMA. It's a commitment to the industry and to the cause.

Miller: Ed Lani of Farmers. He's been a mentor since 1975. Year in and year out, he has stellar results. He's been a district manager for over 30 years and to this day he's the tops in the company. Some rest on their laurels. Not Mr. Lani.

Blalock: John Savidge is number one because of his unique thoughts about the industry and the role we play in it.

Q: What are the critical factors for success for managers as they build their future?

Warthen: In my opinion it's staying with the basics. We have a tendency in this business to make things more complicated than they need to be. Like Lombardi said, football just breaks down to blocking and tackling.

Miller: Enthusiasm, leadership and caring for people as individuals--professionally and personally. And as an industry we need to get rid of the 'stuff.' Let's not get bogged down by minutia. Stay focused on results.

Blalock: We have to anticipate new and future trends in our industry. We have to know our competition and prepare our agents to face those challenges.

Q: How has the agency managers' influence on their associates and producers changed since you became a manager?

Warthen: I think what's happened is the multiline field manager has been taken out of the basic role that he once had of hiring good people, training them properly and holding them accountable for results.

Miller: We used to have a lot more control over them.

Blalock: There is much less hands-on activity because now we're dealing with a much more entrepreneurial individual. We used to go out with them and drive the fundamentals into them. Now it's more important that we provide a vision for our agents.

Q: How do you think their influence will change over the next decade?

Warthen: With compliance issues and the need for companies to satisfy stockholders at almost any expense, what will happen is a dramatic change in that managers will be allowed to run their operations more as independent entities.

Blalock: I think the relationship won't be so much a superior-subordinate relationship as a side-by-side relationship. It will be about trying to get them to think out of the box and helping them create a unit that can function.

Q: What was the biggest mistake you've made as a multiline manager in your career?

Warthen: I can't say I'd do anything differently.

Blalock: I would say sitting back and thinking I had my agency built and thinking that everything was smooth. Like they say, 'Just `cause the water's smooth doesn't mean the crocodiles aren't biting.'

Q: What was the biggest success you've enjoyed?

Warthen: For 24 consecutive years I received the Key Manager Award at Allstate, more than anyone else in history. No one will come close to beating that!

Miller: I've been very fortunate to be a really good team builder. I can take people who are at the bottom, give them the right recognition, the right training and the right opportunities--mentor them and turn them into real producers, even when they've been on the verge of leaving the business.

Blalock: The growth and development of people that I've brought into the business. Two of my people are now highly successful agency managers on their own and I helped develop them.

Q: What do you plan to do for fun when you're in Orlando?

Warthen: Sit around the pool. As long as there's cocktail service out there, I'm fine.

Miller: Play some golf. But I'm no good at it.

Blalock: Spend a little time at the park, a little time on the golf course.

The next question is for you to answer: Are you planning to attend GAMA 2002 in March? To find out more or to register online, visit GAMA's website.

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