A while back, I had a fascinating conversation with a good friend who’s responsible for recruitment and training at a large and reputable claims company. He was lamenting the fact that they just don’t have enough adjusters. Well, really, they don’t have enough qualified adjusters.
He explained that they had a base of about 15% of their total roster of CAT adjusters that they thoroughly trust to get the job done and who, consequently, deploy continuously. But, he continued, 15% is inadequate; they have a genuine shortage of highly-competent, qualified CAT adjusters, and they’d love to have more.
I was fascinated by this, because — as a trainer — I meet numerous people who would very much like an adjusting career and would love to be counted in this “15%”. The fact is that the companies that hire adjusters work hard to recruit and develop more (qualified) adjusters, yet adjusters who want those jobs don’t know how to get them.
So how to close the gap?
Our conversation led me to reflect on the “the 15%” and what separates them from the pack. I realized that although I know quite a few successful professionals in the claims business, I’ve always depended on my observations about them to characterize what sets them apart. I wanted to find out first hand and from the horse’s mouth, so I determined to talk to them directly. The results have been both a great confirmation long-held beliefs, and an enlightening learning process. Moreover, I saw clearly during this process that at least part of our mission at AdjusterPro must be to help people get into “the 15%” or, more accurately, to grow the 15% to 25% or beyond.
In short, lots of people want to succeed in this business, but they’ve never been shown how. What I intend to do through this study is to illustrate clearly the characteristics of the 15% — to show you how they think and what they do — and explain how you can be more than just a flash-in-the-pan, how you can be part of the 15%. And I’ll be offering some of this on this blog, so stay tuned! I interviewed Carla just last week, and it was great (thanks Carla!). I’ll share with you her story and some things that she’s done that definitely set her apart, and, more importantly, I’ll show how you can do them too.
‘Til next time,
Adam
