How To Recruit Insurance Agents (With 10 Useful Steps)

Updated 26 January 2023

For any business to do well, it generally requires a continuous income of revenue that can come from clients, both new and existing ones. For insurance companies, insurance agents are like sales agents and are crucial to their success, as they may solely rely on the premiums paid by their clients, which is generally the main source of revenue for the companies. Knowing how to recruit insurance agents can help you hire the right people for the job. In this article, we discuss how to recruit insurance agents and explore some skills and qualifications to look for while recruiting them.

How to recruit insurance agents

Knowing how to recruit insurance agents can make the hiring process easy. If you are looking to recruit insurance agents for a company, here are some steps you may follow:

1. Showcase the details of the insurance agency

Remember to include all the important information about the company and the products in the job posting so that potential candidates can make an informed decision. Write about the types of insurances that the company sells, the mission and vision of the company, its history and other important details. Having a structured website to showcase these details can make it a lot easier. Those looking for a job may find the information helpful and may apply for the job instantly.

2. Create a recruiting message

While creating or maintaining a website with informational content and pages can be a great place to start, actively recruiting can expedite the process of finding the right candidates. Hence, create a recruiting message that clearly addresses the potential employees or insurance agents. In this message, you can highlight all the areas of the business or company that can be appealing to the candidates.

Include information about the agency's work culture, employee benefits, events, career growth prospects and more. Follow this information by the job-related details such as job description, duties, qualifications and skill needed, compensation and the hiring process. Remember to edit and proofread this message at least a few times before publishing. This can prevent accidentally making any false claims or misleading statements.

3. Post on job portals

The first and the most accessible place to start can be job portals. Once the recruiting message is ready, make it reach the right audience. For this, you can post the job on one or a few of the most popular job portals that publish job orders daily.

You can choose the most appropriate job portals where the ideal candidates may search for jobs. One way to find that out can be to check the kind of content the platform publishes on their blog. For example, if you can find content related to insurance agents or how to become one, then that portal likely gets enough traffic from insurance agents and aspirants. Also, check if there are other insurance agent jobs already posted on the platform.

4. Advertise on social media platforms

Social media can be helpful in finding potential insurance agents. Many people may prefer following companies on social media for updates. If you have a social media presence, you can advertise the job openings on those platforms. Considering the amount of users, social media might prove beneficial in finding potential candidates.

5. Remember to post on classifieds

This might seem like a slightly outdated mode of recruitment but there are still many job-seekers who may rely on this. Classifieds can be in newspapers and magazines, both online and offline. Find out the most popular newspapers and magazines that insurance agents are likely to read. These may be related to finance, business, investing or economics. Choose the ones that can get maximum exposure to your job advertisement and post there.

6. Conduct campus recruitment

Colleges and universities can be a good place to recruit young candidates. Even though they may not have any experience in the field, they may have a lot of energy and enthusiasm, which can help them do well in the role of an insurance agent. Besides, campus recruitments can help you reach out to a lot of graduates, which can help in recruiting a higher number of candidates, if required.

7. Attend networking events

Networking events can be a great place to source candidates or those looking for new opportunities. Most people who attend networking events may already be outgoing and enterprising by nature, which are required criteria for an insurance agent. You can meet such people and informally interview them to gauge their suitability. If you find them appealing enough, you can even present an offer or invite them for a formal interview at the office premises.

8. Broaden the criteria

It may be difficult to always find the perfect candidate who may already have the experience as an insurance agent or may be looking to work as one. In such case, you can relax the requirements or the criteria for the job, or look in other related industries for suitable candidates. Think about the primary skills an insurance agent may require and see which other job roles require those skills, too. For instance, sales skills are crucial for an insurance agent. Therefore, anyone who has done any sales, including retail, might make a good insurance agent.

9. Design a referral program

Consider letting the current employees of the company know that you are searching for potential candidates for the role of insurance agent. You can introduce a referral program and provide benefits to the employees who refer suitable candidate for the job. This can help you connect with number of potential candidates, increasing the chances of finding the right ones.

10. Use a recruiting agency

Finding the right candidates for a job may require a lot of time and efforts. In case you are unable to give the required time, you can leverage the services of a recruiting agency. Such agencies are usually experts in finding suitable candidates for almost any industry. They might help you find the right ones for the position of insurance agent.

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Skills and qualifications to look for in an insurance agent

To become an insurance agent, candidates may not require a degree. A 10+2 can suffice, but there are certain skills that are more relevant and can help them perform well at the job. Here are some skills that you may look for when hiring an insurance agent:

Sales skills

As an insurance agent where one is required to sell and resell insurance policies to customers, sales skills are crucial. Anyone who has a natural acumen for sales can do great in this role. Hence, a sales background with quantifiable results or performance can be a good place to start. Look out for these skills in the candidate's profile. Even if they may not yet have excellent sales skills but are enthusiastic and open to learning, they may still perform well.

Communication skills

An insurance agent generally talks to many existing and potential clients regularly. Therefore, good communication and convincing skills are necessary for the job. It is during an interview that you can gauge oral or interpersonal communication of a potential candidate.

Ability to handle rejection

The job of an insurance agent may involve a lot of cold-calling and trying to convince people they are offering the best insurance policy for them. Not every customer may be ready and willing to purchase what the insurance agent sells. They may be sceptical at first or even reject the offer straight away, since they may usually get a lot of such calls during the day. Therefore, having the ability to handle such rejections or failed attempts can be important for an insurance agent to succeed.

Honesty

As insurance agents may usually sell insurance policies that call for investment on behalf of the customer, they may require building some trust initially. If the customer views the offer and finds the information authentic and genuine, then they are more likely to purchase the insurance policy. It is important that the agents state only the facts and not make exaggerated claims.

How To Recruit Insurance Agents (With 10 Useful Steps)