Agents First! - August 2015

“What You Don’t Know Can’t Help You!” … Eddie K. Emmett, Editor / Publisher

How to Hire the Best Insurance Salespeople: 25 Hiring Tips Written by John F. Carroll

In This Edition

They’re not all good conversationalists.

How to Hire the Best Insurance Salespeople: 25 Hiring Tips ...... 1

They’re not all organized, interesting, or hard-working.

Keep More Commissions with Tax Breaks ................................ 14

They’re not all well-written, well-read, well-mannered or wellspoken.

Member Benefits ...................... 15

They’re not even all wellgroomed.

Free YouTube Marketing Guide ................................................... 15

But every rich insurance agent I’ve ever met was great at finding, hiring, and keeping great employees.

Free Mini-Mobile Site ............... 15 Free Video Creator Software ... 15 Free Video E-Mail Software ..... 15

I’d like you to be rich too.

Just because it's true in Texas doesn't make it true in Montana. ................................................... 22 The Free and Easy Way to Make Your Insurance Agency Facebook Page Cool and Engaging. .................................. 24

Do-It-Yourself Internet Marketing Save hundreds of dollars each year by following the Tips ‘Tools in the Members Only Section Only $99.00 per year

Join today at www.AgentsFirst.org Agents First!

I’ve worked with hundreds of ridiculously successful insurance agents.

I’ve also worked with lots of bad ones.

For years, I struggled to find one unifying characteristic – one trait or skill that was shared by all the successful agents and absent in the others.

Every time I thought I found it I’d meet another agent who, by his success or failure, would disprove my latest theory.

Until I finally figured it out…

Every successful insurance agent is not a great marketer.

Page 1 of 24

That’s why I put together 25 of my favorite tips for helping agents hire the best producers on planet earth.

1) Hire Young for Affordable Superstars Someone fresh out of school or just entering the job market is an obvious gamble, but it might be the only way to get a high-quality employee at an affordable cost.

Face it, most of the top-tier licensed and experienced producers are either happy where they are, too expensive for you, or they’ve already become an agent themselves.

If you can’t afford the sales rock star with a proven track-record you might have to build them yourself.

Continued on page 2 August 2015

25 Hiring Tips

3) Don’t Hire for a License

Look for someone you could see owning their own agency in 7-10 years.

The biggest mistake I’ve seen agents make is limiting their employee candidate pool down to only those who are already licensed.

That’s plenty of time for you to make a lot of money getting him or her ready.

That means 99% of all great employees are off the table for you.

Continued from page 1

You shouldn’t need to pay someone to go to insurance school for 2 weeks. Today, you can study for licensing exams at home on your own time and if someone is really motivated they’ll be able to pass the test on their own.

2) The Best Sales Personality is Not What You Think

4) Hire Close to the Agency When deciding who to hire, one thing you might overlook is how far someone needs to commute to get to your agency.

The gregarious and extroverted personality most people think is ideal for selling insurance is not.

Based on some cool research by Adam Grant of the University of Pennsylvania (only geniuses go there), salespeople that fall in the middle of the extraversion scale are the most successful.

It still pays to know lots of people, but today’s consumer wants to work with someone who will listen and respond to their concerns instead of someone who can’t wait for their next turn to talk.

Agents First!

If they live 45 minutes away: 1. They won’t know as many local people, who are probably the best prospects.

2. They’ll be less likely to work a local community event.

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3.

They’ll be less likely to stay late to close a sale.

Continued on page 4 August 2015

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August 2015

25 Hiring Tips

2. Or, are they really good at making up believable answers when they don’t have a good one?

Continued from page 2

Either way, a good salesperson will shine through this question and a wannabe will fumble miserably.

4. They’ll need more money to pay for the extra gas and vehicle maintenance.

If you don’t believe me, ask people you already know!

5. They’ll be more likely to miss work because of weather.

6.

They’ll be more stressed.

7. They’ll be more likely to look for a job closer to home.

8.

