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04/10/2023 · 5 min read
The zero-cost marketing strategy that out-performs ad campaigns is gratitude: handwritten notes after binding, anniversary calls, and post-claim check-ins with no pitch attached. It produces unincentivized referrals, sticky retention, and word-of-mouth growth that no paid channel can replicate.
01/30/2023 · 5 min read
Replacing a sales agent costs $15K to $25K once you stack recruiting, licensing, 2-to-4-month ramp, and lost sales. Most attrition is a lead-supply problem, not a hiring problem. Feeding your existing team a steady flow of quality leads is cheaper than another hire, every time.
08/03/2022 · 5 min read
Find and hire producers who close by writing a specific ideal producer profile, running a five-minute phone screen on coachability and persistence, presenting the role honestly (including the hard parts), moving fast on offers, and setting a written 30/60/90 day ramp plan before day one.
08/01/2022 · 4 min read
Align an insurance agency's marketing, hiring, and sales systems by scoring each on a 1 to 10 scale, fixing the weakest one first, and treating leads, producers, and process as one interdependent engine. A gap in any one caps the other two.
06/08/2022 · 6 min read
The three hiring mistakes that keep insurance agencies stuck are picking candidates on interview enthusiasm instead of production evidence, under-investing in a real 90-day onboarding curriculum, and avoiding the early performance conversation until it has to happen under crisis conditions.
06/06/2022 · 5 min read
Bad hires are expensive. Most agency owners hire reactively without a real standard, then absorb the cost of training someone who never fits. These three non-negotiables filter out the wrong candidates before you spend a dollar on training and protect the team culture you spent years building.
03/30/2022 · 5 min read
Insurance recruiting that works runs as a permanent function, not an emergency project. Build an always-on pipeline from employee referrals, industry-adjacent professionals, LinkedIn outreach, and career-transition candidates, then protect every hire with a real 90-day onboarding plan.
03/16/2022 · 5 min read
Hire when the owner spends more than 20 percent of time on tasks a well-trained staff member could handle, revenue is stable enough to support payroll, or service quality is visibly slipping. Hire in the right sequence: service first, production support second, operations and management roles third.
02/14/2022 · 5 min read
Better insurance agency hiring comes from building a pipeline before you are desperate, screening for activity tolerance and coachability, running behavioral interviews and role play, then moving fast on the offer once you have decided. Slow in screening, fast in close.
12/08/2021 · 5 min read
Plan agency hires twelve to eighteen months ahead of the need, write a fit profile before you start the search, and onboard with a defined ninety-day path. That sequence prevents the two failure modes that keep most agencies understaffed or badly staffed.
10/14/2021 · 6 min read
Structured onboarding has four parts: pre-start preparation, a detailed first-week agenda, a written 30-60-90 day plan, and weekly check-ins for the first 90 days. Cutting early turnover even 20 percent pays for itself many times. Make hard underperformance calls early.
10/14/2021 · 6 min read
Filter candidates with a follow-instructions test embedded in the job post, use behavioral questions tied to resilience and coachability, and run an observed 30-minute sales simulation before any offer. Then run 30, 60, and 90 day checkpoints. Catch misfits at month one, not month four.
10/13/2021 · 6 min read
Build a hiring circuit that runs even when no role is open: visible employer brand, formal referral program with a real bonus, monthly conversations with potential future hires, specific job descriptions that filter by self-selection, and behavioral interviews with a real skills sample.
10/13/2021 · 6 min read
Dave Williams's hiring circuit has five phases: attraction with a job post written as a sales document, initial filtering, structured behavioral interviews, observed performance simulation, and a 90-day onboarding ramp. Treat every bad hire as a circuit gap to fix, not a person to blame.
09/27/2021 · 6 min read
Seven staff principles that separate well-run agencies: clarity beats motivation, real-time feedback beats annual reviews, recognition isn't optional, culture is what you tolerate, hire attitude train skill, weekly one-on-ones, and exit promptly with grace.
09/24/2021 · 6 min read
The agency owners who build great teams share two characteristics: they have high hiring standards and they act on performance problems quickly. Most owners have the first or the second, rarely both.
09/17/2021 · 6 min read
Insurance hiring is brutal because licensing filters out potential, commission scares off salaried candidates, and the industry lacks employer brand recognition. Survive by running a warm pipeline year-round, shortening your interview process, and testing behavior instead of trusting resumes.
08/28/2021 · 5 min read
A real agency hiring system has four parts: outcome-based role definition (30/60/90 day wins), wider sourcing into adjacent industries, structured behavioral interviews, and a 90-day onboarding plan with milestones. Skip any one and you get a revolving door.
08/28/2021 · 5 min read
Build a repeatable insurance agency hiring process with three components: a written candidate profile of behaviors and attitudes (not just licenses), a warm pipeline of 2-3 candidates you keep loose contact with year-round, and structured interviews that test specific job behaviors live.
07/29/2021 · 6 min read
Real delegation requires written one-to-two page process docs for every recurring task, role design where each function has a single accountable owner, and hiring matched to ownership versus execution capacity. Document, train, transfer, step back. The first few processes feel slower than doing it yourself, and pay back indefinitely.