My goal for today is to share suggestions and a detailed analysis of the best ways to recruit insurance agents, whether it’s through the internet, social networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook, or your warm market.
Since 2013, I’ve developed a nationwide insurance agency dedicated to assisting agents in becoming top producers in the sale of last expense, Medicare Advantage, annuities, and mortgage protection insurance.
I’ll discuss whether or not hiring insurance agents is a good idea, as well as different tactics for finding life insurance agents.
Create a recruiting message
A recruiting message is similar to a company’s advertisement, but it is aimed at potential employees rather than customers. When you contact recruits, this is the message they will receive. When you write a recruiting message, you’re presenting a positive image of the company you want people to consider. “What do insurance agents want?” is a good question to ask while creating a recruiting pitch. A huge clientele, advancement opportunities, and high earnings are all frequent ambitions for agents. Include them in your message to recruiters.
Find candidates on social media.
According to Mullarkey, most seasoned agents, or general salespeople with insurance-selling skills, have a LinkedIn page and are active on other social media platforms. Start with LinkedIn and expand your search to other social media platforms to obtain a sense of their sales experience and strategies. “Reach out to folks who have the professional experience you’re seeking for.” You won’t get a response from everyone, but you might be able to find a bright candidate who wouldn’t have applied for the job otherwise.”
Reach out to local universities.
Local universities, according to Mullarkey, are an excellent place to recruit if you’re ready to give less-experienced individuals a chance. She observes that institutions are frequently “desperate” to place their graduates in well-paying jobs. “It looks good for them if their graduates have decent employment once they graduate.”
She suggests contacting the career resource centers at local institutions and requesting that the post be advertised in their student newsletters. “The faculty will most likely be supportive of the ideaplus, by the end of the semester, you’ll have a deluge of applications.”
Ask current agents for referrals.
Agents frequently have referrals they may pass along, whether from friends, past coworkers, or others in their professional network. “If they’ve been around for a while, they’re bound to know a few people that meet the bill.” “All you have to do is ask whether they know somebody who could be a good fit for the role,” Mullarkey advises.
Consider hiring freelance agents.
You don’t have to hire full-time agents if you don’t want to. Another possibility, according to Djurkovic, is to hire freelancers. He points out that sales jobs have a high turnover rate, and that in the insurance market, only the most self-motivated employees tend to survive. “Freelancers generally have to find their own clients and operate on a project-by-project basis, so they have a natural tendency to be self-starters.” This will assist you in avoiding the revolving door that most sales positions entail.”
Look for candidates with a sales background.
As previously said, insurance brokers are salespeople, which means they face obstacles such as rejection. It may be tough for someone who has never faced such a problem to conquer it. As a result, Djurkovic recommends prioritizing candidates with a sales history. “It’s all about client retention in our field, and effective insurance salespeople should have the people skills to do it.” Candidates with strong sales experience, even if not in the insurance industry, should be able to fit the mold of an insurance agent and perform well because they’ve excelled in similar situations before.”
Pay attention to their attitude.
“Jeremy Schaedler, president of Surety First Insurance Services, advises against hiring people with negative attitudes. He notes that one of the most difficult characteristics to change in someone is their attitude, so if the candidate has a negative attitude toward work or dealing with customers, it will continue until they start the job.
If a candidate’s attitude is problematic before they’re hiredwhen they’re supposed to be showing their best selfit’ll only get worse once they’re hired, according to Schaedler. “They’ll get goingas in quitas soon as things become rough. And when they do, you’ll be overjoyed. So try to avoid making that error.”
Be upfront and truthful about sales expectations.
VanderVaate offers a suggestion that focuses on you and your company rather than candidates. He explains that if you want to attract top insurance agents, you should make sure you have a rewarding career and working environment to provide. You can track your sales data and show it to potential workers, along with commission conditions, so they have a realistic picture of their future earnings. “Do not exaggerate figures. Be truthful and realistic. Work on changing that before adding more salesmen if you don’t have a compelling employment opportunity to sell.”
Challenge their opinion during an interview.
Ask the agent a subject about which they are free to respond with their own perspective during the interview, and then respectfully challenge that position. Even if you agree, challenging their answers might help you observe how they deal with rejection. Were they hostile? Were they in agreement with you? Did they debate or try to understand your point of view in a polite manner?
If you’re outraged and annoyed by their follow-up, you can bet your consumers will be as well. You might have a potential superstar on your hands if they handled hardship with grace and charm.
Try a panel interview.
In addition to the typical one-on-one interview, McMillan recommends a panel interview. “Bring in the best of the best. They can not only assist in the evaluation of the candidate, but receiving their stamp of approval makes them more likely to assist in the development of the new recruit’s skills once they are onboarded.”
It helps to have some mentors around when a candidate faces difficulties, whether it is during training or later in their career. In the insurance industry, rejection is a natural occurrence that occurs at every stage of the sales process.
Why is recruitment important in insurance?
Insurance Companies’ Recruitment and Selection Process People are a company’s most valuable resource. The choice on recruiting and selection is critical since it is the vehicle for attaining the best possible person-to-job match, which will greatly contribute to the Company’s success.
