Last week three of my agency clients asked me to find them a licensed customer service/support candidate with 1 to 2 years of independent insurance agency experience that will work in their office; someone they could fast track into an account manager. While I’d love to show them a variety of candidates that fit that bill, sadly, our industry has not done a good job of providing licensing and training opportunities for entry level candidates, so there are very few licensed 1-2 year people to choose from. The insurance industry is constantly evolving and we need to develop the next generation of insurance talent. We have to provide entry level candidates with that all important “1st year” of insurance experience.
I am dedicated to helping agencies hire entry level support talent. Here’s my list of skills and attributes that you want to look for.
1. Strong Analytical Skills
The ability to analyze complex policy language and help customers make insurance decisions is crucial. A candidate with strong analytical skills will be able to efficiently assess risks, evaluate policies, and provide accurate quotes to clients. They will have a keen eye for detail, ensuring that every aspect of a policy is carefully reviewed and understood. There are several personality profile tools available that will help you gauge analytical skills, and I strongly recommend adding a profile assessment to your interview process if you don’t use one already.
2. Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite
The ability to work with Microsoft Office programs, especially Excel and Word, are non-negotiables. Entry level support candidates should have at least an intermediate proficiency with these programs. They should be able to import tables, create spreadsheets, manipulate formulas, and should be very comfortable using Outlook and video meeting platforms. I recommend that your interview process include computer skills testing that requires the candidate to actually perform tasks using Word or Excel, not just answer multiple choice questions about the software.
3. Ability to talk on the phone
We live in an age now of “online, text, or app” everything, but insurance is still bound by talking with a licensed agent, so you want to hire candidates that are comfortable talking on the phone. My recommendation is to create a role play situation so that you can see firsthand how your future employee communicates over the phone. Are they constantly saying “like, um, you know” to the point where you start counting them? Do they listen carefully to questions and summarize the problem to make sure they understand the situation? Do they sound confident on the phone? Can you understand them clearly? Starting out with a short phone call instead of a video call will give you an opportunity to hear the candidate’s responses to your questions and saves you time if they lack polished verbal communication skills. Then if you feel good after the call, schedule a video or an in-person meeting right away to show your interest.
4. Accuracy and attention to detail
When my clients tell me about a junior employee who they had to let go, the number one reason I hear is lack of accuracy and attention to detail. You want to be looking for clues right off the bat starting with their resume. Are there typos or poor grammar? Does the resume state “to present’ when in fact they are no longer at the firm, and then when you ask about why they want to leave, they tell you that they are no longer there and that you must have the “wrong resume”? When they email back/forth with you to arrange the first interview meeting, are there typos or capitalization errors? If you bring it to their attention, do they blame their iPhone for their lack of proofreading? If they send you a follow up email after the first interview, how does it look? Does it have complete sentences? Are words spelled correctly? If there are obvious errors, you have to ask yourself if the candidate is cut out for the heavy data entry and accuracy necessary in an entry level support role.
5. Coachable and resilient
Every job description that I see lists the attributes “coachable, and great team player”. My advice to uncover these attributes is to ask questions about times when their supervisor or team lead pointed out a problem with their work quality. Ask them to describe the situation in detail. Drill down and find out if this was a recurring problem or a single instance. Listen carefully, are they owning their error or are they blaming other people, processes, or saying that there were unreasonable expectations? Ask what they did differently to avoid future errors. Your trainee needs to be able to learn from constructive criticism without taking offence or blaming others. You want someone who quickly adapts to coaching from you or your team leaders and has the resiliency to bounce back and not take everything personally.
6. Problem solving and the ability to find own answers
One of the biggest reasons clients tell me that they can’t hire a trainee is that they just don’t have time to train. When I drill down further it really comes down to staff feeling like entry level candidates lack problem solving skills and the ability to use resources to find answers to their problems. If they can’t find it on Google, they are stuck. The ability to “fight their way out of a wet paper bag” is a key skill in high demand in a busy agency. My advice is to ask a question about a problem they are have had at their current or most recent job. You are looking for logic, creativity, and a sense of problem ownership. Ask them to walk you through the steps they used and how they got to the solution. How long did it take? Who else was involved? Did the problem get solved? The other thing I recommend is giving applicants a customer service issue to solve in a role play as part of your interview process. This gives you a chance to see how they think on their feet, and it will provide valuable clues into their problem-solving abilities and resourcefulness.
7. Sense of urgency
Agencies are busy and customers want quick follow up and timely answers. Your entry level candidate must act with a sense of urgency and have strong follow up skills. The best place to gauge this skill is at the beginning and end of the first interview. Does the candidate respond quickly to your email or voicemail to set up the interview or are you waiting a day or more for a response? If you ask them to provide information such as references, do testing, or send additional info, does the candidate give you a timeline for completion or do they just send it when they get around to it? My advice is to create a situation in your interview process that requires the candidate to provide you with some type of “work product”. It could be a request for information for a follow up call or completion of testing. This will give you a chance to see their follow up skills firsthand.
Hiring good entry level talent is critical to building your bench of future account managers. Insurance Resourcing has a program to help you find your “next-gen” talent. Call me to discuss how to find your next rising star!
