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

The purpose was to convey to the insurance agency/brokerage community the opportunity that exists to recruit young people into sales positions and to provide as clear a picture as possible of the characteristics of the best candidates and outline the most effective practices for recruiting and developing them.

More than 90 successful young producers from 54 firms were included in the study. The results the young producers generated were extremely impressive, with total books of business that approached $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, look beyond sales.
• The economics of young-producer hiring are attractive.
• Hiring young producers is a different game than hiring experienced producers.
• Look for the well-rounded individual, not the rocket scientist.

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