The 16+ Secrets To Hiring Insurance Agents Who Will Actually Produce (+ 5 Mistakes To Avoid)

As an agency owner, your agents are the machine that fuels your business. Hiring great talent can propel your agency to the next level and generate income you can reinvest in your business as it grows.

On the other side of the coin, making a bad hire can be costly. You’ll lose time, effort, and more money than you’d think hiring someone who quits right away or taking a chance on a job candidate who doesn’t end up producing for you.

So what can you do to attract amazing producers? We have compiled advice from some of our most experienced, expert agents to bring you this guide on how to hire insurance agents even when it feels like the job market is stacked against you and you don’t have the time to look for the perfect candidate.

The tips below are just a taste of what these experts have to offer. Listen to the full webinar recordings from Carly Pickern, Rikka Brandon, and Vlad Cherchenko for even more great advice on hiring and retaining talent.

Use these 16 tips to hire insurance agents who will actually benefit your agency.

1. Embrace the fact that times are always changing.

The insurance landscape isn’t the same as it was just a handful of years ago. And the process of attracting, hiring, and retaining producers definitely isn’t the same. Chances are, it’ll look even more different five or ten years down the line.

“If we’re not understanding what’s happening in our industry and in our business and moving forward with it, we will get left behind,” says Carly Pickern, captive agent and CEO of Remote Labs. Her advice isn’t necessarily specific to one industry change; it’s more about the constant state of flux you can find yourself in as a business owner.

So what does embracing change mean for your agency? It could mean adopting new technology, hiring remote workers, or simply accepting the fact that you’ll probably need to increase the salaries you’re offering.

Regardless of what “change” looks like to you, Carly advises embracing it, lest you go the way of all the now-defunct businesses that have become cautionary tales over the years.

“Everybody has heard the story of Blockbuster so many times it’s a hard eye roll at this point,” Carly says. “But they resisted the streaming model that Netflix was advancing, and now the only Blockbuster you can visit is a museum. Meanwhile, Netflix embraced the new technology and evolved, and they continue to evolve now. They’re even creating their own content these days.”

If you feel a wave of change coming, it’s best to get out ahead of it and ride it rather than let it crash over your business and drag it under. Don’t be afraid to evolve!

2. Create a recruitment plan.

The success or failure of your recruitment campaign will depend on how well you plan it. A solid plan should include your reason for recruiting for the position(s), how you plan to recruit, the process, the timeline, and the budget. Keep track of key HR metrics to determine whether you have met your goals.

The next step in creating your recruitment plan is to consider how the new hire will help your insurance agency reach its objectives and how this fits in with your short- and long-term plans and goals.

Award-winning author and experienced recruiter Rikka Brandon says crafting your job duties carefully is one of the most important things you can do when you’re trying to hire new employees.

She recommends asking yourself, “What is this position really about? What will move the business forward?

“Even if you’re just replacing someone, really think about whether your business has changed. When the last person was hired you may have had three people and now you have ten. What you needed then might not be what you need now. Look at this as an opportunity to refine the role you’re looking to fill.”

Finally, you will need to decide where to advertise the position. Will you use your company website, job boards, social media, or your own network (or a combination of these)? The answer depends on several factors, including your budget, the competitiveness of the position, and your hiring goals.

3. Communicate job expectations clearly.

Once you have a solid recruitment plan, the next step is to write quality job descriptions. A well-written job description can attract top talent and help you weed out unqualified candidates.

To write an effective job description, start by clearly outlining the responsibilities and requirements of the position. Be specific about the skills and experience required and any certifications or licenses needed.

Use clear and engaging language, highlighting the benefits of working for your agency and the unique aspects of the position. Avoid using jargon or overly technical terms that may confuse potential candidates. According to Indeed, job seekers prefer shorter, more concise (and less overwhelming) job posts by a strong margin.

Make sure to proofread your job description carefully for any errors or typos. A poorly written job description can turn off even the most qualified candidates, so take the time to get it right.

And perhaps most importantly, be honest about what the job will entail.

Rikka says, “Imagine if you’re interviewing a salesperson and you tell them, ‘ We’re going to need you to make 50 outbound calls per day. How does that feel to you?’ And you’ll hear them say, ‘Oh. Every day. So like 250 calls per week?’ or ‘Oh, no problem. I was used to making 70.’

