AIANC's STREET WISE - August 2015

More Tips & “How-To” videos at www.AllianceInsuranceAgentsNC.com

STREET WISE Alliance of Insurance Agents of NC

How to Hire the Best Insurance Salespeople: 25 Hiring Tips Written by John F. Carroll Every successful insurance agent is not a great marketer.

They’re not all good conversationalists. They’re not all organized, interesting, or hardworking. They’re not all wellwritten, well-read, well-mannered or well-spoken.

In This Edition How to Hire the Best Insurance Salespeople: 25 Hiring Tips ...... 1 Keep More Commissions with Tax Breaks ................................ 16

They’re not even all wellgroomed.

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

VALUATION .............................. 18 Does your customer know whether the WC policy is subject to audit? ...................... 20

I’d like you to be rich too.

Beware of that cashier's check! ................................................... 22

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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…

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

AIANC’s STREET WISE

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August 2015

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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.

25 Hiring Tips Continued from page 1

3) Don’t Hire for a License

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

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

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

2) The Best Sales Personality is Not What You Think

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

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.

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

4) Hire Close to the Agency

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.

AIANC’s STREET WISE

When deciding who to hire, one thing you might overlook is how far someone needs to commute to get to your agency.

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Continued on page 4 August 2015

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August 2015

More Tips & “How-To” videos at www.AllianceInsuranceAgentsNC.com 4. They’ll need more money to pay for the extra gas and vehicle maintenance.

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.

25 Hiring Tips

Continued on page 6

Continued from page 2 If they live 45 minutes away: 1. They won’t know as many local people, who are probably the best prospects.

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

3.

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

AIANC’s STREET WISE

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25 Hiring Tips

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?

Continued from page 4 6) Ask My Favorite Interview Question

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.

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.

“What’s the last sales or self-improvement book you read?”

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.

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

Continued on page 7

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

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

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

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AIANC’s STREET WISE

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August 2015

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More Tips & “How-To” videos at www.AllianceInsuranceAgentsNC.com 25 Hiring Tips

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

Continued from page 6 9) Beware Producers Who Ask for More Base and Less Commission If you really want to be successful in this business, you’re going to need to have superstar salespeople on your team.

Could your current producers do it?

11) Hire Part-Timers Working Somewhere Else

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!

AIANC’s STREET WISE

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.

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.

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!

Continued on page 10

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August 2015

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25 Hiring Tips

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

Continued from page 8

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?”

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.”

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

14) Hire Locals

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:

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.

First, they work very well for 3-4 months.

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.

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.

Continued on page 12

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August 2015

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More Tips & “How-To” videos at www.AllianceInsuranceAgentsNC.com Even if you already have more employees than you can handle, you can always take someone on at 100% commission.

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 hard-working applicants.

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

17) You’re Not Buying, You’re Selling 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.

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

25 Hiring Tips

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.

Continued from page 6 15) Craigslist Ads Are Free Unless you live in a few major markets, you can post job ads to Craigslist for free.

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

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.

I’m not a fan of scaring people to increase output, but it’ll also keep your current staff on their toes if they know there’s always someone waiting on the bench ready to play.

16) Always Be Hiring Continued on page 13 AIANC’s STREET WISE

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August 2015

More Tips & “How-To” videos at www.AllianceInsuranceAgentsNC.com 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.

25 Hiring Tips Continued from page 12 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.)

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

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.

Continued on page 14

AIANC’s STREET WISE

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August 2015

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25 Hiring Tips

20) Look for Non-Insurance Salespeople

Continued from page 13 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.

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.

AIANC’s STREET WISE

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

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

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

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Continued on page 16 August 2015

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25 Hiring Tips

25) Ask for the Stars in Job Postings

Continued from page 14

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

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.

Take the good with the bad though.

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.

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.

And if you’re not hiring now…

But you know…

Another agent that’s hiring, A sales manager who helps agents hire,

22) Use LinkedIn to Announce You’re Hiring

Someone looking for a job in insurance,

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

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

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.

Or anyone else who may be interested, Would you do me a favor and send them a link to this article?

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

Thanks and GOOD LUCK!

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!

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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.

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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.

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AIANC’s STREET WISE

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August 2015

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Valuation

By Al Diamond When buying or selling an agency, is the value based on what the agency made in the past or what it will earn in the future?

Agency Consulting Group, Inc. is one of the nation’s leaders for performing valuation for agencies annually.

The majority of agency valuation is for internal purposes such as for estate planning, partnership stock values, ESOP, etc., but many are for potential transactions from sales to mergers and to purchases and other forms of association.

A recent call illustrated the common fallacy attached to agency valuation.

An agency owner was interested in acquiring another agency and asked Agency Consulting to perform an agency valuation prior to the purchase. The target agency was generating around $500,000 in total revenues, but it was growing at 10% /yr. and was dropping several hundred thousand dollars a year to the profit line. They were very efficient and their market didn’t require a host of employees. The owner was going to stay on to manage the agency for five more years before his retirement but wanted to cash out now for personal reasons.

