In recruiting, qualify before you sell

Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of articles offering “best practices” suggestions for the hiring process in the independent agency. More information is available at iiat.org under Agency Management.

In the first article of this series (Insurance Journal — Texas/South Central, Oct. 17, 2005, Adopting a Marketing Approach to Recruiting), I compared the process of attracting employment candidates to the process of attracting clients. Both involve “selling” an intangible service and establishing a long-term relationship. I explained the first phase of the marketing process, which included identifying the target market, differentiating yourself from competing employers and creating a promotional strategy. Assuming you have been successful in attracting candidates, the next phase is to qualify for fit and potential and then close the “sale.” You must determine which candidate possesses the skills and attributes you desire and identify the “buying” criteria necessary to hire the one you want.

In sales training for insurance producers, experts emphasize the importance of qualifying a prospect before devoting resources to a full-court press. Producers are cautioned to resist the temptation to sell before they understand the needs and expectations of the prospect or before they can determine whether the prospect would make a good client.

Qualifying a prospect means avoiding spending scarce resources on long-shot opportunities or short-term relationships. The same rationale applies to the hiring process. Use the qualifying phase of the hiring process in a way that rations agency resources and positions you to close the “sale” on the candidate you want. A good job of qualifying will also help you position the agency to sell to the right needs of the candidate and allow you to sell value not price, thus reducing the pressure on compensation.

Qualifying the candidate
The first step in the qualifying or pre-screening phase is to quickly screen out candidates who are obviously not qualified. Quickest and often most effective is requiring candidates to submit a resume and cover letter via e-mail followed by a brief telephone interview. The quality of the resume and the ability to comply via e-mail will give you initial insight into qualifications. If the resume indicates a fit, next use the telephone interview to preview interpersonal communication skills. Ask why the interest in the job and what qualities are desired in an employer.

For the candidates that get through the pre-screen, the next step is be to validate the skills noted on the resume and to evaluate the ability to acquire skills. While it is great if you have a candidate with industry experience and insurance-specific technical knowledge, the fact is that such people are increasingly hard to find, especially with the attributes necessary to drive the future of your agency. If you do find them, the pay demands can wreak havoc on your existing pay structure. Might it be more effective in the long run to hire an intelligent individual with the right aptitude and teach the technical knowledge? I recommend three steps to qualify the capacity for learning and the emotional resiliency necessary to excel in this business in an order that will consume the least amount of time from upper management.

IQ and general skills tests: Don’t confuse a lack of formal education with a lack of intelligence. Some of the best hires I’ve made were individuals who, for whatever reason, did not have the opportunity for higher education; however, you do need people with a minimum level of skills and with the capacity for learning. A simple, validated IQ test can help determine whether the candidate possesses the level of intelligence to learn the technical aspects of the job. A number of generic skills tests are available on the Internet or you can create your own. These tests can be administered to the candidate at the office.

Determine the EQ (Emotional Intelligence): Writer Earl Nightingale wrote, “you become what you think about.” In a service-intensive, relationship business like ours, emotional intelligence is more important than a high IQ. Change and stress are constants in our dynamic industry. You need employees that can make every customer encounter a positive experience regardless of the turmoil. While an increasing number of EQ tests are becoming available, none has been heavily battle-tested in the real world. The next best thing is a well-executed initial interview. The entire emphasis of the initial interview is to understand the candidate. Absolutely resist the temptation to sell in the first interview.

Ask open-ended questions that will indicate emotional growth such as:

Tell me about important milestones and experiences in your life since graduating from high school.

What decisions are you most proud of and why?

What decisions do you most regret and why?

What values, both work and personal, are most important to you?

What do you want out of working for the agency?

Ask your questions and then listen. Notice that there are no inappropriate employment practices questions. You will be surprised at what people will tell you. The answers should give you an indication of emotional growth and uncover the needs you will sell to when you decide to make the offer.

Personality profile: No hiring process is fool proof and neither are personality profiles; however, personality profiles can help independently validate the impressions you get in the initial interview; plus provide the basis for follow-up questions for any gaps in perceptions. The profile can also be a valuable tool later when managing and developing the employee.

Selling the agency
Once you’ve identified the candidate you want, it’s time to close the deal. Start by sharing the agency’s story its history, accomplishments, strengths and weaknesses. Next, share the agency’s aspirations the vision, opportunities and challenges. Last, disclose fully your expectations of employees agency values, employment policies, evaluation criteria and process.

Don’t sugar coat any of the negatives associated with the job or the agency. It will only cost you turnover and the frankness will be attractive to most quality candidates. Many firms are starting to create realistic job previews that include such things as office tours, observation of operations and staff introductions.

Making the offer
When making the offer of employment, remember the analogy with the insurance sale. An experienced producer uses information about the needs and expectations of the prospect obtained in the qualification phase of the selling process to shape the proposal. An employment offer should take the same approach. Your proposal for employment should be expressed in terms that are aligned with the needs of the candidate identified during the qualification phase. This will help you sell value, not price and help remove compensation as a possible obstacle.

Rick Bondurant is director of agency management resources for the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas. rbond@iiat.org.

Topics Talent Training Development