How to Hire Insurance Agents: Agency Staffing 101
An insurance agency is only as good as the agents it hires, and without quality agents to connect with consumers, the company's overall success is at risk. Therefore, it is crucial to hire the most skilled, qualified, and personable agents for your company. To do this, you need to know exactly where to find them and what to look for.
When looking for new insurance agents to hire, the best places to look are within your community or on social media and hiring websites. Make sure that you extensively adversitize the position and that employees and key clients are aware that you're hiring. Look for an ambitious individual that is personable but listens, and offer them a competitive wage.
Read on to learn how to hire insurance agents for your company who will positively benefit your team and business. We'll discuss where to start looking for these exceptional individuals, what qualities and qualifications they need, and what your company can do to entice potential hires to join your team.
Where to Hire Insurance Agents
Sometimes when it comes to hiring new employees, the hardest part of the process is knowing where to start. Thankfully, there is no shortage of places to look, especially within the past two decades as social media and employment websites have grown.
So, if you're trying to determine the best places to start your search for new insurance agents, here's where we recommend.
Within the Community
This option might start the list on a relatively vague note, but it is vastly agreed upon in the hiring community that the best agents are often the ones that live just around the corner.
An agent that is familiar with the community should never be underestimated. This knowledge can help them connect with consumers on a more personal level and aid them in necessary insight for quality recommendations.
For instance, if the agent is selling car insurance and they notice the client lives in a more urban area, they could potentially assume the client uses street parking; and make this a point for them to purchase a more extensive protection plan.
The key to finding hirable agents within the community is to keep your eyes and ears open. If you witness someone interacting in a way that would be perfect for your company, don't be afraid to approach them and make a proposal.
Another helpful tip would be to check the addresses on any applications you receive to see how far the applicants live from your company.
Social Media
Within the past one to two decades, social media's influence has increased insurmountably to the point that even employers are using it to find their next employee.
In 2018, CareerBuilder conducted a survey and discovered that "70% of employers use social media to screen candidates during the hiring process."
The majority of these employers use social media to:
Ascertain if the potential hire has an online presence
Determine pros and cons of their personality and values based on their posts
Determine if the potential hire is qualified for the position
Searching for new hires on social media can be an exceptional crash course of the individuals without even speaking to them yet. Prominent websites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter provide users with the opportunity to post their hometowns, education level, accomplishments, and goals.
The more work-centered sites like LinkedIn will even supply the individual's resume details, while the more personal sites, like Facebook, can provide insight regarding their interests, hobbies, and ideals.
Of course, social media doesn't just help you screen potential hires; it can also help bring them to you.
When asked, 90% of marketers stated, their social media marketing efforts increased effectively increased the overall exposure of their business, and 75% stated it increased traffic.
Having your own social media account can drastically increase your company's influence and allow you to post a job proposal. This will bring interested parties to you who will apply on your page or through a provided link, so you don't have to go fishing in a sea of people for the right candidate.
Hiring Websites
Similar to social media, another place you can look for new insurance agents is on popular hiring websites. A few of the more popular hiring sites include:
Indeed
LinkedIn
Glassdoor
Snagajob
ZipRecruiter
CareerBuilder
Creating a profile is required for some options, but these resources allow you to find individuals that are specifically interested in becoming insurance agents, if given the chance.
Here, you can clearly see all of the user's experience and credentials or post the job opening as an employer. From there, you can choose potential hires from the pool of online applications.
If you really don't have the time or inclination to dig around for new hires, this is by far the easiest and most time-efficient option.
Challenging Part-Time Job Environments
If you're looking for fresh, young, and driven individuals to join your team, some of the best places to look are in challenging part-time job environments, such as fast food and retail stores.
For those who only want licensed agents with years of experience, this probably isn't the tactic for you. However, thanks to modern technology, it is becoming increasingly easy for people to earn their agency license online in their own time without going to a specific institution for it.
For this reason, you might not want to rule these youngsters out after you've heard what we have to say about them.
Anyone who's worked 30+ hours a week at a retail or fast-food joint knows that these jobs aren't easy, and no one can convince us otherwise.
