When hiring a new producer, I look for these 8 Key Success Criteria: Sales skills Drive to achieve Relationship skills Cognitive abilities Work ethic Verbal skills Career desires fit Compensation fit Randy Schwantz, the legendary Wedge innovator, published a list in his fine book “GRIT – Find, Hire and Develop Real Producers“: Able to deal… Continue Reading
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Failed Producer Chronicles
WHY do new producers fail? We dug into our autopsy archives (2 decades of new commercial producer recruiting). We found the distinct attributes of the new producers that quit or got fired are: We identified these 10 common failure personas. The weak prospector. Could not create 2-4 qualified new business discovery appointments per week. Weak… Continue Reading
Your New Producer Started… Now What?
We recommend hiring great Business-to-Business sales people from OUTSIDE insurance. Then, you support them with a complete new producer development program. A program geared to leverage the B2B sales skills and network that they bring. That emphasizes learning-by-doing. Focus your new producer on generating new business opportunities and working those early new business deals through… Continue Reading
Convenience vs. Long-term Choices
C-store food is a health menace. Some folks make career decisions that remind me of C-store late-night food choices. Driven by convenience and short-term needs. By desperation and bad-job-escapism. Versus long-term needs and career optimization. US unemployment rate stands at 4%. For college graduates it’s 2%. You’re a Business-to-Business (B2B) sales person with a college… Continue Reading
3 High Risk New Producer Hires
We recruit new sales people (producers) for commercial insurance agent/brokers. We expect every placement — 100% — will make it and become a successful producer. Yet our new producer success rate runs ~70%. (Turns out many things can go wrong “after the hire”.) Reagan Consulting’s industry study: 56% new producer success rate. A tad better… Continue Reading