The point is: Be clear about what is needed to succeed. When you talk about these expectations, you’re doing your candidates a favor. You’re telling them, ‘Hey, I want you to thrive in this role and this is what it takes. And if you don’t want to do this, this probably isn’t the right role for you.’

Be clear about what is needed to succeed. When you talk about these expectations, you’re doing your candidates a favor.

In fact, Rikka emphasizes the importance of nailing down the exact job details before you even think about posting the position or conducting an interview: “You can dramatically change your results and make your life as a manager so much easier. When we set and communicate clear expectations before we hire anyone, we’re saving ourselves a huge amount of heartache and reducing the number of bad hires tenfold.”

Similarly, Vlad explains the specifics of what you should look for in an optimal sales producer: “Your expectations need to be quantifiable. There needs to be a way for the team member to know if they hit your metrics. You have to have a very specific number that you can give them.”

Vlad’s “scorecard” for finding the perfect candidate lists “Acquire 20 new households” and “Establish two new referral partnerships” as good starting places for your monthly goals.

4. Offer competitive compensation.

There’s no getting around it: Competitive compensation attracts top talent. For agency owners who feel their finances are already stretched thin enough, this news isn’t exactly comforting.

While $15 to $16 per hour has historically been considered adequate compensation for staff members just starting out, this is unfortunately not the case anymore in many parts of the United States. A few years ago this number would have sufficed in most markets but conditions have changed rapidly.

You might be tempted to offset a lower base pay rate with promises of high commission bonuses (like every other agency claims), but this won’t always attract the talent you think it will. Candidates are typically hearing the same thing from all commission-based employers.

When in doubt, research salaries for comparable positions in your area, or reach out to a recruiter for help building a desirable compensation package. If you’re really looking to attract top tier talent, it does help to offer more than the industry average.

5. Structure compensation packages with stability in mind.

As you plan your job listing, think carefully about how you want to structure your compensation. As we just discussed, you’ll need to offer enough money to keep qualified candidates, but how you offer that money can be just as important.

Let’s say, for instance, a candidate comes across two job posts for very similar positions.

One offers $15 to $16 per hour as a base rate but has the potential for “generous” commission, up to a possible $100,000 per year. The other job offers a borderline livable wage at $20 per hour as a base rate, but has the opportunity to earn $75,000 per year with commission. Most candidates in a tough economy will choose the latter “stable” second position.

So agents' options are to either A) keep trudging through the slim pool to find a strong candidate who hasn’t quite found their self worth or purpose yet or B) to attract a larger number of people who are looking for a stable salary. Keep in mind—the more time that passes with an unfilled position, the more money the agency will lose.

Many agents worry about candidates being complacent on that borderline livable wage. Will the new hire work hard to earn additional commissions?

These agents need to be in the mindset of “quick to hire, quick to fire.” If someone is eating up your base and not producing for the agency, your options are to keep reinvesting your resources in their training or to let them go.

Here is the simple math: If you’re an agent offering $30,000 annually, but you can find a more quality and experienced person with an annual salary of $40,000, the difference is $10,000 annually which equates to $800 per month, or $200 per week.

When do you know if someone isn’t going to work out? Two weeks? Three weeks? A month…? Most agents tell us they know in a month or less. The true question is: In these trying times is $800 (or less!) an investment worthy of fishing out higher quality candidates?

Note that this preferred pay structure is very different from how it used to be. Traditionally, insurance agencies offered lower base rates and higher commission rates that incentivized agents to work hard to make sales.

Today, the job market is so tough, many companies have flipped that model on its head; now candidates want to be paid just for showing up. It’s not right or wrong, it’s just the way it is.

While it may be tempting to stick with your tried-and-true commission structure, chances are you’ll lose candidates to other companies offering higher base salaries while you continue getting lackluster results.

Some agents even utilize what's called a graduated commission plan structure. The core concept is that you offer a higher base with a lower commission to start out, but as a team member becomes more confident in their skill sets and starts producing more, you offer the option of decreasing their base and increasing their commission at every commission payout.

If the candidate wants more stability and prefers the higher base while you pocket their commission in the name of offering stability, that’s fine. After time has gone by and the candidate sees they are consistently losing commission every month, nature will take its course and they will choose the higher commission, lower base option.