Many of these positions require long hours almost consistently on your feet with a smile plastered to your face while entitled customers try every ounce of your patience.
As a result, the best employees in these environments quickly learn how to:
Recommend products in a highly persuasive and personable manner
Diffuse tense situations with displeased consumers
Communicate effectively with their employer and co-workers
Respectfully interact with consumers
In addition to these qualities, the benefit of these environments is that the majority of individuals who work here are young, typically in their late high school to college years. And more often than not, they aren't planning to stay at this job for the rest of their life.
This provides the perfect opportunity to entice an ambitious young adult to pursue the potential you see in them as an insurance agent and join your team. You'll likely have to train them up a bit, but if you have a quality training program and exceptional mentorship in your team, the investment is well worth it.
What they lack in experience they'll make up for in passion, determination, and incentive. Plus, their age means you could potentially have them on your team longer, and they're likelier to be open to direction and less stubborn than older, more experienced candidates.
How to Find Insurance Agents to Hire
It isn't always enough to know where to look for new agents to hire. Sometimes half the battle is getting them interested in your company enough to put in their application.
Here are our top recommendations for finding insurance agents to hire to entice them to apply and convince them that they want to work for you.
Advertisements
They could cost you a pretty penny, but advertisements are one of the best ways to get your company name out there enough for people to notice you're looking for new employees. Some of the best ways to advertise are:
Create a listing on major directories (ex. Google, Yahoo, Bing)
Participate in hiring fairs
Post opening on social media
Post opening on the official company website
Post opening on job sites
In-store posters and flyers
If your company has a little more money in the budget for advertising, paying for a Google ad is one of the best ways for your job posting to be seen by as many people as possible. If you don't have the funds for this, social media is your best friend.
Use Your Clientele
You shouldn't necessarily tell every client who walks through your door that you're hiring, but it can be highly beneficial to your job search to tell a select number when the opportunity arises.
Sometimes the best employees come from individuals that believe in a company enough to be a consumer. If you notice that a client is expressing interest in working for your company or knows someone who does, this is the perfect opportunity to mention that the company has an opening.
Word of mouth is also one of the best and cheapest marketing tactics, so it might be in your best interest to tell company regulars or visibly interested parties about the new position in hopes that they will spread the word to others in the community.
With any luck, it will reach someone interested enough to follow through on the referral and apply for the job.
Keep Staff Informed
When searching for new help, don't forget the people that know your company best, your current employees.
Just like how your clientele can help you spread the news of an open position through word of mouth, your employees can do the same.
Make sure you are openly communicating business hiring needs with them in case they know someone that might be a good fit for the position or can relay the news to others.
Employees are more likely to be cautious with who they recommend for a position because they are, in a way, extensions of themselves and reflect their character judgment. If they send an unsuitable referral for the position or the applicant is hired and quickly let go, it could affect how others in the company perceive them.
Therefore, they are far more likely to recommend individuals they know well, trust, and confident will succeed in the same work environment.
What to Qualities to Look for When Hiring an Insurance Agent
Each job or career requires a specific skill set and individuals with particular qualities to ensure success. When interviewing a new hire for your agency, there are some key traits you should look for in order to determine if this job is for them. This will ensure that both parties are set up for success from the start.
Perfect Balance of Introvert and Extrovert
You might think that since insurance agents are required to communicate with customers daily and persuade them to purchase certain company options, they need to be extremely outgoing.
On the contrary, a study conducted at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School discovered that highly extroverted individuals earned 32% less revenue than those in the middle of the scale, and introverts earned 24% less.
This demonstrates that what you're really looking for is someone in between. You don't want a highly extroverted person because they are often overly chatty and can be a bit excessive, particularly with new customers.
On the other side of the spectrum, an extremely shy and introverted individual might not be outgoing enough to confidently approach a new client and determinedly persuade them to purchase company products.
So ultimately, you want someone with a little bit of both that is respectful and calm enough to listen to the clients when they speak, but confident enough to speak up with their opinions when necessary and connect with them on a personal level.
