29 Mar New Producers: Alarming Stat- 12% Better Than Flipping a Coin
Item #10 on – How Insurance Producers are Produced- was this:
63% success rate for producers endorsed by a pre-hiring test. This was 12 point higher than producers not recommended by a test or with inconclusive results.
Reverse the logic on this and what it says is that even when a pre-hiring test endorses a producer candidate, the failure rate is still 37% or greater than 1/3 of the hires. When you put that into perspective, meaning most failures will cost your firm between $50,000 on the very low side, and $150,000 or more on the high side, hiring a new producer even when endorsed is still a high risk.
In a conversation yesterday I asked a gentleman how he made hiring decisions. He told me 1/3 hiring profile, 1/3 interview, 1/3 gut feeling. In my system it is 1/5 hiring profile and 4/5 interview which leads to informed gut feeling. I believe that there must be 4 interviews, each packed with specific assignments that a producer candidate must cooperate and complete. It is generally stretched out over a 2-3 month period of time. In so doing, I don't have to rely on the profile as much (it's 12% better than flipping a coin), I don't have to rely on gut feel as much (it's easy to get impressed with a suave candidate) and I get to rely on evidence. One thing I really want to know is does my candidate have the mental grit, the resilience, the ability to fight through adversity. If not, I might be impressed with their charm, confidence and elegance… but in the battle of production, they will quit.
Quitters don't produce big numbers. Quitters are not Million Dollar Producers. Quitters will erode your profit. Quitters will waste your time, your money and your resources.
In my book, How to Find, Hire and Train New Producers, I lay this out in detail. For more information go to iWin Agency Growth System.
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