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... personal lines business. Smaller, rural agencies seem to make some profit in ...slack left by the exodus of so many carriers from the personal lines market. W...

... Life Agents 4/30/2013 10:38:40 PM by CompleteMarkets Editor This content has not been rated yet. RECRUITING GOOD LIFE AGENTS To the city dweller, the question in the headline may sound silly; Life agents are underfoot everywhere. Even in rural areas, there often seem to be more than enough people selling Life products. But the question is tricky: Notice the word good. That's an important qualifier: It narrows the field. For our purposes, good' means a professional who knows the products, ... locate, test, evaluate, contract, train, manage, and house one new agent through the first two years. And yet, even with that expense and time, 80% of those agents left after five years. Many established companies no longer go that route. Fortunately for P/C agencies, recruitment is much shorter, easier, and less costly. You can offer an opportunity that will tempt even the best of the experienced pros. The principle enticements are: a possible chance for equity in the Life business ... build together; much better working hours; upgrading of prospects; a chance to shed the shackles of company rigidity in favor of relative independence; and a chance to make more money for much less work. One of the most important enticements is relief from the biggest monster in the Life insurance field and killer of agents' careers: the prospecting problem. Not only does your agency have file drawers full of Life prospects, but it has access to all the prospects through organized, efficient, proven lead systems that provide live leads ...

... new producer: If the agency is located in a small town, find a self-starter who wants to stay in the community, and train him or her in insurance. Company field reps or underwriters from hundreds of miles away have no local connections are often uncomfortable in rural communities. Give the person some accounts to handle to provide a basis for referrals and some meaningful initial work activity. Treat a salary as a draw against future commissions produced (not a guarantee), make sure that the producer knows what he/she must ... , another salesperson must be brought in. But the money to fund that person must come directly from the owners' compensation or profit. The choice becomes one of expanding the agency or retaining the owners' current standard of living. Most owners willingly choose the expansion route at first, but after several false starts with young producers who do not work out, it's easy for them to become discouraged. Unfortunately, without a new producer, internal perpetuation opportunities will be limited-if not nonexistent. The absolute No. 1 requirement of a ... managers do not have the entrepreneurial spirit to take on the risk of ownership the way many (although not all) sales-oriented people do. Also, without a new producer, there will be little growth, causing the insurance companies to become dissatisfied and possibly terminate the contracts that are necessary to keep the agency competitive. Eventually there may be nothing left to perpetuate. So, for the owner of an agency of this size (generally $300,000 to $500,000 in revenues), hiring a new salesperson is ...

...ar. Nowadays, most people, even in rural areas, prefer to call in the informat...rface or e-mail communications with carriers is critical to the center's succe...

...ections are often uncomfortable in rural communities. Give the person so...

...re around $75,000, perhaps less in rural areas. Can the owner/producer who is...