With this model, the new hire either fits into your plan or you will eventually let them go for lack of production.

6. Provide desirable employee benefits and perks.

Employee benefits and perks are essential for attracting and retaining top talent in your insurance agency. In today's competitive job market, candidates seek more than a paycheck.

They want a comprehensive benefits package that includes health insurance, retirement plans, paid time off, and other perks like flexible work arrangements and professional development opportunities.

Using enterprise payroll software can indirectly help you make competitive offers to potential hires by providing valuable insights and tools during the hiring process. It can contribute to making well-informed decisions when extending job offers by storing and analyzing historical salary data for different positions within the organization.

Many of the different payroll systems available to agents can be integrated with other HR systems, making it easy to access salary data when extending job offers.

Offering quality employee benefits and perks attracts top talent and improves employee satisfaction and productivity. It shows you value your employees' well-being and are willing to invest in their long-term success.

7. Lean on a recruiter for hiring expertise (and efficiency).

Be honest with yourself: Do you truly have the spare time and energy to devote to writing job listings, sorting through resumes, reaching out to candidates, and conducting interviews with minimal results?

When you’re already short-staffed, you can’t afford to lose that time and manpower.

Recruiters have their fingers on the pulse of what job candidates want. They can use this expertise to find a list of candidates for you quickly, so you don’t have to spend time researching salaries, writing and rewriting your job listings, and conducting interviews.

A great recruiter can take the emotion out of the equation and help you objectively source the best talent for the job.

Chances are, the stress of needing to fill your vacant position may lead you to make impractical decisions that can haunt you down the line. Maybe the person you choose right off the bat doesn’t fit in with your office culture, or perhaps he leaves after two weeks to take a job elsewhere for a better salary.

Or maybe you’re having trouble finding someone because you’re always looking for that “wow” factor. When the “wow” is nowhere to be found, you find yourself dissatisfied with your prospects. This can make hiring a new agent more of a chore than it needs to be, taking weeks or months when it should have gone much faster.

An effective recruiter will also act as your buffer person, requesting candidates’ attendance at interviews after a proper vetting process. Have you ever felt you were starting off wrong by calling candidates yourself? Pleading for them to show up to YOUR interview? Having your top producer or manager waste time imploring prospects to show up? You are starting the power dynamic wrong.

Let prospects feel like they are doing the recruiter a favor by showing up. You, as an agency owner, get to be the one accepting new hires into your organization, which starts your power dynamic off on the right foot.

8. Take advantage of technology tools.

Carly says, “There are some really cool programs out there. We all know of ChatGPT, and there are a lot of other AI companies coming out now. The message is to learn what’s out there and start embracing it, even if you just pick one and become the expert on just that one thing.”

In addition to new AI tech, there are also several more commonplace technology options that make your life as an agency owner easier. For example, it may be worth investing in a comprehensive HR system that works with an applicant tracking system (ATS). You can use this to manage resumes and applications, schedule interviews, and communicate with candidates.

Investing in an ATS can not only help you manage resumes and applications, track candidate progress and communication, but also ensure your compliance with hiring laws and regulations, further streamlining your recruitment process. There are also a number of options for talent acquisition software that can automate and streamline many aspects of the recruitment process, saving you time and resources.

You can also use video conferencing tools like Zoom or Skype to conduct remote interviews, saving time and money on travel expenses. Or, consider investing in an employee app to make the entire process more efficient and user-friendly.

Social media platforms like LinkedIn can also be a valuable resource for finding and connecting with potential candidates.

With technology, you can attract top talent and streamline recruitment without breaking the bank. One thing to note is that the tools you’re able to use may be dependent on whether you are a captive or independent agent. If you are a captive agent, it’s highly advisable to check with your company to ensure whatever you are considering using is approved.

9. Look for enthusiastic candidates.

At the end of the day, who is more useful to you: a candidate with a glowing resume of qualifications who quits after a short period of time looking for the next best thing, or a candidate who meets 60–70% of your skill sets but has the drive and desire to stay on your team and sell insurance?

Unless you get very lucky, you’ll likely have better results searching for enthusiastic, dedicated people who might not look perfect on paper rather than holding out for your perfect candidate to come along.

