Hiring the Right People

Introduction

Hiring in an insurance brokerage is not simply about filling a desk or answering a growing phone queue. Every hire affects client trust, renewal quality, compliance, service speed, and the amount of work the owner must still carry. A strong account manager can protect a book of business and deepen client relationships. The wrong hire can miss a certificate request, mishandle a policy change, or create an errors-and-omissions risk.

The Talent Funnel treats hiring like a managed pipeline. It helps you attract people who understand the job, remove poor matches early, and prepare the right person to perform well. The goal is not to receive the largest number of applications. The goal is to find people who can handle the real demands of insurance work and fit the way your brokerage serves clients.

Concept

The Talent Funnel has three connected parts: Hiring, Training, and The Repellent Job Ad. Each part helps you build a dependable brokerage team rather than making rushed hiring decisions.

#

Hiring

Hiring starts with defining what success looks like in the actual role. A producer, commercial account manager, personal lines service representative, and claims advocate need different skills. Before advertising, list the work the person will perform, the decisions they may make, and the standards they must meet.

For example, a commercial account manager may need to collect loss runs, review exposure changes, prepare renewal submissions, request certificates, and follow up with underwriters. The job description should explain that the role includes detailed documentation, deadline control, and difficult conversations with clients when coverage information is incomplete. It should also state which systems the person will use, such as the agency management system, carrier portals, and a comparative rater.

Use a scorecard instead of relying on instinct. Score candidates on insurance experience, written communication, attention to detail, willingness to learn, client judgment, and ability to manage a renewal calendar. Ask every candidate the same core questions. For example, ask how they would handle a business owner who has not returned a completed application three days before a renewal deadline. Their answer shows more than a resume title.

#

Training

Once you hire someone, training should turn the new employee into a safe, useful member of the brokerage. Do not assume that a person with insurance experience knows your workflows. Different agencies use different procedures for submissions, endorsements, certificates, documentation, escalation, and compliance.

Build a 30-, 60-, and 90-day plan. During the first 30 days, the employee should learn your agency management system, carrier access, privacy rules, file naming standards, phone procedures, and service expectations. By day 60, they should complete low-risk tasks under review, such as certificate requests, policy changes, and renewal data collection. By day 90, they should manage an assigned group of routine requests with documented quality checks.

Pair training with real examples. Let a new account manager review a well-organized renewal file, a file with missing information, and a file that required an errors-and-omissions correction. Explain not only what was done, but why it protected the client and the brokerage. Have the trainee repeat the process while a senior employee observes, then review a sample of completed work each week.

#

The Repellent Job Ad

A Repellent Job Ad is designed to discourage applicants who are not suited to the real work. It is not rude or misleading. It is honest about the pressure, detail, and responsibility involved in insurance brokerage.

A service representative ad might say that the role includes managing a high-volume request queue, documenting every client conversation, meeting certificate and endorsement deadlines, and working through policy language that may not be easy to understand. Add a simple attention test, such as asking applicants to include the phrase “coverage first” in the subject line and answer one short client-service question. Candidates who ignore clear instructions are showing you how they may handle policy details and client requests.

Conclusion

The Talent Funnel gives an insurance broker a repeatable way to build the team. Define the role honestly, screen for judgment and care, train through documented brokerage workflows, and use a clear job ad to filter for serious candidates. This reduces rushed hiring, protects service quality, and gives the owner a team that can manage client work without constant rescue.