29 Mar Who is the Better Candidate, College Graduate or Someone with Sales Experience?
Any time you hire a producer, you are hiring both the potential and the baggage that comes along with them. If they are fresh out of college, they have their baggage. If an experienced insurance producer with a track record of some kind, they have their baggage, they all have baggage. You have to determine which one provides the least risk and highest return for your agency.
It could be that your best candidate is about 28 years old, they have a successful history of selling in a field where they had to make calls and win business.
Let's talk why 28 years old…. When you Do the math…, at 28 years old, they've been out of school for 5-6 years. They have experience that you can dig into to validate their success and if they have the capability to be successful in your agency. You can find out what they've had to endure to be successful, in other words, do they have GRIT?
Compare that to a new college grad that has no real experience, they've not made cold calls, haven't dealt with rejection, haven't had to manage their time out in the field with no one looking over their shoulder.
Since the business of selling insurance is about GRIT, the ability to prospect every day, the ability to ask tough questions to qualify a prospect so you're not wasting your time, the ability to get cooperation from a busy underwriter…you want to be in a position where you can verify, validate, confirm that your potential new hire has it. If not, you are rolling the dice on potential rather than validating skills, capability and work ethic.
Not only does a 28 year old have a history that you can dig into and validate, they are getting to that age where they will be settling down. They will soon, if not already, have the burden of buying a house, getting married and potentially having children. That financial pressure increases the chance they will stay focused and in the hunt.
College grads in many cases are trying to figure out who they are. If you find one that has GRIT, knows what they want and they have all the characteristics of a salesperson, then they'd be a great candidate. But, those things are hard to validate when they have no experience.
It would seem that the perfect candidate is a producer that knows the insurance business. 55% of new hires are experienced producers, but that does not spell success. Many of them are leaving a situation that didn't work out, in hopes the next one is better. Be cautious, do not fall for their story, or your check book could easily be the next casualty. Keep this in mind, if they couldn't make where they came from, what would cause you to believe the can make it at your shop.
Validate, validate, validate…. The best advice is to continue to grow your skills to assess, are they Producers with Grit or Pretenders looking to be rescued.
Ultimately, you need talented people regardless of the age, experience or gender. Talented people make heroes of us all.
So hire wisely.
For more information, go to iWin Agency Growth System.
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