Interviewing: Module Iii-A

INTERVIEWING: MODULE III-A

Now that you know where to look and for whom you're looking, it's time to work on the interviewing process. This section provides you with some techniques for becoming a good interviewer, plus a series of interview questions to ask when you're looking specifically for a Life producer. You'll also find information on testing and the follow-up interview process. Finally, you'll find an employment application and various forms that can be used for evaluating your candidates. Have each candidate fill out the 'Employment Application' at the back of this section. Let them know before the interview that they will need about 20 minutes to fill out the application.

If you want to hire the right person, you're going to have to interview and listen to a number of candidates. You must learn to be a good listener. The following tips will help you improve your listening skills:

1. Try not to dominate the conversation. You can't listen if you're the one doing the talking.
2. Put the applicant at ease. Make the person feel free to talk.
3. Show the person that you want to listen. Avoid organizing your desk while he or she is talking. Display your interest, and listen to understand.
4. Remove any distractions. You don't want to interrupt the prospect.
5. Empathize by putting yourself in the candidate's position.
6. Be patient. Try not to interrupt the candidate or step in and complete his or her sentences. Give the person a chance to express his or her thoughts.
7. Avoid arguments or criticism. Making a candidate defensive will only cause the person to get angry and/or be quiet. You don't want either of these situations to occur.
8. Ask questions. This will draw out the applicant and you'll also find out more about important areas.
9. Hold your temper. If you get upset, you'll start interpreting the words.

Some other rules for interviewing: Before the interview, have your secretary or receptionist hold all calls. You want to make the candidate feel relaxed with a few pleasantries, but you shouldn't let small talk dominate the conversation. If possible, avoid taking notes while you're talking to the prospect. Give yourself a few uninterrupted moments after the interview to write down the pertinent information and your general impression. You can use the 'Interviewer's Evaluation' form provided at the end of this section.

Be aware that there are legal considerations whenever you're hiring a new employee. Both state and federal levels have legislation regulating hiring practices. Discrimination of any sort, whether it be against race, sex, age, and so on, is illegal. In addition, there are certain questions you cannot

legally ask. Because this is such an important area, you should learn all you can about hiring. For more information, write the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Personal Testing and Equal Employment Opportunity, Washington, D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office, 1970.

EVALUATION is an acronym that's useful in your first interview with a candidate. You're going to be asking questions, shaping the form of the interview. This acronym can help give you direction and make sure you cover all the important points. If the answer isn't satisfactory, ask more probing questions, such as 'Why?' or 'Could you tell me more about that?' Also, try to know what questions you're going to ask ahead of time. But be sure and take the time to listen to the answers. One big interviewing mistake is concentrating so hard on the questions that you don't hear the answers.

E = Evaluation of Self. Ask candidates about previous jobs, going back to the very first one. For example, ask questions such as: What did you like best about the job? Least? What special responsibilities did you hold?

V = Visible Achievements. Find out what they consider their highest achievements. Ask more about them, such as, how long did it take? Was there a negative side to it? Was it difficult? How did you overcome problems?

A = Advanced Education. Find out where the applicants went to school, what courses were taken, their grade level. What subjects did they like best and least? To what clubs or organizations did they belong?

L = Life insurance. Discover their attitudes toward Life insurance. If they own Life insurance, find out why. Life insurance ownership shows a number of things, including financial stability and concern for the family.

U = Unlimited Contacts. Ask the applicants if they are involved in any outside activities, such as business clubs, school associations, sports, political groups, and so on.

A = Ambitions. Find out what the applicants want out of their careers. Are they happy where they are now? Where do they want to be five years from now? What are they doing to meet their goals? You want a person who looks and plans ahead.

T = The Higher-Income Markets. You may ultimately want the applicants to work with professionals in the higher-income markets of your customer base. Find out how much they already know about these markets. Do they have any contacts in the professions? Any business potential that could bring 'new-new' business to your agency? 'New-new' business is defined as Life business that is generated in your agency with no previous dealings with your agency and as leads generated apart from your internal prospecting efforts.

I = Interest In and Attitude Toward Life Insurance Selling. Life insurance selling is mainly a commission business in your agency. How do they feel about that? It may take time for them to get off the ground, learning the agency's methods, sales techniques, and so on. Let them know it may take up to three years before they can really start to earn the amount of money they may be looking for and participate in agency ownership. Candidates should fully understand and accept this. Remember, a recruiter can be fooled by a person who is in Life insurance management and assume he or she accepts the above. The person may be in management because he or she couldn't make it in Life insurance sales.

O = Other Family Members. Ask candidates if their spouse is employed. How involved is the spouse in the candidate's career? Becoming a Life producer in your agency will involve long, irregular hours. This means the entire family must agree on the career.N = Need for Income and Recognition. Find out what the producer wants to earn. What are his or her expectations?

Keep in mind the primary goals of this interview: 1) to determine if the person could produce consistent effort, and 2) to find out how strong your relationship with the producer could become.

