In 2009, Reagan Consulting conducted “The Young ProducerStudy,” a project designed to identify and investigate those firmsthat had demonstrated success after recruiting and hiring young(under 30) producers.

The purpose was to convey to the insurance agency/brokeragecommunity the opportunity that exists to recruit young people intosales positions and to provide as clear a picture as possible ofthe characteristics of the best candidates and outline the mosteffective practices for recruiting and developing them.

More than 90 successful young producers from 54 firms wereincluded in the study. The results the young producers generatedwere extremely impressive, with total books of business thatapproached $600,000 by their fifth year of employment. In total,the study produced five key takeaways:

• College recruiting works.
• When recruiting young producers from outside the industry, lookbeyond sales.
• The economics of young-producer hiring are attractive.
• Hiring young producers is a different game than hiringexperienced producers.
• Look for the well-rounded individual, not the rocketscientist.

As a research firm, we wanted to get an update on how theseproducers were doing. So this summer, we set out to reconnect withthe 91 producers and get an update on their careers. 

We discovered that 80 of the 91 were still at the same firm theywere with when we conducted the study. Ten of the producers haveremained in that capacity but with another agency; and, strikingly,only one had left the industry to become a stay-at-home mom. So theinsurance-producer role appears to be a sustainable one for ouroriginal group.

Of the 91 individuals studied, 50 agreed to participate in abrief survey and interview to update us on their progress. These 50participants represented 42 different firms with revenues rangingfrom $5 million to $1.6 billion, or a median of $22.7 million. Interms of the type of insurance sold, 35 were in commercial P&C,eight were in employee benefits, and seven sell both commercialP&C and employee benefits.

In reviewing their book each year from 2009 through where theywere projecting to end 2012, we can definitively say their successhas continued. All told, their median total book is projected tohave grown at a compound-annual-growth rate of 13 percent duringthis three-year period. The median producer had started to work atthe firm at age 24 and plans to eclipse the $500,000-book mark byage 29 after five years with the firm; plans to eclipse the$750,000-book mark at age 32 after eight years with the firm; andprojects to have a book of $1,150,000 by age 37 (five years fromnow) after 13 years at the firm.

In addition to their total book of business, we also asked themto quantify the total new business they generated from 2009-2011and what they projected they would generate in new business(commissions) in 2012. Once again, the results were impressive: Themedian producer in this group of 50 is generating averagenew-business commissions of $117,000 per year.

In the original study we discovered that 48 percent of thecommercial P&C producers under 30 operated within a niche. Thattrend has continued and actually accelerated a bit: Currently, 56percent of these producers are operating in niches, withConstruction, Nonprofits, Hospitality & Recreation, and RealEstate being the most prevalent.

Not surprisingly, many of the young producers have assumedleadership roles in their firms, ranging from practice group leaderto sales manager.

The Young Producer Study and the complete update can be viewedat our website, www.reaganconsulting.com. Ifyou do not have a strategy for recruiting young people into yourorganization, we would encourage you to do so.