Here in San Francisco there are many phenomenal producers from which I have been learning a lot.  In particular, I have been spending a good amount of time with a producer named Bruce.  Bruce is an exceptional producer for a variety of different reasons.  First of all, Bruce has an exceptional knowledge of the insurance brokerage industry and used to own his own private brokerage firm before being bought out and starting his work for Gallagher.  Bruce has the ability to ask open ended questions in his prospect meetings that allow him to really see where the company wants to go with their employee benefits package.  Another strong trait is the ability to listen, as Bruce explained to me, in the prospect meetings “90% of the selling is good listening”, by picking up small details given by the HR director Bruce was able to ascertain information that he did not have to ask for directly.  Along with everything else Bruce has a very calm and relaxed demeanor, he never tries to sell GBS too much at first and does not resort to being pushy.  I have learned a lot already from Bruce and am looking forward to picking up more tips as the summer continues.

-Brendan, San Francisco

Back to work in San Francisco after a week of orientation in Itasca.  So many new relationships formed with the other interns, I am truly glad that Gallagher spends the time and effort to allow all the interns the opportunity to get together in Itasca.  It was fun to really get time to connect with the other interns from my office (who are located downstairs that I rarely see) and to meet new people from all over the country.  Shout out to Chris, my roommate from Plattenville, Louisiana.

On the learning side, it was very interesting to see the direction in which Gallagher is heading and how dedicated they are to their young employees.  The executives who came in and spoke really knew how to involve the interns and keep their attention.  I was truly amazed at the full scope of AJG and how large the company is becoming.

I really do think that some of the relationships I made during the week will become long-time friends and hopefully co-workers or clients in the future.

-Brendan, San Francisco

Hi my name is Brendan, I am student athlete at Trinity College in Hartford, CT.  I am entering my Senior year of college and I’m majoring in Economics and Political Science.  Home for the Summer in the Bay Area, I am excited to be working for AJG in the Benefit Services office in San Francisco.  I have learned much already and the office seems to be a really relaxed and positive environment.  Can’t wait to get into the swing of things and see what AJG is all about!!

Cheers,

Brendan in San Francisco

It’s absolutely amazing that nine weeks have already flown by.  It feels like we were just in Itasca getting to know everyone!  I’ve really enjoyed working on different projects in the SF and Lafayette offices, and working on our regional intern project.  It was great working with everyone and hearing how everyone’s experiences have been similar, and how they have been different.  It’s pretty crazy that we’re at the end of this program.  I can honestly say that I have gotten a lot out of this internship, and like they told us in Itasca, this wasn’t “just another summer job”.

Best of luck to everyone!

-Melanie

Like everyone else has been saying, I can’t believe that we’re almost done with the intern program.  This week has gone by so quickly, with meetings and projects that I’ve been working on.  It’s crazy to think about the fact that we’ve almost completed 9 weeks of the intern program!

Yesterday I was able to go to a client meeting discussing their wellness program that they are hoping to pilot for this year.  They have just begun to think about things such as their slogan, and their mission statement.  I enjoyed being able to be there for one of the first meetings, to see where a client would begin to think about implementing a wellness program, and how to make it most effective.

I’ve also been working on some projects in the Lafayette office, so I’ve been out there between one and two times a week.  I went on a prospect visit earlier this week out there, and was able to see another producer’s style and how he approached the sales process.

Looking forward to talking to everyone in a few minutes!

-Melanie

I can’t believe that it’s already the middle of week 6!  I’ve been pretty busy here in the San Francisco office, helping with renewals, etc.  I’ve been doing a lot in BenefitPoint, to make sure that everything is updated as new plans go into effect for some of the large hospitality clients.  I’ve also been entering some information for the Lafayette office, which has some smaller clients, so I’m learning a lot about the differences between different sizes of clients, and how each office handles their client service.

The San Francisco office has a team that focuses on RETA, which is a Catholic healthcare trust.  They just finished a pilot wellness program with some of their groups within RETA, so I was able to attend a meeting that debriefed one of the groups on the pilot program.  It was really interesting to see how the implementation and success of the program was so dependent on the support from upper management.  It seemed like a very beneficial program, and they provided various incentives for finishing the program, and also entered participants into a raffle for additional prizes.  On the other side of it, we were also able to see what potential healthcare cost savings would be.

One of the things that I’m enjoying most so far throughout this internship is being treated as a part of the team, and being given tasks to finish that are time sensitive, and working with everyone else to meet the deadline.

I’ve also been working on the intern project, and talking with the producers in our office regarding their different styles, which has also taught me a lot about each producer and their success in bringing in and retaining clients.

Looking forward to talking with everyone tomorrow on the conference call!

- Melanie in SF