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THREE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONSOF YOUR AGENCY AND HOW TO STAFF THEM 129

schedules that are weighted towards new business pro-
duction. I personally think this is an excellent strategy
because it focuses the attention of the producer on
producing, not on client service. However you choose
to structure employment for producers, be sure that you
don’t overpay them.

Why Do Producers Fail?

One of the reasons that our industry has such a high
failure rate with producers is we do a very poor job
of hiring. There are a variety of reasons for this, but I
believe the agency owner must understand that sales-
people make terrible interviewers and hirers. If you are
successful in sales, it is (at least in part) because you’re
a people person. And you have a high need to convince
others. As an interviewer, this results in the agency
owner selling the prospective employee. This is made
even worse by the sales personalities’ natural wiring to
like everyone they meet. Not a good role reversal in an
interview.
Another reason we hire poorly is that candidates
misrepresent themselves. There have been some studies
on the subject that indicate that up to fifty percent of
applicants outright lie on their resumes. Certainly, in
any interview, the candidate will behave in a way they
think is conducive to getting the job. Have you ever
met a candidate for a sales position who seemed shy
and introverted?
The answers to this problem are twofold. The first
is to use some kind of applicant screening testing or
survey. Two popular in our industry are Peoplesoft™
and Caliper™. They are expensive, but if they work, they
are far cheaper than a bad hire. I personally have not
had very good success with either and can’t recommend