How are employees recruited?
The process of identifying, attracting, interviewing, choosing, hiring, and onboarding personnel is referred to as recruitment. Through put it another way, it covers everything from identifying a staffing requirement to filling it.
Recruitment is the job of a variety of individuals, depending on the size of a business. Larger companies may have full teams of recruiters, whereas smaller companies may only have one. In small businesses, the hiring manager may be in charge of recruitment. Furthermore, many businesses outsource their recruiting to third-party services. Companies virtually always use adverts, job boards, social networking platforms, and other methods to find candidates for new openings. Many businesses use recruiting tools to find excellent employees more quickly and effectively. In most cases, recruitment is done in collaboration with, or as part of, Human Resources.
What methods are used to recruit new employees?
Techniques for recruiting are always changing, and the Internet has had a big impact in recent years.
Around two-thirds of UK businesses use ‘new media’ to attract applicants (CIPD 2015), but older approaches are still effective and many people prefer a mix of the two. Here is a list of the most common staff recruitment methods.
Recruiting internally
There are numerous compelling reasons to hire from inside. To begin with, it can be less expensive than advertising externally or through agencies because you can simply post a free ad on your company’s intranet or message board.
Second, having a regular internal recruitment policy establishes a strong career path for your staff. This is excellent for employee morale, motivation, and retention. When you do employ externally, you can ensure that you will have fantastic advancement chances.
Finally, internal recruitment can help with succession planning. Because your existing leaders won’t be around indefinitely, it’s a good idea to groom current employees to be their successors.
Advertising externally
The largest one is external advertising. There are numerous choices available, with new methods being introduced on a regular basis. And, especially when you’re growing, every firm needs to market externally from time to time.
Print advertising
Print isn’t truly extinct. The print job ad is perhaps the oldest of all recruitment methods. Print ads, on the other hand, are a terrific approach to target a well-defined section of job seekers as long as sector-specific journals and periodicals exist.
Web advertising
The strength of Internet advertising is demonstrated by its growth: by 2019, it is expected to overtake television as the most popular ad medium (pwc, 2015).
Advertising on recruiting websites has the ability to reach a large number of people at a reasonable cost. Job seekers can use Google to search for specific job kinds on a variety of popular recruitment websites. It only takes a few minutes to create an ad.
You can also post job openings on your company’s website, however the ads will likely be less apparent than those on big sites.
Social media
Being active on social media sites like Twitter helps you to’meet’ potential applicants in a variety of ways, including through common connections, discussion topics, and the ease with which job seekers can contact you. A quarter of UK businesses use professional networking sites like Linkedin to find new employees (CIPD 2015).
Your social media activity also helps to build your employer brand by demonstrating your company’s culture to potential employees. If company culture is good, this is a terrific way to recruit top talent.
It also works in the opposite direction. You can screen candidates using social media, judging their eligibility based on the substance of their online posts.
Talent search
Because of the popularity of internet recruitment, talent search has become a viable alternative to job posting. Popular employment services have databases of thousands of CVs that you may search for possible candidates by utilizing keywords. There are drawbacks: the procedure can take a long time, and stored CVs aren’t always up to date.
Many recruitment agencies also provide specialized talent search services based on their own applicant database.
Using recruitment agencies
When it comes to recruitment agencies, the percentage of UK businesses that utilize them is increasing: 40% currently use a combination of in-house and outsourced methods (CIPD 2015).
A competent recruiter is motivated (since they’re paid on commission), has recruitment skills and expertise that you don’t have, and has access to a vast network of possible applicants. Using a recruiter is expensive, but it frees up your time to do what you do best.
Use a recruiter who knows your industry and has contacts in it for the greatest results.
How do I activate my insurance agent?
The Insurer appoints an Insurance Agent:
- An applicant for appointment as an Insurer’s Insurance Agent must submit an application in Form I-A to the Insurer’s Designated Official.
- On receipt of the application, the insurer’s Designated Official shall satisfy himself that the applicant:-
How do I advertise my health insurance?
Your customers are just like you when it comes to using the internet. When people are looking for insurance, a good online presence helps keep your business at the top of their minds. The following are some of your online options:
- Creating a website for an agency. It’s essential to have a well-designed website with an easy-to-remember URL. Inquire with your clients about linking their commercial websites to yours. It gives both of you the chance to get references.
- It’s time to become mobile. Smartphones are used for more than just browsing the web; they are also used to make purchases and conduct business. Remember to make your website mobile-friendly as well.
- Making use of social media. LinkedIn is very useful for commercial customer prospecting.
- Creating slideshows, podcasts, and webinars for the web. These low-cost web tools can help you educate your customers about the things you provide.
- Buying advertising on the internet. There is plenty of advertising space on the internet. You may sponsor a website, make a banner, or use a pay-per-click advertisement. However, try to prevent pop-up advertising and other annoyances.
Your online presence can’t be treated as an afterthought. Customers demand a certain level of online professionalism, especially now that almost all firms are online.