3 Insurance Agency Hiring Mistakes Every Agent Needs to Avoid

73% of agency owners say hiring is their biggest challenge. Most solve it the same broken way — generic job posts and hoping for magic.

Craig and Jason sat down with Craig Pretzinger & Jason Feltman to dig into this — no theory, just what works, what failed, and what you can steal for your own book.

The Real Cost

Draw, training, CSR cleanup, subpar client service, opportunity cost of a good hire producing instead. Conservative total: $60-120K. Not a reason to avoid hiring — a reason to stop hiring when desperate.

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Look Outside Insurance

Industry recycles underperformers. Look for proven sellers from adjacent fields — car sales, restaurants, military. Insurance knowledge takes 90 days. Drive and people skills are permanent.

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The One Question

'Tell me about a time you failed and what you did next.' Can't name one? Lying. Blame others? They'll blame you. Describe learning and adjusting? You've found someone who survives year one.

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The 90-Day Scorecard

Week 1-2: licensing, fundamentals. Week 3-4: shadowing. Month 2: supervised production, daily call reviews. Month 3: independent with weekly pipeline meetings. Specific targets: 30 dials/day, 5 QHH/week, 15% close by day 90.

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🎙️ Listen to the full episode: 3 Insurance Hiring Mistakes Every Agent Needs to Avoid - Insurance Agency Playbook Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

The Insurance Dudes — Separating the real from the BS in insurance sales since 2019.