They’ll be more likely to leave you.

It’s not all gloom and doom, but it’s worth considering.

5) Try Before You Buy Bringing on a new employee is a HUGE commitment.

It’s such a gigantic decision that I seriously doubt most agents’ ability to make the right choice after only a couple interviews. Plus, everybody acts different on a job interview and for the first few months at a new job.

Before making a full-time hire, bring people on for a temporary project, or pay them as an independent contractor.

At the beginning they’ll work hard to impress you and you can always compare their results from that time period to future production to be sure they’re always pushing hard.

6) Ask My Favorite Interview Question “What’s the last sales or self-improvement book you read?”

I love this question because it tells you one of two things:

7) Pay as Close to 100% Commission as Possible Yes, it’s hard to attract people with a 100% commission pay structure, but somehow it worked for you, right?

Even if you need to inflate commissions to levels higher than what you’re making, the closer you can tie your producer’s pay to their production the better you’ll both be.

And if a prospective salesperson is terrified of a commission-reliant paycheck, you might be talking to the wrong person.

Continued on page 6

1. Is the prospect actually interested in being successful and willing to do something about it?

Agents First!

Page 4 of 24

August 2015

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25 Hiring Tips

9) Beware Producers Who Ask for More Base and Less Commission

Continued from page 4 8) Match Your Producers’ Commission Structure to Yours If selling a certain policy makes you three times the commission as another, make sure your producers get paid three times as much too.

Generally speaking, the higher the commissions the harder the sale and the lower the easier.

If you don’t pay more for the harder sales your producers are going to naturally go after the less profitable (and easier to sell) business.

Make sure you’re all on the same page going after the same goals.

If you really want to be successful in this business, you’re going to need to have superstar salespeople on your team.

Superstars don’t ask for more cushion and less opportunity. They want the opposite.

When someone negotiates for a higher base salary I recommend countering with a lower base and much higher commissions.

A sales rock star will take it. A loafer will go somewhere else.

10) Be on the Lookout – Everywhere A job interview is a horrible place to determine whether someone is a good employee.

If you really want the truth, you have to see them in action while they’re working. That’s why it’s easy to identify great employees that you encounter while they’re working at their job!

I know one very successful agent who gets all his producers from fast food restaurants!

He figures if they can stand on their feet all day, deal with rude customers beside a team of poor employees and maintain a positive contagious attitude they’d make great additions to his team.

Could your current producers do it?

Continued on page 8

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August 2015

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August 2015

12) Beware the Agency Jumpers

25 Hiring Tips

If you’re actively looking to hire an insurance producer, you’re sure to run into plenty of what I call, “agency jumpers”.

Continued from page 4 11) Hire Part-Timers Working Somewhere Else If you’re looking to get some more action into the agency, consider bringing on part time employees that are currently working somewhere else but want to make some side money.

You no longer need to leave work for two weeks to attend a licensing class. In most states you can study online to earn your license in your spare time.

You’ll recognize them because their resume has 5 different agencies in the past 3 years.

They’re usually very good at interviewing and always have valid explanations for the history but it’s always the same story: First, they work very well for 3-4 months.

It helps if they have a related job like a real estate broker or an accountant, but anyone willing to pass the test on their own and learn your system can be selling for you on the nights and weekends.

If you had a team of 6 people who could each bring in 3-4 policies a month for your agency that would be an extra 250 policies this year!

Then they start getting bored, surf the internet more, and start openly disagreeing with the way you run your business.

At 7 months they spend most of their time looking for a new job until they do it all again.

13) Ask Everyone You Know If you’re in the market for a great employee, make sure everyone knows about it.

Referrals generally result in the best hires because people won’t usually recommend a bad applicant. You can also use the referring person as a filter if you frame the situation properly.

Don’t say, “I’m looking to hire someone, do you know anyone that needs a job?”

Continued on page 10

Agents First!

