Originally Posted On: https://e123insurtech.com/insurance-innovation/attract-motivate-retain-the-best-agents
How to Attract, Motivate, and Retain the Best Agents
Hundreds of thousands of health insurance agents in the United States choose which products to sell from thousands of health insurance companies daily. As a carrier, you need to provide agents with a reason to sell and prioritize your products or they will simply move on to the next carrier. Recruiting and retaining high-performing agents is critical for insurance distribution. So how can you stand out and attract the best agents to sell your products?
Be Easy to Do Business With
76% of agents said they would sell more for insurance companies that are easy to do business with. That isn’t something many carriers have focused on, so you may have a reputation for exactly the opposite. If you’re not investing in technology that makes distribution simpler, you likely won’t be considered easy to do business with.
A Shifting Power Dynamic
The insurance industry is going through a major shift. Carriers have historically invested in technology focused in areas such as claims processing but not distribution. Downlines are currently undergoing their own digital transformations, adopting new solutions to manage and increase distribution. Their expectations for digital interactions with carriers have increased, and nowhere is this more evident than with regards to commissions Research firm Celent’s survey of independent insurance agents concluded that agents “expect to significantly increase their digital interactions in the overall agency/insurer relationship. Agents expect digital commissions management, self-service onboarding, and electronic licensing.” Agents are no longer willing to tolerate complicated commission spreadsheets full of errors when they know better solutions are available.
The Power of Digital Commission Solutions
The right digital commission management tools do far more than integrate legacy data sources and provide accurate commission reports. They offer flexible commission structures that can give you a unique competitive advantage in attracting and motivating top producing agents.
e123’s agent research demonstrates that agents expect and require:
- Timely commissions
- Accurate, detailed commission statements for transparency and intuitive reconciliation
- Flexible commission payments based on their preferred schedule – weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly
Imagine having to reconcile every single paycheck to ensure you’re getting paid correctly. Sounds painful, right? Agents don’t want to spend hours comparing every line item on their paycheck to their manual records. And then spend more time calling carriers to get the errors corrected. If you can get commissions right, you will win the agent’s loyalty. In research conducted by Highpoint Associates, one regional carrier said, “Underpayment creates a loss of goodwill with sales staff and can influence agents/brokers sales incentives and carriers’ market reputations.”
Beyond meeting agent needs, commissions are a powerful tool to increase revenue. A digital commission solution can provide the flexibility to test and create incentives that can motivate downline and agent behavior. With the ability to quickly change commissions by product, geography, agency, agent, date range, or campaign, you can test and learn various compensation structures to understand how incentives impact sales. With this knowledge, you can use commissions as a strategic tool to drive sales of certain business lines, products, or geographic regions.
Carrier Growth Relies on Meeting Agent Needs
If you are not adopting technology that meets agent needs, agents will perceive you as difficult to work with. This can result in not only having a tough time finding new agents and optimizing downlines for new distribution, but also losing high-performing agents who choose to prioritize other carriers’ products.
On the other hand, offering flexible, timely, transparent commissions through a tech-enabled solution will attract and retain the best-performing agents. Agent retention is critical to maximizing insurance distribution and downline optimization, ultimately driving revenue and growth. Earning a reputation of being easy to work with will empower downlines to focus on your products.
Flexible Commissions are Easier Than You Think
Make commissions a competitive advantage instead of a business disruptor. e123’s Commissions for Carriers makes accurate, timely, transparent, and flexible commissions possible. Learn more.