As you can imagine, the value of the agency was relatively high, much more than the proverbial “multiple” to which so many agents still tie themselves. The buyer called me asking why the value was so much higher than his expected multiple of last year’s revenue. I asked him the very question that I asked at the beginning of this article.

Did the buyer want to buy the agency’s history or its future earnings potential?

The answer, of course, was that the buyer wanted to buy future earnings.

We told the buyer that this agency would likely throw off more than $1.5 Million of value over the next five years, even with a 14% discount for risk factors associated with that particular agency. This means that the trend would have generated 14% more than our value estimate but we found sufficient risk factors associated with the agency to discount the value for our estimate.

The buyer was in shock that the value was so high again falling back on his favorite multiple “of something”.

So I turned the tables and asked the buyer, “If you owned this agency and someone wanted to buy it from you and you projected that you as the owner would take over $1.5 Million in earnings from the agency (after taxes) in the next five years, would you be concerned over the multiple that represented, or would you want to be paid in some degree what you would likely have made over a period of time as your asset value?”

When he thought about the situation from that viewpoint, the buyer admitted that he would expect a reasonable price equivalent to what he would make in the agency if he kept it. “So,” I asked, “ Wouldn’t it be logical to pay the seller a fair price for the agency, giving up some or all of the profits of the agency for a period of time (determined by the buyer) to purchase the agency, after which ALL profits would accrue to the new owner including the cost savings once the old owner retired?”

This put the question of Value vs. Multiples in perspective. You, too, can judge the value of any agency that you are considering buying or considering selling your own agency in the same way. It is of utmost fairness to identify the earnings (after taxes) that the seller would generate from operating his agency in the future AND the earnings that a buyer would generate from the agency if he were to purchase it. Somewhere between those two dollar amounts is the proper value of the agency in a sale.

Please reach out to us for our valuation service or, to conduct due diligence and assist the buyer and seller negotiate the price and terms of any transaction to the end result of a Win/Win situation.

So I proceeded to show the buyer how we project both income and expenses on a line-by-line basis based on the agency’s history and any changes that we know or suspect will occur once the transaction takes place.

Since there were none, the agency was going to continue to run as is with the same staff in the same place, just using the additional markets of the buyer, we were able to simply progress each line of income and expense based on the agency’s historical trend and contracts (leases, etc.) and form the projected profit stream of the agency against which we took the buyer’s tax liabilities.

AIANC’s STREET WISE

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August 2015

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Does your customer know whether the WC policy is subject to audit?

In the majority of E&O claims, the litigation is due to an underlying bodily injury or property damage claim that was not settled to the satisfaction of the customer.

However, there have been numerous E&O claims where the allegation deals with a premium issue. One of the more common involves workers compensation coverage and the issue of an audit premium adjustment.

Let’s take the scenario of the customer securing a WC policy. At the end of the policy term, the company audits the account and provides the customer with a bill for an additional premium based on the increase in payroll. What if the customer was not aware of the audit provision and the potential of an additional premium?

Quite possibly, the customer thought that the “initial” premium was the “final” premium. If this is the case, based on the size of the additional premium, there is certainly the possibility that the customer will sue the agent (E&O claim) claiming that they were not aware of the audit provision. Based on the specific facts of the case, a number of these E&O claims have resulted in a judgment against the agency.

If, at audit time, the auditor assigned feels that an incorrect classification was used and then subsequently assigns the payroll to a new classification (possibly with a higher rate), this could result in an additional premium.

Based on the size of the AP, the customer could bring some form of litigation against the agent for the amount of the AP. This is an area where proper use of an industry exposure analysis checklist could provide the agent with the resource to determine the proper code.

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

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So what should the agent do to minimize the potential of this scenario occurring in their agency?

The Independent Insurance Agent.

Essentially provide full disclosure. Agents should be sure to have discussion with customers on the premise of workers compensation and that the premium is based on specific payroll projections. Included within these discussions should include whether the policy is “subject to audit” and what will happen if the payrolls are higher / lower than initially projected. These discussions should obviously be well documented. In addition, any proposals / offerings of coverage should include statements detailing any audit provisions and when any additional premium payments will be due.

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$50.00

$250.00

Another situation that has occurred from time to time involves a misclassification of the payrolls. In other words, the agent “assigns” the WC code based on their knowledge of the account and their belief of which classification is proper.

AIANC’s STREET WISE

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HU

Questions? Contact Eddie K. Emmett at eddie@fyiexpress.com or (770) 312-2342.

UH

August 2015

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Go to www.EandOQuote.com for more information

More Tips & “How-To” videos at www.AllianceInsuranceAgentsNC.com The cashier check dilemma

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

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.