You can train the hard skills your new hire lacks and bring them up to speed on best practices much easier than you can foster enthusiasm where there is none to start with.

10. Create a positive work environment.

Making your initial hire is only part of the battle. Recent statistics show that brand new insurance agents stick with their jobs only about 50% of the time. This means you could find the (seemingly) perfect person and then lose them right away, costing you time and money.

You’ve already made sure your salary and pay structure are attractive, but you’ll still have trouble if you don’t address the other half of the picture.

A bad work/life balance or a negative culture within your workplace can outweigh even the best of compensation packages. On the other hand, a positive environment can make a person want to stay even if the financial grass looks greener elsewhere.

Keep this in mind when you’re managing your employees! No one wants to be micromanaged or heavily criticized. Finances may be tight and stress may be high, but keeping a positive attitude and encouraging strong communication in the workplace will go a long way toward helping you retain new hires.

If you can build a reputation for having a great work environment, you may even pick up some new talent who left their previous high-stress jobs for healthier, happier conditions.

11. Consider hiring a remote team.

“The employee model itself is not what it was a few years ago,” Carly says. “The modern employee wants remote work. They know they can get remote work; they can put their resumes on Indeed and get a ton of offers in one day for remote positions rather than jobs looking only for local availability.”

The preference for remote work is such a strong trend, it can’t be ignored. For example, a full three quarters of surveyed employees are considering leaving Amazon following the company’s recent return-to-work mandate. And research shows that happier employees—who get to work on their terms—are up to 20% more productive than employees who don’t feel satisfied with their job conditions.

In contrast, not offering remote work will keep your agency from competitively attracting talent. According to Forbes, only 7% of insurance agencies have an in-person work requirement. So if you do plan to mandate your employees to work in-office, expect to have some difficulty getting candidates interested in the position.

Not only will opening your job search to remote workers make your agency more attractive to job seekers, it will also deepen your pool of talent.

“In your town, the talent that pops up within 20 miles of your agency is going to be a lot different than if you open it up to other states. Don’t limit yourself to being confined within your 1000 square foot office. If you want to build a strong, high performance sales team and build a ‘lean machine,’ have people work out of their homes.”

Carly continues, "Capitalize on other time zones. If you’re in the Eastern Standard time zone, you can push west and bring those workers into your business model.” These employees can extend your work hours beyond what they’d normally be if you only hired local agents.

Having a remote staff can also allow you to let go of some office space and decrease your monthly business costs.

12. Communicate your agency's culture during the interview.

Your company culture is your agency’s personality and encompasses its values, beliefs, and behaviors. It sets your insurance agency apart from others and can be a significant factor in attracting top talent. If you’ve made the effort to build a positive work environment, make sure you’re finding people who mesh with that culture when you hire new candidates!

It’s best to be transparent about your agency's culture during the interview process, highlighting the benefits of working for your company and what makes it unique. This will help candidates determine if they are a good fit for your agency and vice versa.

Additionally, showing employee appreciation is vital to creating a positive company culture and retaining top talent. Make it clear how you will reward new hires for their hard work and what they can expect from meeting milestones.

13. Enhance your interviewing skills.

Most agency owners assume the candidate is the only one being evaluated, so they go into interviews unconcerned with making a great impression.

But as a potential employer or manager, you're also being interviewed. The candidate will assess you to decide whether or not they want to join your company.

Conducting a productive interview and hiring the right candidate requires skill and preparation. Bring a list of questions that will help you assess the candidate's skills, experience, and cultural fit. Ask open-ended questions that require more than a yes or no answer to understand the candidate's thought process and problem-solving skills.

Active listening is also essential during an interview. Pay attention to the candidate's responses and body language to gauge their interest and enthusiasm for the position.

Also, make sure you respect the candidate's time and provide feedback promptly after the interview. This will help build a positive reputation for your agency and attract top talent in the future.

14. Manage your online reputation.

About one third of job applicants avoid companies with negative reviews.

This is unsurprising because today, many of us check reviews before purchasing items, booking hotels, and choosing restaurants. So, why shouldn't we do the same for our jobs? After all, we spend the majority of our waking hours at work. Negative online reviews can mar a business—especially a small business like an insurance agency.