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August 2015

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16) Always Be Hiring

25 Hiring Tips Continued from page 8 Instead say something like this, “I’m looking for a hard worker that can learn fast and wants a career, not just a job. If you know anyone with a lot of ambition let me know.”

Even if you already have more employees than you can handle, you can always take someone on at 100% commission.

Continued on page 12

14) Hire Locals

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Whether they were the class president or least popular kid in school doesn’t matter, if you’re choosing between someone born and raised in your community and a transplant, hire the local.

Whoever knows the most people will, by default, sell the most insurance.

This always becomes painfully obvious to me when I visit my hometown in Syracuse, NY and can’t go to the mall, out to eat, or pump gas without running into someone I grew up with.

And with social media today, people are even more connected to their high school classmates than ever before.

15) Craigslist Ads Are Free Unless you live in a few major markets, you can post job ads to Craigslist for free.

There’s no harm other than the time it takes you or your office manager to post an ad every week or two.

Even if you’re not actively hiring you can build up a list of strong prospects and can always offer 100% commission jobs to the right candidates.

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Agents First!

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25 Hiring Tips Continued from page 10 And who knows, if you’re always looking for new employees you might stumble into greatness at a time you wouldn’t have expected it.

Put a sign in your office somewhere visible asking for only the most honest, customer-focused, and hardworking applicants.

As an added benefit, customers who see this will have a higher regard for your current employees.

At some point in the interview process, tell the applicant you have doubts about whether they fully have what it takes to be successful. You’re basically saying “no” but in a polite way that leaves the door open for them to overcome your objection.

Some agents like this idea because it identifies the ability to overcome objections but I believe there is an even larger benefit.

By putting applicants in a position where the job is taken away from them you’ll get a true glimpse into how badly they want it.

If someone’s just looking for a job they’ll accept your opinion. If they’re starving for your opportunity they’re not going to let it slip through their fingers.

17) You’re Not Buying, You’re Selling

And when you get an applicant to sell themselves into the position they’re more likely to be successful later on.

19) Test Computer Skills FACT #1: A lack of basic computer skills like typing, using a spreadsheet, finding information on a webpage, and using email is a major handicap to being a successful insurance producer.

FACT #2: Computer skills are like STDs – You can’t tell who has them just by looking… or even asking!

I’ve worked with so many agents who fell in love with a new employee only to find out afterward that even the simplest tasks took hours because of technical ineptitude.

I’ve watched a lot of insurance agents interview potential employees with the completely wrong attitude.

Most agents think it’s the applicant’s job to sell themselves to the agent and the agent’s job to screen out all the weak people.

This is wrong.

The best producers don’t need to put on a show to win you over. The producers you need can walk into a room and everybody knows it.

Create a basic test that includes recreating a word document, a simple spreadsheet, and finding answers to questions from a website. You could create something for this in 15 minutes and it could save you a HUGE mistake.

And just because you suck at computers don’t give potential applicants a break. More people who can’t open an email attachment will only amplify your weakness.

20) Look for Non-Insurance Salespeople

Great producers choose who they will sell for and it’s your job to make them want to choose you!

When you’re talking to the right applicant, you’ll be the salesman and they’ll be the buyer. If it’s the other way around, you’re talking to the wrong person.

I’m sorry if that interferes with the enjoyment of crossing your arms, furrowing your brow, and watching people sweat under pressure.

18) Tell Them No This interview technique comes from a book I listened to a few years back called The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes. (It’s a decent book and there are some good ideas in there about hiring too.)

Agents First!

There are plenty of very talented people selling knives, consumer electronics, and used cars that could be great additions to your agency.

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Continued on page 14

August 2015

Don’t get me wrong, they might be great. But there’s a decent chance their main priority is moving and your job is just their safety net.

25 Hiring Tips Continued from page 12

As soon as they get to town the real job search will begin, on your dime!

Pay attention to people you interact with in other sales positions like the guy at Jiffy Lube that upsells synthetic oil and transmission flushes.

25) Ask for the Stars in Job Postings

There are top-tier, proven salespeople that would blossom in your agency and view it as the opportunity of a lifetime.

