With the countless online avenues available to find and recruit new talent to join your agency, it can be overwhelming to hone in on the essential tech assets to make sure you’re staying competitive. Here are a few ways you can stand out from the competition and recruit the best talent out there:
1. Check Your Tech.
Experience is priceless, but you can’t grow an insurance agency if all of your agents are looking to cut back on their hours and retire in a few years. For an insurance agency to have a future, it needs to have fresh recruits in the pipeline. And it needs to have fresh ideas to balance tried-and-true strategies and tactics.
As you go about recruiting new agents to join your firm, remember that the right fit needs to go both ways—recruits will be measuring your agency up just as much as you are them. For the youngest generation in the workforce—millennials—this means they will have expectations about technology. Are you investing in new tech? Do you have tech systems in place that will entice new hires?
2. Your Online Presence
The first place most of your prospective new employees will look is your website. Try to imagine looking at yours for the first time. What does the appearance tell you about your agency? Is the site organized in a functional way? How useful is the information you’ve chosen to include?
While a simple website is better than no website, today’s younger workforce is used to lots of bells and whistles, including videos, chatbots and more. How does yours stack up?
Prospect recruits are also likely to look at your social media presence. How well-maintained is yours? If you can’t keep up with regular posting on your own, it might be worth it to bring in an agency or freelancer to help out.
3. Are you mobile?
Does your agency have a mobile app? A good insurance app will allow your clients to accomplish all kinds of activities, from easily accessing policy details to uploading photos for insurance claims. If your first thought is ‘What mobile app?,’ it might be time to consider adding this tool.
Clients aren’t the only ones who will appreciate the convenience. For an agent recruit, a good mobile app means they will have to spend less time holding clients’ hands, giving your agents more time to sell and earn.
4. Utilize Packaged Technology
Younger insurance agents will also appreciate having access to good internal technology. An agency management system (AMS) can help you create proposals, track policies and commissions, forecast your business through detailed reporting and more. All of your information is stored safely and easily accessed from anywhere since it’s kept in the cloud.
If you haven’t yet explored this option, know that there will be an up-front investment of time to set up your AMS and a learning curve as you get to know the software, not to mention the cost of the service. Many agencies find this investment to be worth it, and it’s clear that this sort of technology is not a flash in the pan. New insurance recruits will expect it.
5. Highlight Changes to Come
If your technology is not where it could or should be, it may seem daunting to bring it up to speed. But why not use that to your advantage? Make the fact that you are looking for someone to take the lead on technology part of your next job posting. Embrace the technology skills that a new recruit can bring. Your willingness to support new employees and let them shine is what will get you the kind of top-notch team you need to grow your agency and your business.
From best practices in technology usage to how to go about hiring new agents, your Hometown Quotes Regional Director is a great source of information about all things insurance. Give us a call at 800-820-2981.
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