Attitude is contagious and belief is everything. Since both belief and positive attitude are a choice, having the right staff on your agency’s team is also a choice. Hiring the right people is how you make that choice. Surely it is tough to realize that you may have some people on your team who are infecting the rest with their negative energy, but removing the negatives and adding positives is not only good for the attitude of your staff, but also for your agency’s success.
Positive, driven people are more likely to be passionate about what they do and reach for personal success. In the insurance agency, the personal success rate of your agents is directly related to the success rate of your agency as a whole. Sales are made by people who are go-getters with a positive attitude and a solid relationship with customers.
So how can you hire those people every single time?
Hiring decisions take energy and thought. It’s best to go into any hiring process with a plan of action. Think of these three things first:
1. What traits will the ideal candidate have both personality and work-wise?
2. What work skills does your team lack?
3. What questions will get to the bottom of these needs?
Think about the 5 most important traits your ideal candidate will have. If your team lacks critical skills, but has a positive attitude, look for someone who can bring those skills to the table and then mentor everyone else in them as well.
Focus on behavioral questions. This will help you to determine all of this. These are the questions that ask about experiences as they relate to how the candidate responded to a situation. This is a great way to determine their attitude – are they remaining positive despite a tough situation? Good! This is someone you want on your team.
Get creative with it. The more abstract your questions are, the better the answers you will get. Candidates are going to be prepared for the basic questions – get them to open up by asking the more unique ones. Test their positivity during the interview.
And the final test – did YOU walk out of the interview feeling positive? If so, you may have found your agency’s next hire!