PERSONAL LINES SELLING

CHANGING TIMES REQUIRE CHANGES IN RECRUITING STYLES

More sophisticated hiring methods are needed
for today's multi-faceted multiline agency

By Troy Korsgaden

Principals must establish a deliberate recruitment
process in order to attract a front-line sales force.

As the insurance and financial services industry becomes more sophisticated, the multiline agency must go beyond simply hiring agents. It must create an agency team of licensed producers and sub-agents. As the "mom and pop" kind of agency grows, its backroom team also grows. At the same time, principals must establish a deliberate recruitment process in order to attract a front-line sales force as well. As every multiline agent/owner knows, there are only 24 hours in a day. You can see only so many people and maintain so many relationships. Once the foundation of your service team is put in place, you will want to replicate yourself as a producer many times over.

At our local insurance agency in Visalia, California, we apply our principles of helping companies in the area of recruiting full-time agents. The first part of the puzzle was creating departments of service specialists to provide expert and seamless service to our current and growing client base. Then we moved our sights on to recruiting individuals who would focus on the production of insurance and the deepening of client relationships, while helping us expand our existing customer base.

Following are the type of candidates you will want to look for:

1) Professionals who want more control of their time;

2) Individuals who want no limits on their income potential;

3) Candidates who understand the holistic approach to sales and relationship building;

4) People who want to own their own business within our business (sub-agent);

5) Individuals who are not afraid to knock on doors, but who also enjoy working from within our solid client base;

6) Candidates who are educated and/or sophisticated in today's ever-changing business environment;

7) Individuals who have a strong belief that value--not price clinches the deal;

8) Those who embrace technology and are willing to adapt to change.

You will want a written road map that details your recruiting goals and processes. Crossing your fingers and hoping that someone calls for an interview just won't work anymore. You need to see "x" numbers of people a day to interview so you can recruit the cream of the crop. You need to follow up with "x" numbers of candidates who fit your agency's success profile. You need to have a written goal of how many candidates you want to put into your operation at any given time. And perhaps most important of all, you need to share your vision for your agency's future and how the potential producers can be an integral part of that future.

Recent experience has taught us that most companies and agencies continue to use the wrong road map when recruiting the agent or sub-agent of the future. The old way of recruiting was to entice the candidate with the standard pitch: "You will have three to five years of hard work and very little pay. But hang in there and after that time you will bring home an above average income for the rest of your career in insurance and financial services." Wow! That's a real enticement into a new career.

Believe me, there is a better way. The new model for recruiting sub-agents and producers is more viable in today's business environment. You need to share your conviction that there is no glass ceiling on how much a candidate can earn from Day One. The key to success under the new model is demonstrating that the candidate can earn more at this agency than at his or her current professional job, while maintaining the lifestyle and family time that everyone has a right to expect. Set your sights--and theirs--higher.

Success in recruiting quality individuals will be in raising the bar of expectations as we move forward with the candidate. Then give them the tools and opportunity that this great business has to offer. You already have an established customer base. Yet the average penetration per household for most agencies is two product lines in each household. So the opportunity to fill more customer needs is wide open. There has never been a better time to enter into our profession. Now is the time to design a road map to recruit and multiply your multiline agency. *

The author

Twice named "Agent of the Year" from among 14,000 Farmers Insurance agents, Troy Korsgaden is an industry speaker, trainer and author. He has written Power Position Your Agency; A Guide to Insurance Agency Success and is co-authoring a soon-to-be published book about the agency distribution system. Also available from Troy Korsgaden Systems (TKS) is an audio tape set, "Building a Successful Insurance Agency: The 4 Essential Steps!" For more information, call TKS (800) 524-6390, fax the company (559) 625-4990, or
e-mail troy@tkinsurance.com. Visit the Web site at www.tksystems.org.