At this point, if the interview has gone well and you are interested in learning more about the candidate, explain a little about your agency and schedule the next appointment. Send a personal letter confirming the interview, along with agency brochures and other materials.

If you are sure this is not the right person for the job, at the conclusion of the interview, thank him or her and explain that you will be in touch. Be sure, once you have filled the position, to write all applicants informing them of your decision.

Testing has become popular for everything from judging typing skills to psychological profiles. It's an important area that can really help you determine how successful a candidate will be in the position you're offering. Most insurance companies will provide you with evaluation tools to help you pick high-potential candidates and then train them most effectively. A number of companies specialize in psychological and/or aptitude testing. Computer software programs also provide employee testing services. Anything that can help you evaluate the candidate's potential is a valuable tool for you.

The more you talk with a candidate, the better you are going to know him or her, and the better you will be able to judge whether this person is right for your agency. You should have as many follow-up interviews as is feasible. Also, picking a person well suited to your agency will increase the chance that the producer will remain with the agency. The first interview, the EVALUATION interview, is the first step in the interviewing process. Only those who made a favorable impression should be called back for a second interview.

At this point, you may want to administer an aptitude test to discover the candidate's skills, potential, and abilities. Your instincts are important, but you can't solely rely on them. There are only two reasons a new Life producer will fail in your agency: One, you picked the wrong person, or two, you didn't properly train and supervise the new producer. (Training and supervision are covered later in this 'Life Personnel' section.)

The day the producer agrees to accept employment with you, write down on a piece of paper exactly what you think of that producer on that day. Write down what you think of the producer's potential, characteristics, and weaknesses, and file it. In a year, take a look at your projections and compare them to what actually occurred. Try and figure out why you were right and why you were wrong. Use this same method for every Life producer you bring in.

This process will help you develop your hiring ability. By measuring results against your projections, you can measure your opinions and evaluation skills. After a few times, you'll find your predictions are sharper and more accurate.

It's important at the second interview to review your previous meeting. For example, you can say:

'[CANDIDATE NAME], as we determined the last time we met, you do have some concerns about your future. As I promised you, today I am going to continue to cover in depth the opportunities available in our agency so we can measure these against your career goals. Based on what you have told me thus far, the preliminary indications are that you can succeed in our agency if your desire for success and your self-discipline are as strong as they appear to be.'

There are problems to be overcome in Life insurance selling in a P/C agency, and now is a good time to go over them with the candidate. Ask how problems, such as P/C producers' cooperation with Life producers and the wide difference in selling and philosophy, can be overcome.

The second interview is a good time to go over information about your agency with the producer. Discuss with the candidate such things as the agency's strengths, length of time in business, reputation, and staff. Also, tell the candidate about how you see the Life producer interfacing with the staff in your agency, the Life producer's role in the agency, your expectations, and what you feel is average and good in terms of written commission.

You need to address four particular areas. These are areas that the candidate will need answered, whether or not he or she asks. They are:

1. What is the job? Explain very specifically what the producer's job will be. Be sure not to make any promises you cannot fulfill.
2. How will I be trained? How will the producer learn the agency system and philosophy? What is your selling philosophy? How will you teach the new producer? How will you support him or her in prospecting, setting appointments, and follow-up? Let the person know whether you're going to introduce him or her to P/C producers and how they will work together. Show the candidate how you plan to help him or her develop your agency's Life insurance potential and demonstrate your willingness to help.
3. How will I be compensated? In addition to telling the candidate about the potential for achievement in the agency, explain a little about your own achievements and the accomplishments of producers you've recruited. Stress the full range of benefits in your agency. Explain fully your compensation plan and any perks you may provide. (See the 'Compensation' section for more information.)
4. How will I know if I'm doing a good job? How do you evaluate the producer's potential for selling success? The candidate will want to know when he or she is doing a good job or a bad job. You should establish mutually agreed upon goals and establish times to review those goals.

After you've explained these points, ask the candidate the following questions:

• What are your career expectations?
• What is your reaction to the information you've received about this position and about the agency?
• What parts of this position and the agency stand out as positive to you?
• Do you have any areas of concern?
• Do you believe the job's expectations are in line with your capabilities?
• Do you have any questions about the rewards for doing a good job?

Go over in detail your compensation arrangement. Whatever was not covered on this subject in the first interview should now be addressed.

Introduce the candidate to a selected number of agency employees and let him or her spend a few minutes talking to each person. Have the employees conduct their own mini-interviews and then report to you their results and impressions. These impressions can be important because the candidate will be working with these people.

At this point, you should have weeded out most of the applicants that either you weren't interested in or who weren't interested in you. Now you're down to a few quality candidates. Remember, each interview after the first should have a specific purpose.

