Relation Between the Home Office and the Field Force

For the reason just mentioned the agency department is often characterized as the most important branch of the home office. It is usually managed by one of the vice-presidents of the company, who is assisted by the superintendent of agents. The functions of the department are varied, and consist in securing agents and managers, assigning to them their respective territory, instructing them in their work, supervising the home-office correspondence and records pertaining to agents, formulating plans for improving the efficiency and loyalty of the service, and assisting the agency forces in any special difficulties that they may encounter. Frequently there are several assistant superintendents of agents, each of whom is charged with the duty of supervising the agency force in a designated group of states.

Successful agency work requires not only the most effective organization but a close cooperative relationship between the home office and those in the field. To this end united, action is emphasized as- much as possible. Not only are all important agency questions considered by special committees at the home office, but agents' meetings and conventions are organized with a view to enabling a free discussion of important questions vitally related to the agent's work and equipment. Many of the companies also devote much attention to the education of their agents in a proper understanding of the nature and uses of life insurance and in.the methods of salesmanship. Some companies conduct special courses along these lines while many others issue numerous educational leaflets explanatory of the various types of contracts and their uses, the arguments to be presented in selling the various classes of policies, and much other information of value to the agent in his daily work. It should here be stated that the agent, if he is to render the greatest service to his client and pursue his calling along professional lines, should be well informed concerning those phases of life insurance, such as the principles of rate-making, the operation of the reserve, the nature and sources of the surplus, etc., which are necessary to a correct answering of the numerous questions which are commonly asked of agents. To render expert service he should possess a thorough knowledge of the various types of policies and their usefulness under certain family and business circumstances, and of the various forms of settlement and their advantages, so that he may wisely fit the policy to the real needs of his prospective client. He should be thoroughly informed with regard to his company's investments and its treatment of policyholders as regards surrender and loan values, and should be in a position to present the benefits of insurance clearly and forcibly. There are also many legal phases connected with life insurance, as, for example, in connection with the naming or changing of the beneficiary and the assignment of policies, an understanding of which would greatly enhance the agent's usefulness. Furthermore, the agent should not consider his service to his client completed when the sale of a policy has been effected. Instead, his advisory relation to the insured and the beneficiary should extend, if at all possible, throughout the life of the policy and, as regards the conservation of the proceeds, even after it matures.