Positive Ambition
Another significant trait you definitely want in a new agent is positive ambition. This means that they are driven enough to go out of their way to connect with new clients without being too competitively overbearing in the workplace.
Although this can vary, many companies have sales quotas they must meet, and they rely heavily on their agents to achieve them.
Therefore, you want to hire someone that clearly has the hunger and drive to not only help the company meet these quotas but exceed them. This trait often indicates that the applicant will be a productive member of your team and bound for a long, successful career with your company.
Industry Knowledge
Although it is not always required for applicants to fully understand the insurance's ins and outs, it is typically preferable and a huge hiring plus if they do.
Some companies will take their chances when hiring a new agent and choose individuals who don't have their certification yet because they intend to train and mentor the newbie themselves.
It's true that this can help promote a significant bond between the new hire and the company, and you can be certain they are conducting themselves according to your specifications, but it also takes a lot of time and resources.
Therefore, to avoid such a strenuous process, it is almost always best to choose an already certified candidate, and either has some degree of experience with insurance or has extensive knowledge of the industry.
Insurance can be a tricky business with many legal factors to consider. By choosing someone knowledgeable, you're not only saving time and money on training, but you are also potentially saving your company from pricey mistakes an uninformed new hire might make.
Additionally, a knowledgeable agent is going to be far more successful at informing and persuading clients than one that is fresh out of training and still trying to test the waters.
How to Entice New Agents to Join Your Team
When it comes to hiring a new insurance agent, remember that this process is a two-way street. While trying to convince you they are the right choice for the company, you should be trying to convince them that your company is exactly where they need to be.
You never know if that applicant has a series of other employment offers to consider alongside your own. So, if they're the perfect addition to your team, you want to make sure you leave a positive, lasting impression that will convince them to accept your offer.
Have a Training Program
Agency applicants can come from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences. They must know that their new company has some form of training program regardless of how extensive their knowledge is.
Training programs are helpful to give new hires a crash course on new skills and company expectations, but it's also a reflection of the company itself.
A quality training program clearly demonstrates to applicants and new hires that your company is organized, structured, and cares about their success. Nothing is more off-putting or stressful to a new employee than being tossed into a new job without some form of a positional overview.
Training courses can also help ensure your agents have the ability to receive the proper certifications and credits to work for your company without sending them through extra hoops before hiring.
Start with a Competitive Wage
Many companies like to cut down on costs by paying their employees lower wages because they know someone out there will take the position regardless of how much it pays as long as it's a steady income. Don't be like them.
Posting a job opening with a low starting salary will only attract applicants who are willing to show up, do their job, and go home. This isn't what you want.
You want your employees to want to succeed at work and know the company values them because it is apparent in their pay. If your company has to meet quotas, employees aren't going to push themselves to achieve them if they're taking basic pay home.
An extensive study in BT by university professors discovered that workers are 13% more productive when happy, and often, this happiness starts with their salary.
A competitive wage will not only give them the incentive to go above and beyond for you, but it will also entice higher-quality applicants to pursue your position.
A knowledgeable, well-trained agent who can effectively connect with customers knows what they're worth, and it isn't a low-end salary. If you want these people working for you, you're going to need to pay them what they deserve.
Provide Sales Incentive Through Commissions
Another way you can entice applicants to join your team and motivate current employees is to provide significant rewards for selling commissioned products.
Certain policies within the insurance industry are particularly difficult to sell, so that the suppliers will provide higher commissions.
If these commissions are offered to your employees at the same rate as any other product, then they aren't going to care about selling them, particularly when striving to meet their quotas.
By sharing the extra compensation earned from these high-commission projects with your staff, you are more likely to entice them to push for selling the product and join your team to accept these challenges for the extra cash.
These incentives are also great for promoting a positive work environment where employees are appropriately compensated for their efforts, particularly when the task requires more effort than others.
Final Thoughts
Hiring any new employee can be an extensive process of wading through several applicants before you find the one.
Make sure that before you officially release a job opening at your insurance company, that you have a clear vision in your mind of what you are looking for in a new hire and what you can offer them over other companies.
This will help you weed through applicants and better ensure that both parties are the perfect fit for each other for maximum success.