If the candidate is married, you may consider having the spouse come for this interview (this should not be a condition of employment). One objective of this interview is to give the spouse an understanding of the career opportunity you are offering. The spouse should be supportive of this opportunity. In addition, you want the spouse to develop trust and confidence in your agency. Go over some of the perks involved in the job, as well as the opportunities.

Also in this interview, go over the job in detail. Both you and the candidate have had time to think. Reiterate the answers to the four basic questions: What is the job? How will I be trained? How will I be compensated? How will I know if I'm doing a good job?

In addition, you may have a slide presentation, which is a good way to effectively present your agency to a prospective producer. You may include slides of agency employees and lists of the agency's goals, marketing plans, and so on. The slide presentation gives you a consistent presentation to give your candidates.

Before making your final decision, based on the above interviews and tests, do some checking. Look at the candidate's employment references. If possible, make personal calls on these people. Use the 'Reference Check' form at the end of this section when calling the candidate's previous employers.

Once you've made your decision, you need to meet with the candidate to finalize the commitment by both parties. You will probably need to:

• make the commitment final
• review subsidy arrangements
• establish the official starting date
• arrange for completion of contract papers
• review the expectations of the job

In reviewing job expectations, you should discuss what you expect to occur, what you think the job's potential is, and the exact time when specific goals can be set. Establish a 'partnership' with the new producer.

The commitment interview should last approximately three hours and will be the vehicle that sets the tempo for this Life producer's career with your agency. Here the individual should submit a letter of resignation at his or her present job and sign an agreement with your agency. (See the 'Compensation' section for agreement forms and contracts.) There are five major areas that need to be discussed, in detail:

1. Agency philosophy: Go over your agency's philosophy, as well as those of any companies with which you work. Go over such details as your policies on the telephones, postage, any membership affiliations that should be joined, and so on. Review how the prospecting procedure will work and whether or not the producer can expect CSR help.
2. Skills: Training, or the skills the new producer may need, is a vital area. We have devoted a section, called 'Training,' to this need, which will cover how to prospect, arrange interviews, conduct interviews, close sales, obtain referred leads, and so on. Your producer may already have the skills needed to sell Life insurance, but a certain amount of training should still take place. Your 'Sales and Marketing' section contains a complete outline of the sales process, including scripts, that can also be used in training producers to sell.
3. Work habits: The market the producer will be working with may determine his or her hours. Some markets require evening hours, some require weekend time. Establish hours and check-in procedures. Set up a Weekly Activity Target (see the 'Training' section for more information).
4. Planning: Planning involves annual goalsetting and setting up regular planning sessions. Yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily check points should be set up. Each December, you should meet with the producer to review the past year and plan the next year's objectives.

At the monthly meeting you should help the producer achieve yearly goals by reviewing the past month's progress and preparing the next month's goals. The weekly individual sales planning conference is a very careful analysis of the producer's weekly activities, based on results versus objectives. On a daily basis, the producer should be keeping track of records.

1. Job discipline: You should set up whatever system you feel appropriate to track prospect and client results. This can be done by computer or through a CSR.

1. Have the producer fill out and categorize 300 agency prospect cards.
2. Give the producer your agency appointment setting script and have him or her start to memorize it (see the 'Sales and Marketing' section for the language to be learned).
3. Give the producer your fact-finding form and have him or her study it and memorize questions to be asked (see your 'Sales and Marketing' section for questions and the form).
4. Have the producer read and study basic company materials on product knowledge, supplemented by the 'Sales Campaigns' found in this Agent's Guide.
5. Provide the producer with a set of activity and result objectives, following the guidelines in your 'Supervision' section.
6. Have the Life producer share objectives with in-house agency support staff so they'll feel a part of the team. Remember, some of these support people will be receiving commissions on specific tasks they perform that lead to Life sales. This is why coordination is very important.

Don't skip any of the above interviewing steps, no matter how rushed you are to find a Life producer. In the long run, it will work out to your advantage. The more carefully a producer is chosen, the more likely that person will be a successful, quality person in your agency.

Make sure the candidate is aware of everything there is to know about the agency. Remember, everything you want to achieve in your Life insurance department is dependent on the Life producers you hire. If they are successful, you are successful.

Every person you interview should fill out this application. This is an extensive form, covering employment history, education, Life insurance achievements, and references. Let interview candidates know before coming in that they will need to set aside at least 20 minutes to fill out this form, in addition to the time spent in the actual interview. Keep the forms on file with the candidates' resumes.

This form is provided as a guideline only. We make no representation as to the form's legal effect. Before using it, you should consult with your attorney regarding the risks, rights, and liabilities that may arise from utilization of this form.

(Equal Opportunity Employer)

Date_______________

(This application will be kept active for future reference for a period of three months. After that time it will be necessary to complete another application to be considered for employment.)

Full Name_______________________________________________________________________

Social Security Number ____________________________________________________________

Present Address __________________________________________________________________

How long have you lived at this address?_______________________________________________

Phone Number (_____)_____________________________________________________________

Previous Address _________________________________________________________________