What does an agency manager do?
An agency manager works alongside a recruitment team to find new applicants for a company's vacancies. Agency managers typically work in companies that have both a high number of employees and a regular recruitment schedule. Creative industries, especially in film and TV productions, commonly have agency managers. An agency manager works as part of a human resource team to bring in talent that will be beneficial to a company. A keen understanding of human behavior and strong communication skills are both necessary for this position. A psychology degree could also be beneficial.
Agency manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real agency manager resumes:
- Manage agency expenses, including conducting payroll and equipment/material purchases.
- Confer with clients in order to provide marketing and technical advice to increase recognition, branding and ROI.
- Specialize in life, health, and annuities.
- Post billing and run various reports and invoices for active agencies.
- Incorporate, license, organize, and run a commercial collection agency.
- Handle hiring, training, recruiting and development of all brokerage agents production.
- Perform billing to facilities, Medicaid, private insurance, worker's compensation, and private pay for services render.
- Participate in interviewing process, complete employment paperwork and payroll.
- Mentore, coach, train staff and newly hire company employees to effectively identify business opportunities through effective customer profiling.
- Represent the company as a voting member of the ACORD joint technical subcommittee.
- Train other business analysts in ACORD mapping skills, edit testing, writing specifications, etc.
- Conduct weekly seminars on recruiting new members and competitive lenders.
Agency manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 29% of Agency Managers are proficient in Insurance Products, Training Programs, and Lead Generation. They’re also known for soft skills such as Leadership skills, Management skills, and Problem-solving skills.
We break down the percentage of Agency Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Insurance Products, 29%
Strengthened carrier relationship and developed new appointments with carriers with recreational vehicle insurance products.
- Training Programs, 23%
Pursued education & training programs to continue my professional development.
- Lead Generation, 14%
Gain new clients through door-knocking, cold calling, referrals and lead generation.
- Customer Satisfaction, 6%
Maintain high level of customer satisfaction through effective delivery on customer and agency expectations.
- Performance Reviews, 4%
Managed staff which included hiring, performance reviews, coaching to achieve sales goals and monitoring calls for quality assurance.
- Field Training, 3%
Owned agent retention, product training, field training, regulatory supervision and agency marketing.
Most agency managers use their skills in "insurance products," "training programs," and "lead generation" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential agency manager responsibilities here:
Leadership skills. One of the key soft skills for an agency manager to have is leadership skills. You can see how this relates to what agency managers do because "top executives must be able to shape and direct an organization by coordinating policies, people, and resources." Additionally, an agency manager resume shows how agency managers use leadership skills: "maintained healthy relationships with customers and ensure complete customer satisfaction, provided leadership and guidance to sales agents. "
Problem-solving skills. This is an important skill for agency managers to perform their duties. For an example of how agency manager responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "top executives need to identify and resolve issues within an organization." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an agency manager: "investigated and resolved customer complaints. ".
Time-management skills. For certain agency manager responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "time-management skills." The day-to-day duties of an agency manager rely on this skill, as "top executives do many tasks concurrently to ensure that their work gets done and that the organization meets its goals." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what agency managers do: "prepared bi-weekly detailed payroll reports to meet deadlines. "
Communication skills. A commonly-found skill in agency manager job descriptions, "communication skills" is essential to what agency managers do. Agency manager responsibilities rely on this skill because "top executives must be able to convey information clearly and persuasively." You can also see how agency manager duties rely on communication skills in this resume example: "handle payroll, billing and purchasing, communication systems, space utilization. "
The three companies that hire the most agency managers are:
- Combined Insurance28 agency managers jobs
- Gallagher14 agency managers jobs
- Farmers Insurance14 agency managers jobs
Compare different agency managers
Agency manager vs. Communications project manager
A communications project manager is in charge of overseeing the development of internal and external communication materials. Their responsibilities typically revolve around performing research and analysis to identify client or company needs, developing effective communication strategies, coordinating different teams to ensure the quality and accuracy of projects, setting objectives and goals, and managing schedules and budgets. Furthermore, as a manager, it is essential to lead and encourage the team to reach goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations, including its vision and mission.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of an agency manager are more likely to require skills like "insurance products," "training programs," "lead generation," and "customer satisfaction." On the other hand, a job as a communications project manager requires skills like "project management," "powerpoint," "web content," and "status reports." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
On average, communications project managers reach higher levels of education than agency managers. Communications project managers are 6.0% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.7% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Agency manager vs. Deputy program manager
A deputy program manager is responsible for planning productive and engaging activities that would develop active group coordination and efficiency, helping each participant to reach maximum potential and personal goals. Deputy program managers handle the business development activities from conceptualization to execution, identifying resources and materials, finalizing participants, and allocating adequate budget to support the program objectives. They also resolve planning issues and discrepancies accordingly and set alternative resources as needed to prevent delays.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, agency manager responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "insurance products," "training programs," "lead generation," and "performance reviews." Meanwhile, a deputy program manager has duties that require skills in areas such as "program management," "project management," "dod," and "risk management." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
In general, deputy program managers achieve higher levels of education than agency managers. They're 10.9% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Agency manager vs. Consultant/project manager
Consultants/project managers act as planners, leaders, and advisors in business enterprises. These professionals facilitate meetings and establish positive relationships with vendors, management, and clients. They make customer visits, maintain industry knowledge, procure third-party software and hardware, and deliver projects. It is also part of their duty to manage complex initiatives in an individual business unit or organization. Their skills include analytical, time and cost management, problem-solving, interpersonal skills, and proficiency in project management software.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, agency managers are more likely to have skills like "insurance products," "training programs," "lead generation," and "performance reviews." But a consultant/project manager is more likely to have skills like "project management," "project scope," "executive management," and "manage project scope."
Consultant/project managers typically earn higher educational levels compared to agency managers. Specifically, they're 10.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Agency manager vs. Special projects manager
A Special Projects Department is a vital part of the research and development branch in a company to design and create new products and services for customers to use. The special projects manager's responsibility is to request and allocate funds, personnel, and a specialist to the project. This person is also obligated to monitor and generate reports on the project's status and update the company management on the special project's daily status.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between agency managers and special projects managers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, an agency manager might have more use for skills like "insurance products," "lead generation," "customer satisfaction," and "performance reviews." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of special projects managers require skills like "project management," "logistics," "financial statements," and "oversight. "
Special projects managers reach higher levels of education compared to agency managers, in general. The difference is that they're 6.2% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of agency manager
Updated January 8, 2025
