Relationships have been the hallmark of insurance for literally centuries. From working with local agents on home and life insurance to managing entire risk portfolios for commercial clients, understanding who customers are and what they need has been at the center of every insurance transaction.
For more than 30 years, relationships have been a priority for Jill Francis, who is the EVP, North America Field Ops Marketing and Distribution Management for Chubb. Francis joined the company in 1992 after seeing a post for an underwriting job at the company on a bulletin board at the University of Texas in Austin. She applied for the job, and it was the people she met during the interview process who persuaded her of the value of insurance and working for Chubb. "And I'll tell you that is the same reason why I'm still with Chubb today 32 years later. The quality of the people is just unparalleled," she shares.
Francis is one of the two individuals receiving the Women in Insurance Leadership Lifetime Achievement Award from Digital Insurance. The award recognizes her contributions to her company, the impact she has had in promoting education and her role in creating opportunities for women across the industry.
While the company was much smaller when she started there, she is excited about how
During her time with the company, Francis has held several underwriting and managerial positions including executive protection senior underwriter, commercial lines underwriting officer, energy resources underwriter and marketing manager for the Southern Zone and Western U.S. Currently, she leads the digital and technology aspects of Chubb's distribution strategy for their agency access platform as well as their online agency training. "The common denominator for me is that all of my responsibilities focus on distribution management, and we define that as our partnership and collaboration with our agents and brokers," she explains, breaking down their focus on agency education into four areas: in-person training, webinars, online learning and continuing education (CE).
Francis says they have seen a huge increase in demand for online learning access to programs that will help agents improve their specialization skills. "If someone wants to specialize in cyber or they want to be a life sciences specialist, then we have online digital tracks and suggested courses that can help them do that." In addition, the company is also focusing on their portal side which provides access to policy information, data statements and marketing information to agencies, giving them access to vital data 24/7. Her team also manages training for the Xplore App, which helps agents grow their book of business by identifying prospective accounts by geography, industry, class or revenue size that align with their areas of expertise.
While much of her expertise falls in the areas of sales and marketing, Francis finds that she is encouraged by how technology gives her team the ability to personalize the information available to agents and customers. It makes it easier for agents to cross-sell their products, provides valuable information for international foreign coverage, and enables them to use their data to quickly quote different risks or even identify additional ones that a customer may not have considered. Since customer and agent needs vary, Francis says that "technology is all about understanding how the data can make us better and smarter and faster at sales and marketing, and really think about and identify growth opportunities…it's another avenue to be more efficient about targeting growth."
Francis is also actively involved with Chubb's international business resource team, IMPACT, which focuses on supporting the development and advancement of women to help them realize their career goals. She sits on the national advisory board for the organization, but they operate at the branch, regional and national levels, and are expanding their engagement with agents and brokers.
Two years ago, they created Ignite IMPACT and paired executive female brokers with Chubb peers in their local markets. They also brought in female speakers from Wharton to discuss strategic agility and leadership development to help these executives learn more about their leadership styles. This year Chubb is expanding the program to Philadelphia, New York and Chicago, and targeting over 100 women agents and brokers in each city. "In agency education and IMPACT, the development and advancement of women is a priority. We actually have a couple of other female-focused executive education programs through Wharton and West Point that are specific to women and executive leaders trying to get to that next level in the executive suite," explains Francis.
One of the most rewarding programs she's worked on during her time at Chubb involves their Circle of Excellence, which recognizes and rewards the top 5% of their production staff who are non-managers, targeting those who work on the front lines for the company. "It could be underwriters, it could be sales or business development people, but essentially the program honors frontline individuals working directly with our agents and brokers to grow. And the program is just an example of how recognizing someone's accomplishments can drive this culture of excellence. Not that there's no monetary reward, we do [sponsor] a reward trip, but it's more about the recognition that you earn – the Circle of Excellence designation – and a little recognition goes a long way. I love that people will come up to me and say, 'I earned the Circle of Excellence this year and I'm going to earn it again next year.' And they really are working to go above and beyond for that recognition."
"In Jill's 32 years at Chubb, she has taken on a diverse range of roles and proven to be an outstanding leader," said Chris Maleno, Division President, NA Field Operations. "She often takes the lead on new projects and shares her invaluable business knowledge with her team. Jill has a deep understanding of NA Field Operations and makes significant contributions including expanding Chubb's information access tools – Chubb Agent Portal and Chubb IQ – that we deliver to our distribution partners."
One of the benefits of working in an industry for a while is that it gives one a different lens through which to view work, challenges and success. Francis cautions women not to be too impatient with where they are in their careers and encourages them to enjoy the job they are in at the moment. "Make sure you learn as much as you can and make as many connections as you can while you're in the role. I think when that happens and you do your job well, you naturally get tapped on the shoulder for the next job versus trying so hard to look out for that next role."
However, she does encourage women who find a job that utilizes their skillsets to speak with someone who influences that position and ask, "What do I need to do to get into that role?" to help alert executives to their interest in a particular role. "I think it's certainly okay [to let them know,] but enjoy the role you're in and try to knock it out of the park, and that naturally gets you promoted along the way."
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