Indicators of Success

[Markthebroker]

This reminds me of the old days when I worked telemarketing in a boiler room. One of our most talented salespeople was an oakie truck mechanic with 0 experience.

 

[rousemark]

Almost 7 years into my career and I'm still puzzled on one thing....

How in the heck do you know if someone is going to be a good agent or not?!

I have guys who come in that are sharp and articulate and they crumble at the kitchen table. On the flipside, I have guys with no experience at all coming from the oil field, construction etc. who are rough and tumble, unfiltered and don't care what anyone thinks that write $20,000+ every month like clockwork.

The only indicator I have found to be tried and true for someone that can be very successful in our business is responsiveness/coachability and work ethic. Other than that, I've found that closers come in all shapes and sizes.

What indicators do y'all see across the board in successful agents?

What else would an agent need?

 

[rousemark]

Most know Ross Perot as a two-time candidate for president, but that adventure was at the end of a long and colorful career. This son of a cotton broker from Texarkana met an IBM tech while in the Navy, became a salesman at Big Blue, then quit when they wouldn't give him more computers to sell after he hit his annual quota by March.

Find an agent that meets his app quota by March and don't give him any more apps. If he quits, he has what it takes to be successful!

 

[rousemark]

These are unlicensed agents that have no background in selling insurance. I'm glad it was a nice billboard for you though . Looks like y'all are killing it! Glad to see that.

The point of my post is to hear from guys that have experience doing this as to what to look for and where I may be missing something. I've spent pretty much my entire career bringing on licensed people, so this is an entirely different setup. I'm not sure that many unlicensed agents are trolling these posts anyhow.

Hope you are well Josh!

My first manager in the business would not hire an agent with prior insurance sales experience.. He said it was too hard to retrain them and break them of the bad habits they had aquired.

 

[Life Hawk]

I think if you have been in this profession for a bit we tend to think it requires "something special", when all along it requires what we had when we got in and had "no idea".

And to be honest there are still days that I feel as though I "still have no idea."

 

[titeye]

Tribetime32,

I'm reading all these success stories: Brandon and the 3 Amigos in the call center; Ross Perot, etc.. The one thing they all have in common is....every single one of them did the exact opposite of how the majority was doing things, or what the majority believed, and/or what was popular. Listing names isn't necessary, but 99% of both agents and recruiters on this forum would have led one to believe that tele-sales was "a business model guaranteed to fail". Now, this was as recent as the beginning of Covid-19. Eventually, everyone succeeds who interprets failure as a necessity to change the world in which we live. I believe in you, because you believe in yourself. Drink responsibly, my friend. Sorry, I meant to say, "Good luck!'

 

[tribetime32]

I appreciate all of this feedback guys for real! I never want to be the guy that has been in the business forever and can't relate to a guy who has no idea what we do in any capacity at all.

 

[DonP]

Tribetime that's pretty gusty bringing new guys on giving free leads and appt setting . Your definitely investing in guys that could leave you with chargebacks . Industry #'s say few make it in insurance . Those are the facts so your going to go threw a lot to get hungry ones .It's a #'s game just like leads .

 

[rousemark]

Tribetime that's pretty gusty bringing new guys on giving free leads and appt setting . Your definitely investing in guys that could leave you with chargebacks . Industry #'s say few make it in insurance . Those are the facts so your going to go threw a lot to get hungry ones .It's a #'s game just like leads .

If I would were going to do all that, it would be with non vested LOA agents only so that I would have some cushion against the beating that you will have with many of the agents. Once an agent proved themselves, you could move them to a direct vested contract.

 

[tribetime32]

Tribetime that's pretty gusty bringing new guys on giving free leads and appt setting . Your definitely investing in guys that could leave you with chargebacks . Industry #'s say few make it in insurance . Those are the facts so your going to go threw a lot to get hungry ones .It's a #'s game just like leads .

I appreciate that concern for sure. We will know how it goes in a few months!