Last week I wrote an article (Home Sweet…Career) about how the commercial insurance broker career is attractive because a salesperson can (1) do it close to home, (2) be home most nights, (3) avoid road warrior drive time, and (4) never have to relocate.
The WHERE of this career should be a great “fit” for a new producer candidate.
WHERE should be one reason they choose this career.
WHERE needs to make sense for you, the commercial insurance broker hiring manager, too.
From the hiring manager side, here are 3 WHERE questions to ask a candidate to make sure they are a solid LOCATION fit for the commercial insurance producer career with your firm:
- Why does our firm’s location make sense for you to work long-term? Look for evidence that your firm’s location is HOME for the candidate. You don’t generally want to relocate someone into your market. Also find out if they harbor a strong desire to someday relocate outside of your market area. If a candidate’s roots are from outside of your area, you run the risk that they will someday move back home. We’ve seen that happen to clients and it hurts.
- Is our firm’s office a reasonable commute for you? Sure, a person may say they are willing to drive an hour-plus back-and-forth to your office — but why? Adding a long commute elevates the new producer’s failure risk. Even if the producer succeeds, they will eventually want to shorten their commute. So, you will have to plan to be flexible enough to accommodate a remote-based producer (which can work fine). Or you will need to be prepared to lose them to a competitor with an office much closer to where they live (which is painful).
- Describe your local personal/business network. This helps you figure out if a candidate has strong local roots that they can leverage as a producer for your firm. Bringing along a strong local network, centers of influence, and a starter prospect pipeline won’t guarantee a new producer’s success, but it sure can help shorten their time-to-productivity.
A great candidate understands that this career requires a long-term commitment.
Part of this commitment is location fit.
That their WHERE is a great match for your WHERE.
“We connect B2B sales talent and commercial insurance brokers.” Please let me know if I can help.
