A food service sales rep asked for advice on becoming a commercial insurance broker (producer). My advice is to follow this 3-step plan. (It pains me to admit this, but you don’t even need a recruiting firm to get into this great career — though we sure can be helpful.) Here’s the 3-step plan to… Continue Reading
Insurance Producers
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
Judging New Producers By Their Activity, Not Their Sales
Your new producer is 3 months – maybe even 6 months in — and hasn’t sold a new account. You may be experiencing early stage hiring remorse. (“Oh crap, why did I hire this producer who can’t sell business insurance?”) Before you jump to a conclusion that they’ve failed as a new insurance producer, step… Continue Reading
Your New Producer Started… Now What?
Here’s a scenario I see too often. An agent/broker makes a new sales hire and then throws a minimal amount of orientation and training support behind the new producer. Maybe enrolls them in an insurance carrier’s new producer school. Then hopes for the best to happen organically. As if your new producer will, through osmosis… Continue Reading
Family Feud: Insurance Edition
Name something a new commercial insurance producer NEVER says. Top 10 answers are on the board. Survey says… 1. “Getting started as commercial producer is way easier than I thought it would be.” 2. “It’s so easy to get appointments with business owners because they love to talk about insurance and meet with new insurance… Continue Reading