I love this business and I am doing o.k. as far as monthly sales go. I want to get another person selling for me and I have been trying to hire someone for the last 2 months and have gotten nowhere.
What do you do when your trying to find a new sales person? Do you prefer someone that is already licensed and has experience selling insurance? Or do you go for someone new that has no bad habits yet and is full of energy? Where do you look/post ads for new staff?
I have tried craigslist but not had much success. Thanks.
I love this business and I am doing o.k. as far as monthly sales go. I want to get another person selling for me and I have been trying to hire someone for the last 2 months and have gotten nowhere.
What do you do when your trying to find a new sales person? Do you prefer someone that is already licensed and has experience selling insurance? Or do you go for someone new that has no bad habits yet and is full of energy? Where do you look/post ads for new staff?
I have tried craigslist but not had much success. Thanks.
Gee I wished you hadn't said craigslist I just posted a couple of ads yesterday. It's hard to find new insurance sales people, but when I do I try to find someone new to the business or least someone who hasn't hit every agency just to get the first few months training salary and then move on to the next. I don't even bother with this type.
You might try to run your ad and mentioned hiring part time homemakers or housewifes and offer to pay for llicensing, you might get two or three. Good luck.
We have two or three telemarketing centers in our town. I have met a few people who work there and have thought that one might find out who the top producing people are in the center and see if you could recruit them. They may have no license but they are use to cold calling and selling. Just a thought. Has anyone ever tried this? You can also subscribe to something like Career Builder and call those people who have posted resumes who might seem to be a fit.
Of course, one could always do the fall back position and go to Walmart and recruit well dressed people as some MLM outfits have!
Of course, one could always do the fall back position and go to Walmart and recruit well dressed people as some MLM outfits have!
lol, I was just "recruited" last month by someone from world financial group at Wal-Mart. I was in the office supply section, wearing my shirt and tie when this guy comes up to me and says "you're dressed very nicely, what do you do for a living?"
I was actually thinking about going to Nordstroms or some local banks and trying to recruit people from those places.
Hey,
No matter who you hire, rookie or not, insurance sales comes down to training and leads.
I'm training an agency that was pretty successful with great exclusive leads. After four weeks of training (3 conference calls a week) they saw a 25% increase in sales. An agent went from a high of two sales in a week to 7 last week and as of yesterday he had 6 already this week.
Remember this: Good leads and bad training or good training and bad leads = failure
I post in my local newspaper on Sundays job wanted. Heres the part that I think allows me to recruit good prospects. I tell them the TRUTH about the business briefly. I'm not looking to throw people at the wall and see what sticks. I'm looking for people who want to engage in a lifestyle. A lifestyle that is commission based sales, where marketing is a must, and becoming a community icon is mandatory. And I never say "You can make a unlimited income!" I'll leave that for the Aflac's of the world. lol
The real issue is, even the candidates who truly believe they'll succeed don't know. This is not a corporate desk job and there's a lot of moving parts.
You could say that you won't bring anyone into the business who doesn't have any money. But then you'd miss people will a lot of drive and ambition to get back on their feet.
You hire fiancially secure people and you'll find those who "half-ass" it since they don't need a check next week.
I hate to say it comes down to mass hiring...but close. I do believe I read on other posts a while back about a test some agencies give? Anyone remembe the name of that test?
------------------------------------ Health Insurance Agents: Training, Support, Discounts, E&O for $440 www.ihiaa.com
My agency is still very small, I'm just looking for a part time person 3-6 or 3-7 pm. Would you pay for an aptitude test for a part time position like this. I have 2 colleges near my office and most of the people I interview are students that will probably leave my agency as soon as they graduate.
It really depends on what you are looking for. I wouldn't use it to hire a telemarketer, but if you want them to actually sell then it is a nobrainer... 1 extra deal pays for the test for 5 people
With the failure/washout rate for new agents being 98.87%...I don't think so.
Thats kinda why I worry about spending $100's of dollars. If such a high percentage of people that do this as a career dropout, the rate is probably even worse for someone that is just looking for a part time job. I know at my training in Chicago they mentioned that you should give tests like this.
I guess if I was looking for a full time person I would definitely want to use a test but where I'm only paying the person $600/month ($10/hr X 3 hrs/day) it doesn't seem to make sense for me. I can tell in their first month if they are gonna cut it or not and they know that if they don't hit their goals that they're done.
(This is a physical publication I have and don't have a scanner so I'll just highlight some of the article)
Article: "Agent Recruiting Process, Long, Painful, Necessary."
By Molly Greeley
"...Only 44% of insurance agents hired make it through their first year in the industry, according to a case study by LIMRA International, a company that helps agencies in the hiring process."
The really qualified candidates are too busy making sales, and will not spend time looking at Craigslist, Job Seeker Groups, or hanging out at Walmart.
These top producers are at Business to Business events, looking to expand their client base. They are networking at leads clubs, looking to expand their client base. They are unreachable, because they are using their time wisely, cultivating new business, while strengthening their existing business.
You're going about it the wrong way.
Go out into the business community, and ask, "Of all the people that call on you, who treats you most professionally, and who cares more about "you" the client, than about just making a sale?"
THAT'S where you'll find the true professionals. Get their names and numbers from these people, and call them.
Then, schedule a lunch with them, and make your presentation. If the opportunity is strong enough, they will be interested. Then, you can train them in the ways of selling insurance.
Finding & Hiring Good Sales People
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