21) Multilingual Is Usually Good Producers who can speak a second or third language can be a real benefit to the agency.

Customers who speak in a foreign language with your staff are often more loyal and can be better referral sources if there’s a large enough group of other people from their culture in your community.

If you advertise a job as $25,000/year plus commission you’re going to get applicants who are worth $28,000.

Ask for hard-working applicants willing to do what it takes to make $80,000 and you’ll get a whole different group of people.

A better group.

Use your advertisement to weed out the mediocre.

Your hiring decision is too important to waste time on them.

And if you’re not hiring now…

Take the good with the bad though.

But you know…

Building your business on customers that speak a language you can’t speak requires a good amount of trust. You won’t always know what your producers are saying and if they leave, your business will soon leave too.

Another agent that’s hiring, A sales manager who helps agents hire, Someone looking for a job in insurance,

22) Use LinkedIn to Announce You’re Hiring

Or anyone else who may be interested,

Just like Craigslist, posting an available job position on LinkedIn is free and you never know what may come of it.

Would you do me a favor and send them a link to this article?

If nothing else, announcing from time to time that you’re hiring on LinkedIn just makes you look successful.

And if you find this resource valuable please click “Like” so I can continue to gauge what content my readers most appreciate.

People may be more likely to forward information about a job opening from within LinkedIn than anywhere else simply because it’s the professional social network.

Thanks and GOOD LUCK! - See more at: http://www.insurancesplash.com

23) Research Applicants on Social Media It’s usually pretty easy to find someone on Facebook just by typing into Google, “Facebook Firstname Lastname”. If that doesn’t work, add the city and/or state.

Not only do you get a clearer idea of who they are as a person, you can also see how many friends they have.

The average person has around 150 Facebook friends. A well connected person would probably have more than that, right?

Just realized I have fewer than 150 friends… What a Loser!

24) Watch Out for Movers I’m not sure it’s all that prevalent, but I’ll mention it because I’ve seen it happen a few times.

If someone from far away is moving to your area and looking for a job be careful.

Agents First!

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August 2015

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August 2015

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES: THE FALLOUT FROM BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE

However, as I mentioned, this is so last century. It was in the year 2000 that Trip Advisor began serving up travel related content and reviews on the Internet. Not that many years later, in 2004, Yelp was born. These were early forms of social media. In the past three to five years the concept of socializing reviews of companies, their products and their services, has become common.

Which leads us to the concept of unintended consequences.

The stats on complaining customers just mentioned are no longer valid. With Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites, the customer’s voice is louder than ever. Customers turn to the social channels to broadcast their likes and, unfortunately, their dislikes to their connections.

Ultimately, that could be millions of people. The unintended consequence of not managing your customer’s experience can turn into much more than one or even a few lost customers.

So, consider this a reminder or a wake-up call to manage each and every customer as if they will publicly review you. One simple technique is to ask yourself one of my favorite questions, which ties into building repeat business: Is the interaction that I’m having with the customer right now good enough get the customer to come back and do business with us the next time they need what we do or sell?

If the answer is YES, then you don’t have to worry about any negative unintended consequences.

Someone in your organization irritated your customer. The customer left angry or upset. Maybe the customer was less than friendly and was difficult. Maybe the customer was too demanding or had unrealistic expectations. Whatever the reason, it doesn’t matter.

The customer left unhappy.

Copyright ©MMXV, Shep Hyken – www.Hyken.com

Someone might say, “Well, it was just one customer.”

Well that way of thinking is so last century!

First, do you really want to lose a customer? And, if you did, is just one customer an acceptable loss? But it hardly ever turns out that way. It used to be, depending on what statistics you looked at, that the average customer who was unhappy might tell eight to twelve people about the negative experience. That’s bad news, but there is even worse news. 13% of unhappy customers would tell 20 or more. Now, maybe you can afford to lose one customer, although I’ll argue that you really shouldn’t think that way. But, are you willing to part with the eight or more customers that may stop doing business or choose not to try you because of one customer’s amplified message of dissatisfaction? I don’t think so.