The cashier's check has always been considered different than a personal check but it really is not. The faith and trust in

The check looked good and the client looked reliable but within a few weeks, Mako had sustained a $175,000 loss because it trusted in a cashier’s check.

cashier's checks has allowed scam artist's to accomplish some of their best bait and switch cons. A person who would never trust a personal check will readily accept a cashier's check and

Beware of that cashier's check!

that is when the problems begin.

Click here for an article from PF&M that addresses counterfeit cashier's checks.

Past problems are even more of a problem today

A client scammed Mako by using two cashier's check and a fictitious workers compensation settlement. Mako received and deposited two different cashier's checks that it received from the plaintiff into its account. Mako then removed its 20% contingent fee and transferred the rest to the client's overseas bank account. Mako was quite surprised when both of the

Counterfeit cashier's checks are not a new phenomenon.

plaintiff's checks were returned for insufficient funds. Even

However, they continue to surprise those honest individuals

worse was when neither the plaintiff nor the client could be

who believe they are being cautious by requiring a cashier's

found. The worst jolt was when Mako's insurance company

check to aid in a transaction.

refused to compensate it for its $175,000 loss because of an Click here for a question and answer from a 1999 Rough Notes

exclusion in its professional liability policy.

Magazine. The scam looks very similar to the 2011 transaction, Click here to see how the courts reacted to the insurance

doesn't it?

company's denial.

Getting the news out Do you think any of your clients or prospects would be interested in this situation? Would it help them in their business and personal life to be more aware of potential scams that are geared to those who are actually very cautious?

Click here for an article in Business Building Letters that explains how to use newsletters and information gathered from sources, such as IN ACTION, to inform your clients and enhance your relationship.

AIANC’s STREET WISE

Page 22 of 24

August 2015

For 135 years Rough Notes has been dedicated to making you a better agent.

Become the coverage expert with the Producer Online-Plus Producer Online-Plus Includes Commercial Lines Risk Evaluation Survey Personal Lines Risk Evaluation Survey Policy Form & Manual Analysis Coverages Applicable The Insurance Marketplace Marketplace Cybercast

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More Tips & “How-To” videos at www.AllianceInsuranceAgentsNC.com

NC DOI News

July 31, 2015 -- Six Charged in Alleged Staged Accident in Wilson County RALEIGH -- —Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin today announced the arrest of three people in an alleged insurance fraud scheme involving a staged auto accident in Wilson County...

July 31, 2015 -- Goodwin Speaks Out Against North Carolina Fireworks Bill RALEIGH -- Insurance Commissioner and State Fire Marshal Wayne Goodwin urges state legislators and the public to oppose House Bill 367, which would legalize the use and sale of airborne consumer fireworks in North Carolina...

July 28, 2015 -- Woman Accused of Presenting False Documents RALEIGH -- Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin today announced the arrest of Drucilla Yuvonne Bell, 36, of 8764 Shaw Road, Kenly; she is charged with one count of obtaining property by false pretense...

July 24, 2015 -- Columbus County Woman Accused of Insurance Fraud RALEIGH -- Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin today announced the arrest of Shaquella Geathers, 28, of 35 Walters Trail, Whiteville; she is charged with one count each of insurance fraud and attempting to obtain property by false pretense...

July 20, 2015 -- Pender County Man Accused of Insurance Fraud RALEIGH -- Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin today announced the arrest of Jeffrey Wayne Brinkley, 45, of 3576 Watha Road, Willard...

July 7, 2015 -- Columbus County Woman Accused of Insurance Fraud RALEIGH -- Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin today announced the arrest of Tyisha Michelle Hemingway, 30, of 101 Brookberry Lane, Whiteville; she is charged with one count each of insurance fraud and attempting to obtain property by false pretenses...

Jr., 48, of 6301 Chadford Drive, Raleigh; he is charged with eight counts of insurance fraud...

Report Insurance Fraud If you have any questions about insurance fraud or would like to report suspected insurance fraud, please contact the North Carolina Department of Insurance's Criminal Investigations Division. The Division is headquartered in Raleigh, and we have investigators based throughout the state. We depend on citizens and industry representatives to report illegal and suspicious insurance-related activities. Tips can be reported anonymously.

You may report insurance fraud using any of the methods below Online Fraud Reporting System (OFRS) Phone: (919) 807-6840 or Toll-Free (888) 6807684 (NC Only) Fax: (919) 715-1156 Email: reportfraud@ncdoi.gov Additional Resources

July 1, 2015 -- Wake County Man Accused in String of Alleged Insurance Crimes RALEIGH -- Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin today announced the arrest of Howard Barrett Marshall, AIANC’s STREET WISE

Page 24 of 24

InsureU: Consumer information from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners Workers Compensation: The North Carolina Industrial Commission handles concerns about workers compensation claims. Agents and employees can call 800-688-8349.

August 2015