By Jim McCarty, CLU, RHU, LUTCF, RFC

Recruiting and retaining high-quality salespeople in the financial services business are two problems that have plagued general agents and managers in the past and remain prevalent today.

Statistics from the Life Insurance Marketing and Research Association reveal that less than 14 percent of all agents recruited to sell for a particular insurance company are still with that company four years later. I would suggest that the solution to this problem has something to do with us—the general agents and managers. Agents who came into our business and remained loyal in the past did so for the same reasons they will do so today. To reinforce this, I would like to introduce you to a concept I call "likeability."

Likeability consists of several characteristics. These are:

• Smiling easily and often
  
• Having a good sense of humor
  
• Being fun
  
• Complimenting easily and often
  
• Exuding self-confidence
  
• Laughing at yourself
  
• Being a good listener

It is not only important to look for this factor in those agents we recruit; we should also posses it ourselves. If we do not have likeability and we do not genuinely like those with whom we work—namely our agents and brokers—we will start to neglect them. Producers perceive this neglect in numerous ways:

• They feel we take them for granted.
  
• They feel the only time we are interested in them is when they sell a large case.
  
• They feel we spend too much time and attention on new recruits.
  
• They feel we do a poor job of communicating with them.
  
• They feel we drop them like a hot potato once we get them on board.

Your satisfied agents and brokers who like you are your best resource for new recruits.

Getting "buy-in"
General agents and managers have a wealth of information, shortcuts and sales ideas that work. Likeability allows them to share this information and gain "buy in" from their producers. The more they can share these profitable concepts and strategies with their agents to make them successful, the more loyal they will become. The following are a few recommendations for achieving better agent retention:

• Train your agents to focus on, and monitor their own productivity. Assign points to everything and shoot for a certain score each week.
  
• Take a genuine interest in your agents and their careers. Regularly expose them to exciting sales ideas and strongly recommend they become members of their local NAIFA, attend the meetings and become actively involved.
  
• Inspire your agents to enroll in Life Underwriter Training Council classes, which will expand their knowledge and hone their sales skills.

Recruiting success
When I was just beginning to succeed in business I started recruiting others for the agency I worked for. Just as I was then, your satisfied agents and brokers who like you are your best resource for new recruits. Consequently, the following are a few suggestions that will engage your agents—your biggest proponents—and lead to recruiting success:

• Encourage your agents to ask this question: "Have you ever considered going into business for yourself?"
  
• Remind your agents that if they visualize management in their future, learning to recruit now will give them a head start toward that goal.
  
• Urge your agents to make appointments with their clients and prospects in your office, if it is one that you are particularly proud of. Your prosperous surroundings may influence someone to join your agency and "share the wealth."
  
• Challenge your agents to revisit the day when they were recruited into the business and have them write down the reasons that led to their decision. The same reasons that brought them in will bring in others as well.

The process of selling life insurance is one of relationships. The same holds true for the recruiting process. Prospective clients and salespeople must like us, trust us and feel they are receiving something of value from us. As managers and general agents, we must develop and maintain favorable relationships with both our new recruits and veterans. Agents do not leave us because someone else offers them a better deal; they leave us because they feel they have been neglected. Bottom line, they feel we lack likeability.

Jim McCarty, CLU, RHU, LUTCF, RFC, will be teaching the educational workshop "Whatcha Gonna Do When The Well Runs Dry?" at the NAIFA Convention and Career Conference in September. He is vice president of insurance sales with American Express Financial Advisors, and can be reached through jimmccarty@showbizselling.com.

For more information on the NAIFA Convention and Career Conference visit: http://www.naifa.org/convention2003/

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