So, encourage satisfied clients and employees to leave positive reviews on platforms like Google, Yelp, and Glassdoor. Respond promptly and professionally to negative reviews, addressing the issue and offering a solution.

By actively managing your online reputation, you can attract top talent looking for a reputable and trustworthy employer.

15. Make use of referrals.

Another effective way to attract top talent to your insurance agency is through referrals. Referrals are a powerful tool in recruitment because they come from trusted sources. Encourage your current employees to refer friends and acquaintances who they believe would be an ideal fit for your agency.

Offer incentives for successful referrals, such as bonuses or extra vacation days. This will motivate your employees to participate in recruitment and be more active in helping you find suitable candidates.

Referrals also tend to have a higher retention rate than other hires because they already have a connection to someone within the company. Referrals tend to stay on the job an average of 70% longer than employees hired from job boards.

16. Offer opportunities for advancement.

Not everyone wants to land a stable job and then coast for the rest of their career. If you can promise a clear pathway of advancement and provide valuable training and skill development opportunities, you’ll attract the people most likely to pursue continual growth.

Also remember that if you hire a person who meets about 60–70% of your expectations on paper—and has an amazing attitude, and has the desire/drive to be with YOU!—your training opportunities will be the last piece of the puzzle that can make or break their success! You can train for skill sets, but you can never train desire.

Still struggling to hire insurance agents? You could be making one of these 5 crucial mistakes.

If you’ve ironed out your hiring strategy, followed the above suggestions to a T, and put on your best customer service smile—but still have unfilled positions, you might be unknowingly making some key mistakes.

Double-check that you’re not falling into any of these traps that could be preventing you from hiring the rockstars you want on your team.

1. Are you putting up too many barriers to entry?

Far too many agents struggle to staff their agencies simply because they’re decreasing the candidate pool in a major way before they even start to recruit.

When Alex Shattuck, President & CEO of Autopilot Recruiting, travels the country and speaks to insurance agents, he conducts a short exercise to demonstrate this concept:

“I ask the audience to stand up, and from there I instruct them to either remain standing or take a seat according to their answers to the following questions:

• If you had a four-year college degree before becoming an insurance agent, please remain standing. Everyone else, sit down.
• If you had sales experience prior to being recruited into the industry, please remain standing. Everyone else, take a seat.
• If you had your insurance license(s) prior to being recruited into the industry, stay on your feet.
• If you’re bilingual, please remain standing.

In every case, after asking those four questions, every agent in the room is seated. My response?

‘Not one of us is qualified to be here.’”

Alex continues: “The fact that none of us are qualified doesn’t keep us from asking for too much within our job descriptions, however. Most agents want every box to be checked. It’s like they’re picking their next spouse! They put everything in there they don’t have but wish they did have. They feel this will attract that unicorn.

“The reality is that unicorns simply don’t exist—and if they did, they wouldn’t be applying to our offices. All agents do when tossing these ‘must haves’ into their job description is make great potential candidates believe they are not qualified; as a result, they keep on scrolling.”

What unnecessary barriers to entry have you put up that are harming your recruiting efforts? Are you eliminating large segments of the population from your candidate pool? In reality, there’s nothing insurmountable about your insurance sales process that you can’t teach good people.

All agents do when tossing these ‘must haves’ into their job description is make great potential candidates believe they are not qualified; as a result, they keep on scrolling.

2. Are you recruiting consistently?

Don’t stop recruiting. EVER.

Insurance agents hire the best future insurance agents to their teams when they don’t need to hire anyone. Recruiting only when you have to hire is like going to the grocery store hungry—you’re going to make bad decisions that will turn out to be really expensive!

Constantly recruiting may sound overwhelming but it doesn’t have to be. It’s no different than what you see with health and fitness. If you’re two weeks out from spring break and you decide to start moving your body and paying attention to what you’re eating, you will probably need to really lean on those Instagram filters and get creative with those angles if you’re going to be pleased with what you post.

On the flip side of that, if you just remain consistent and do a little bit every day year-round, you’ll be fine! The daily activities that drive results in this space are things that can, and should, be done every single day.

3. Are you settling for “average”?

We’ve said that when it comes to hiring, you shouldn’t hold out for unicorns. That’s still true! What we’re talking about here is something different—your current stable of agents. All too often, average agents are allowed to remain on the team for too long.

