Insurance producers are a tough bunch to keep happy. Their job is not easy either, as you well know. There’s nothing more demoralizing than hearing “no” all day long, when there’s nothing more that both of you want to hear than “yes.” Yes means money and it means you’re doing a good job. Your job as a supervisor is to set the scene for as many yes-es to be heard as possible. It is very important to set high expectations for all of your most talented producers, but it’s equally important to make those employees feel valued. We have 11 strategies to keep your top performers happy.
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Balance
Like everyone else and probably more than most, insurance producers must work hard to maintain balance in their lives. This sounds easier than it is for your prized producer, who is a pusher. There are never enough hours in a day to make the most amount of money possible. If your producer tends to stay late to wrap up work and does it often, you may want to encourage him/her to go home earlier and start the next day refreshed. Burnout is a very real worry for just about anyone, but it’s especially difficult for very goal-oriented insurance producers. This creature hates any cap on income so they will resist cutting back on the extra work hours they’re probably tacking on. Remind him/her that taking time for the family is equally important as meeting targeted goals.
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Buy Leads
Your top producers may be bringing in lots of business for you, but are they making as much as they’d like? Probably not -- and generating insurance leads only eats up your producer’s time. Rarely do people stay content with the same salary for several years in a row. It’s a natural tendency to want to improve upon your numbers and that’s especially true for your most ambitious employees. Of course, it’s in your best interest to stretch your producers’ earnings too, so buy insurance leads from SmartFinancial, a company known for generating the best insurance leads in the business. Solid organically-driven leads are worth the investment and time saved. Even if your top producers close a small percentage of bought leads, you’re still getting a strong ROI at the end of the day.
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Referrals
Encourage your most frustrated producers to contact existing clients for referrals. You can build a whole career based solely on referral calls (even winbacks, if you have a good list). There are tactical and psychological reasons why these leads are more likely to buy insurance than someone on the other end of a cold call. Some insurance agents rely solely on referrals to keep writing new business. While we lean towards using diverse sources to generate insurance leads, it is true that referrals are the richest free resource at a producer’s fingertips!
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Clean up
Don’t leave the task of generating leads in your producers’ laps alone. If your producers are getting no response after you send out emails and newsletters, your message may be not making it into people’s inboxes. There are many reasons why this would happen and you may be getting reported as spam if you haven’t gone in and removed unsubscribe requests. Make sure to clean up data regularly. Otherwise, you’ll be spending time on writing copy that no one sees unless they are checking their spam box! Also, make sure your emails are worthy of being read. Don’t send fluff just to send something.
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Get Social
Consider promoting your top producers in nicely photographed features on social media. Networking on Facebook is nothing new but using Facebook ads to target your ideal demographic(s) may be an avenue you have not explored in the past. While this way of generating insurance leads is not as efficient as buying insurance leads, it will bring your agency and top producers some much-needed exposure.
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More Leads
Aside from buying insurance leads for your top producers, you will want to generate as many insurance leads as you can on your own as well. Use every opportunity to make a lead out of any interested party. For instance, add a lead form on your website, asking only for the most important information bits of information like name, number and email address. You may lose interested visitors to your website otherwise. There are tons of ways to create free leads if you have the time to do it. If not, buy from SmartFinancial, who does all the marketing for you.
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Live Ones
If you really want to make a wise investment in your top performers, buy them live-transfer calls from SmartFinancial. These are the most expensive type of insurance leads you can buy, but they are far more likely to convert to sales because the shopper is actively shopping when they are transferred to you. You and your producers will love these leads the best after you give them a try and grow your agency’s revenue exponentially. We promise.
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Does it Pay?
You want to give your top producers a decent base salary, but not one they would want to live on alone. As you determine which of your employees are more productive over others, you can ensure that they earn more too. It’s easy to keep boosting that progress by giving those people more organically generated leads and paid leads (live transfer calls especially)! Make these leads your golden handcuffs. And don’t ever make the mistake of “helping” your less talented producers by supplying them with expensive leads. You’ll only lose money. In fact, the best advice we can give agents is to give as many leads as possible to the top tier salespeople only!
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Set High Goals
People are really not very different from dogs. They want to have goals and get trained to meet them and make you happy. Your top salesperson may be amazing at closing deals but they may not be the most organized people. Begin setting goals after you get a feel for how many deals they are closing without your help. Determine a goal that won’t be easy to meet yet it shouldn’t make the producer feel overwhelmed. It should be within reach -- but only after breaking a good sweat. Goals are a must. If you don’t express what kind of performance you’d like to see, you may never see it.
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Ask and You Shall Receive
Have an open dialogue with your top performers. Keep things friendly and honest because there’s nothing a good producer appreciates more than frankness. Ask him/her how (s)he prefers to be managed. Do they want to meet once a week or several times a week? And just ask, “What would make you want to stay at this company for the next five years?” You’re sure to get an answer that will shape your relationship for the long-haul, and you’ll know exactly what you need to do to keep your most talented people on your team.
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Give Rewards
Small awards and prizes along the way to a big bonus are a great way to keep your valued insurance producers from jumping ship to another company you simply can’t compete with salary-wise. The fun of smaller rewards along the way will make your top people feel appreciated and creates a feeling of camaraderie. If you can, let your producers choose their own rewards. Maybe it’s an Apple Watch or the day off for getting the top scorer for the month. There’s nothing better than getting what you want!
