Training and Developing Your New Production Team
Developing New Producers
For any agency wanting to achieve long-term internal growth and perpetuation, hiring new producers is mandatory. Investing in new producers requires a considerable amount of time, an emphasis on education, and a financial commitment. Establishing realistic goals and expectations through benchmarks during the first year of employment is one step to achieving long-term success. The other step is implementing a training program laser focused on the first 12 months of employment.
Our team has developed a detailed 12-month training program focused on FIVE LEARNING CURVES to improve the odds of success for new producers. This program emphasizes short-term education that centers around the immediate needs of a new producer. By the end of the first year, a producer who follows this training program is more likely to find success and be on a path towards validation.
Benchmarking Activity
Success or failure during the first 90 days of employment hinges entirely on activity. A new producer’s failure during this period is often due to a reluctance to initiate phone calls, or poor results from calls, which leads to frustration and eventually either resignation or termination. More times than not, call reluctance is not the result of laziness, but rather a lack of confidence stemming from inadequate early education and training. Consequently, it is important that new producers are provided with fundamental tools that enhance their comfort level during the crucial first 90 days of employment.
The “fake it until you make it” approach works for some new producers, but it is not a universally effective strategy with high odds of success. There must be a plan from the first day of employment to guide a new producer through all the first year challenges.
The initial 90-day period is the first of five learning curves a producer must overcome. Successful producers recognize the significant improvement in their call quality, and that confidence is what keeps them going.
Benchmarking Inventory
Once a producer demonstrates consistent success on the phone, the second learning curve is an emphasis on developing qualified and sustainable inventory. The same cold calling principle apply to building an inventory of prospects. The focus over the next 90 days and beyond should be on creating a robust pipeline that ensures short, intermediate, and long-term success. By prioritizing the development of high-quality inventory, commercial insurance producers can maximize their chances of achieving sustainable growth and long-term success.
The ability to pivot from gathering information on the phones to knocking on doors and successfully scheduling appointments all hinges on your ability to sell yourself, your core competencies, and your agency.
The third learning curve is all about the producer selling themself and their organization. The phone has been a successful tool for gathering information and for building legitimate inventory, but now the challenge is for the producer to step out of the office and begin canvassing local businesses (drops), knocking on doors and convincing business owners to grant them a first appointment. A confident performance on drops is crucial for achieving a successful follow-up call and increasing the likelihood of scheduling a new business appointment.
Benchmarking Appointments and Sales
The fourth learning curve and the second half of a producer’s first year centers on scheduling legitimate new business appointments and policy review. If a producer has successfully built legitimate inventory, that inventory will be labeled as short, intermediate or long term. Therefore, a legitimate new business appointment doesn’t necessarily mean a deal that will close in 12-24 months, but rather a company that the producer intends to represent sometime in the future.
We define a legitimate new business appointment as a business with agency revenue of $20k or greater, a decision maker that values long term relationships, and one that doesn’t place an emphasis on price before coverage.
The fifth and final learning curve is dependent on the success of the first appointment and the results of a policy review. New producers must be trained from the beginning to place an emphasis on coverage. If you are trained to sell on price, the odds are good you will eventually lose that same deal based on price to another broker. Everyone understands the importance of not overpaying for coverage, but the emphasis for a new producer must center on knowledge, value added services and educating the prospect.
By successfully navigating through these learning curves, new producers will have a competitive edge competing against their up and coming peers, and an overwhelming percentage of the existing producers in the marketplace. Our training is all about establishing a strong foundation for long-term success in the commercial insurance industry.