Think about how many insurance agents you have selling for you right now. Who’s in last place in regard to production? What is that agent selling? In contrast, what’s your top producer selling?

What would the future look like for your agency if you were to upgrade that bottom producer to an agent that could sell as much as your top producer?

This can be a tough topic to discuss openly. Agency owners are loyal people and we usually hate talking about this. Loyalty is not a bad thing, but it is a two way street— and longevity does not equal loyalty.

The other reason agency owners shy away from this topic is because we understand how expensive it is when we make a bad decision on a new hire. The data is consistently thrown in our faces; we’ve also made those bad decisions and felt it in our bottom line. Everyone hates losing money, but if you’re going to consider how much money you could lose on a bad hire, you must also consider how much money you’re guaranteed to lose by settling for average performance.

Do the math. What’s the difference in production between your bottom producer and your top producer? What’s the difference between first-year commissions alone? That number is probably pretty close to what it costs you when you make a bad hiring decision.

You can’t stop there, though. When factoring in residual benefits, bonuses, and beyond, you might not even break even with that potential bad hire, It could cost you tens of thousands of dollars more every single year. When you compound that over the course of your career, it could mean millions of dollars.

That’s what it costs you when you settle for average: millions.

4. Are you leaving good candidates on the market?

Alex Shattuck explains this one best:

“My wife and I met in preschool. That’s not where our love story really started, though.

“My senior year in high school I got into a fight and was suspended. I was 18 and decided I’d go to the 18-and-up night at the college bar with my future wife and her girlfriends. It was that night I realized that I really like this person—and wanted to ‘do life’ with her.

“So I stayed by her side all night. When she was on the dance floor, I was on the dance floor. When she’d walk over to the bar, guess where I was? I was with her at the bar. What I didn’t do was separate from her for the next few hours and try to catch up with her again at 2 A.M. closing time. I didn’t want to leave our relationship to chance, so separating was just not an option for me. I stayed with her.

“That’s not what I find insurance agents doing when they find a great candidate they want to ‘do life’ with: Instead of staying together, they send them off into the world to get their licensing and study off-the-clock, with no promise of a job when it’s all said and done.

All of this while there are four other job offers waiting for them in their inbox. And then they wonder why they get ghosted…

Stay with them on the dance floor!

Get them in your office and get them off the market. If you are worried about the cost, consider having them make sales calls for your licensed agents 4-5 hours each day and studying the rest of the time.

How much does a warm transfer insurance lead cost? What if your new hire generated four to five of those each day? That value—plus the additional production that would spring from that—will not result in any type of loss for you financially. Not only that, you’ll also get a chance to see if this new hire is willing to pick up the phone and make sales calls before you invest too much time, energy, and payroll into him or her.”

5. Are you truly preparing for interviews?

Your agency is just one hire away from taking its businesses to the next level. There’s no greater sale you’ll ever make that’ll impact your business more so than landing an amazing new hire.

So why don’t we as agency owners prepare to interview candidates like we prepare for a big sales presentation? We must put comparable time and energy into this or we’ll miss out on top talent which will cost a lot of money over the years.

It’s also crucial to avoid looking at interviewing like a chore. Knowing that you’re just one hire away from that next level—what could you possibly be doing that’s more important than getting in front of that next best thing? Meeting with customers and prospects? If you had a bigger and better team, they could meet with your customers and prospects for you. Coaching and training your team? If you had a better team they wouldn’t require as much coaching, training, and oversight. Of course, they still need it, want it, and are deserving of it, but you’ll be able to do it because you want to—not because you have to.

You must be prepared to make a good impression during interviews. It isn’t a chore. It’s just like any other sales process: Some candidates won’t show up, some won’t be eligible, some will tell you no, but you have to go through all of the ups and downs to get to that one outstanding hire.

Step up to the plate and take some swings, and good things will happen!

Once you hire your new agents, start them off on the right foot with leads from EverQuote.

Nothing boosts positive attitudes and job satisfaction quite like the thrill of early success. Put a list of hot leads from EverQuote in front of your brand new agents, and they’ll be on their way to becoming your most valued assets in no time.

Contact us to get started!