Challenges
Producer onboarding done correctly helps reinforce relationships between producers and their partners in the insurance industry. Conversely, a poorly executed onboarding process can discourage both new recruits and those who recruited them.
Even a streamlined process can be complicated depending on what partners are involved and in which states. Making agents fill out the same information over and over, sometimes on real paper or in several different apps or systems, causes irritation at the very least, and pulls them out of their core business of selling to clients.
Best Practices
Every stakeholder in an insurance pipeline is best served when producers are onboarded and greenlighted to sell as soon as possible.
This goal is best achieved by enabling a fast and efficient process. Use a standardized checklist to be sure you systematically cover each necessary piece of information, such as:
- E&O certificate
- When required, a statement verifying an agent’s release from a previous agency relationship
- W-9 form
- If necessary (depending on state and appointing carriers) a digital copy of the agent’s physical license
- Documentation of past regulatory actions and an agent’s explanation
- When necessary, a list of which carriers an agent is appointed with
Aside from pre-populating information from national data sources, using self-service tools that allow producers to input their own data is more efficient than having a third person transfer producer information from one source to another. Where possible, have every new producer follow and invest in technology to minimize manual and duplicate entry as much as possible.
Producer Onboarding FAQs
1. What is an approximate average for onboarding a new insurance producer?
Most agencies take two to three weeks to get a new producer up and running, although with the right tools, that process can be cut down to as little as two days – or as fast as the relevant states can process their license transactions.
MGAs, which require less extensive processes, typically take two or so days.
Carriers may take two to three weeks to completely onboard new producers, but, like agencies, may see that timeline radically reduced by automated digital tools.
2. Don’t most insurance businesses need more or less the same pieces of information from prospects and agents?
Yes. Although the Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development (ACORD) sets global standards for best practices and standardized electronic forms and processes aimed to enable better cooperation and communication between agencies, carriers, MGAs, and the agents they serve, most of these businesses still have unique requirements and and information they request from new agents.