Agents First!

Shep Hyken, CSP, CPAE is a customer service expert, hall-of-fame speaker and New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. He works with organizations to build loyal relationships with their customers and employees. He is also the creator of The Customer Focus, a customer service training program that helps organizations develop a customer service culture and loyalty mindset. For more information contact (314) 692-2200 or www.Hyken.com

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August 2015

4 sales pitches every insurance agent should know

By James Dougherty, CIC The sales approach can't be limited to one style, one pitch. A producer has to adapt to the client's needs to be successful.…Read more

Insurer May Rescind Policy from Inception if Issued Based On False Answers to Insurance Application Questions

www.AgentsFirst.org

Labor Department’s 6-Part Test for Classifying Employees, Independent Contractors The issue of employee or independent contractor has been the root cause of many problems (and probably some additional premiums on some WC policies) over the years. There is no doubt that it has also found its way into an E&O claim from time to time.

The attached well done article that appeared on insurancejournal.com on July 16th should serve as a great resource for agents and their customers on this key issue.

Continue Reading Labor Department’s 6-Part Test for Classifying Employees, Independent Contractors

As hopefully every agent realizes, the answers to the various questions on applications are extremely important. When those answers are not correct, the insurer has some options that can be very worrisome for agents and clients alike.

The attached article written by Richard B. Wolf (a partner in the Los Angeles office of the nationwide law firm of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP) addresses many interesting perspectives that agents need to clearly and totally understand.

Continue Reading Insurer May Rescind Policy from Inception if Issued Based On False Answers to Insurance Application Questions

How to do a background check on an employee, tenant, or just the person next door

Join today at www.AgentsFirst.org

Agents First!

It's great to hire new employees and expand your business, but it can be a nightmare if you hire the wrong person. What if they have a drug problem, recent felony or bench warrant? (Yes, I've had to turn down potential employees for all these reasons!)

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August 2015

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Policy checking: an important agency responsibility If an agency were to list all of the various duties that they need to perform and then rank them, I would be very curious where on the list “policy checking” would be. My gut feeling is that this task would be in the bottom third. In some agencies, I am not sure that policy checking would even appear on the list.

There are a few thoughts on why this task does not get the attention it deserves: - Possibly, there is a perspective that the policies are perfect so why bother checking them. Although many agencies feel that the quality of the policy issuance has improved, these same agencies will tell you that mistakes are occurring and that some of the mistakes are extremely significant. Issues like locations or vehicles being left off, or incorrect named insureds have occurred.

- Possibly, some may believe that if the company made the mistake, then at the end of the day, the company is responsible. One could contend that this is a valid position for year 1 but not after that.

- Possibly, there is the position that it is up to the customer to catch the error and advise the agency.

While there is a duty in most states for the customer to read the policy, I am not sure to what degree courts will make the customer responsible for not catching a mistake in the policy.

When some agencies get really backed up in their policy checking, I have seen where the policies get mailed with a letter that states something to the effect of “Here is your policy. Please understand that we have not checked it”. Personally, I would be embarrassed to send a note like this.

Agents need to understand that not only is policy checking very important, it is also appropriate that it be done in a prompt manner and the policy should not be mailed until it has been checked.

There are a variety of approaches to note in the file that the policy has been checked. Some agencies use a checklist that is completed and saved in the system while I have seen others that use a “policy checked” stamp that indicates who checked it and when. Simply noting in the system with some type of activity code that the policy was checked is okay but not preferable to either of the two options just mentioned.

More E&O Tips at http://www.agentseotips.com

Agents First!

Do the producers know what is expected of them?

Often in my travels to many of the great agencies in the United States, I have the opportunity to sit down with the agency staff, consisting of the internal support staff, the producers and the agency management.

