P R A D

provided. However, new producers without a sales background (inside or outside the industry) benefit greatly from sales training, particularly from outside resources. Any type of sales training is beneficial  internal, external, or a combination of both  but neglecting to develop a new salesperson’s skills can position the new producer for failure.

Success Rate of Those Hired from a Sales Background

Success Rate of Those Hired from a Non-Sales Background

70%

65%

64%

63%

59%

59%

57%

45%

No Sales Training

Internal Training from Firm Only

Combination of Internal & Outside Training

Outside Resources Training Only

No Sales Training

Internal Training from Firm Only

Combination of Internal & Outside Training

Outside Resources Training Only

Source: Supplemental survey

Taking a combined look at sales and technical training requirements helps to explain why a majority (55%) of all the producers hired in the supplemental survey were experienced producers from another firm. Producers hired from another firm are the only type of producer hire that does not require – or succeed based on – sales or technical training.

Other Resources

We also evaluated other forms of support and oversight being provided by agencies to enhance producer development and have included the percentage of firms doing each in the graphic on the following page. Today’s top firms closely monitor activity levels from day one, setting clear mileposts throughout the first several months of employment. Today’s agency leaders have sped up their evaluation process for new producers. They used to assess results slowly - sometimes waiting a year or more to evaluate a new producer’s progress. Today, more sophisticated activity measurement techniques allow for earlier course corrections, and in some cases, early identification of producers that are destined to fail. In these cases, cutting the cord more quickly allows for rapid redeployment of precious investment dollars into those producers who show the greatest promise. We were a bit surprised at the number of firms providing some form of lead generation assistance. In the interviews of the top performers, it was apparent that the traditional approach of dialing-for dollars and blindly calling for expiration dates has largely been replaced by more sophisticated initiatives that are tightly focused on targeted industry or geographic segments.

43 Producer Recruiting & Development Study