P R A D

There are, however, more meaningful differences in success rates in personal lines, specifically for industry hires versus non-industry hires in the personal lines arena. While there is a slight gap in success rates between producers hired in the industry versus outside of the industry, this gap is much more pronounced in personal lines. Personal lines producers hired from outside of the industry succeeded only 45% of the time.

Interviews with study participants and other firms having strong personal lines practices revealed that direct writers continue to be fertile ground for recruiting from within the industry, especially the recruiting of experienced producers. For recruiting new producers with industry experience but without sales experience, direct writers continue to be a leading source, as well as other brokers, carrier service centers and internal moves. The most popular sources of personal lines producer hires outside of the industry are mortgage and real estate brokers, rental car companies and other service and sales industries.

Success Rates by Source of Hire

66%

63%

57%

45%

Hires from Inside the Industry

Hires from Outside the Industry

Commercial Lines/Employee Benefits Personal Lines

Source: Supplemental survey

The secret to finding good candidates is to let employees, carrier partners, key clients, centers of influence, friends and relatives know that hiring quality personal lines producers is an ongoing priority for the firm, and to have the job description fully developed and ready to share. Regardless of where they are found, the candidates must have the right qualities and skills to match the firms’ targeted customer base and the resources of the agency or broker. The traits of any good personal lines producer parallel those of other types of producers, as discussed earlier in the study. However, a few differences should be noted. Popular industry personality assessment tests often indicate that successful commercial lines producers relish the complexity found in large accounts and are comfortable with longer sales cycles. Personal line producers on the other hand tend to prefer less complexity and shorter sales cycles. In addition, they often have a higher degree of empathy, great listening skills and are detail oriented. The Personal Lines manager of a large multi-location, northeastern firm that employs two “outside” main street producers summarized the trait differences this way: “I looked for producers that are go-getters and want to make money, but are also nurturing, that understand personal issues and know they are providing a service to people, not just selling insurance.”

While all of the basic traits required for all successful personal lines producers are the same, the high net worth producer will need the presence and knowledge to interact effectively with the

53 Producer Recruiting & Development Study