As we talk thru the issues that play a key role in the E&O culture of the agency, it is common to find that there are some various procedures and practices that producers are not following. This can involve initiatives such as the effective use of exposure analysis checklists, the documentation of producer / client discussions, the use of a standard proposal template, the review of policies, etc. All of these, and there are others, are extremely important for an agency to make some significant strides to reducing the E&O exposure of an agency.

Taking a step back, when one reviews the E&O claim frequency of some of the leading E&O carriers, typically year after year, producers are generating over half of all E&O claims. In other words, when a client takes some form of legal action against an agency, over half of the time, the client is alleging that the producer failed in their duties to the client. This is certainly not meant as a knock against producers. In some respects, it shows how important the producer is in the agency’s success.

While not all agencies have a procedures manual, most have established procedures for the numerous tasks that need to be performed. These documented procedures typically highlight who is to perform what procedure and when that procedure is to be performed.

In many cases, the procedures involve multiple levels within the agency. If these procedures are not documented, they should be!

I recently encountered a situation where the agency support staffs were very frustrated with the production side of the house (how rare that is!!). The agency had adopted a new procedure and it appeared that the support staff was doing their part but when it got to the producers, the process fell apart. Sometimes, this can be due to the producer not wanting to perform the task or not understanding the task, etc. In this situation, when management was asked how they communicated the new procedures for the staff, it was clear that the support staff had received their training but after further questioning, it was then clear to all that communication of the new procedure to the producers was never conducted. Obviously, it is hard to hold someone responsible for following a procedure if they were not aware of it.

This could be an isolated situation and by no means am I giving producers a “Get out of Jail free” card. Many of the great agencies that I interact with are great because everyone knows the procedures and how their role is key to the overall success of the procedure and the agency as a whole.

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August 2015

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Go to www.EandOQuote.com for more information

The court case cited in this IN ACTION is from Texas. It has a very specific rule about intoxication in the workplace. An employee who is intoxicated is not eligible for benefits. The argument in this case was that the employee may have had

If you have the knowledge to see the problem, you will also have the ability to discover the solution.

traces of cocaine in his body at the time of the accident, but

The Producer Online IN ACTION is a monthly reminder of how you can turn the knowledge gained from The Producer Online into powerful sales opportunities.

use vary by state and it is very important that insureds

Ricardo and Victor sustained serious injuries following an electrical explosion at work. Victor received workers compensation benefits but Ricardo’s benefits were denied because traces of cocaine were found in his system.

Click here to review the PF&M analysis of the Workers

there was no outward indication that he was actually intoxicated. The laws about intoxication and drug and alcohol understand that coverage or lack of coverage that may apply in one state may not apply in theirs.

Compensation and Employers Liability Insurance Policy.

Who is abusing?

According to testimony in this case, Ricardo used the drug on

Yes to drugs. No to impairment

a Tuesday and the accident occurred on Friday. Ricardo did not act or appear to be intoxicated, according to the various witnesses. Many individuals who use drugs are able to mask signs of intoxication. Many employers are now turning to outside firms to help them determine which of their employees are currently using drugs. However, and even more importantly, they are attempting to screen prospective employees so they do not hire any that may abuse drugs.

Ricardo and Victor were both injured when an electrical

Click here for an article form Rough Notes Magazine that

explosion occurred. Both were taken to the hospital and

discusses pre-screening methods to prevent hiring problem

treated. However, Ricardo was denied workers compensation

employees.

benefits because the hospital found evidence of cocaine use during a routine urinalysis it conducted in conjunction with his treatment.

Click here to see how the courts reacted to the insurance company's denial.

Just because it's true in Texas doesn't make it true in Montana.

How safe is your workplace?

The employer is responsible for worker safety on the premises and at job sites. Effective pre-screening and follow-up drug testing can help keep employees safe. However, while drug use is a safety concern, there are many other areas that employers should consider.

Click here for a series of emarketing articles you could put on your website or include in your newsletter to encourage your clients to take some simple steps to protect their employees.

Agents First!

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August 2015

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Agents First!

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August 2015