How to Choose an FMO: Strategies for Recruiting Agents in 2025

Strategies for Recruiting Talent in 2025

Now, if you’re ready to jump, you may also want to add to your team. According to the Big ‘I’ and Future One’s 2024 study, 46% of agencies said screening job candidates with strong potential was their third most challenging issue. 

Let’s look at strategies for adding downline agents and building your foundation of success. This will not happen overnight, but with the support of an FMO/IMO/NMO, you’ll find it much easier to start adding your team—your downline.

Creating Agent Talent Pools 

Becoming a licensed agent is pretty straightforward, but finding individuals who excel in customer service and sales skills is the real challenge. When looking through resumes or job candidates, start by making three pools of candidates.

The first pool will consist of Licensed Agents with Insurance Sales Experience, the second of Licensed Agents, and the third of Experienced Salespeople who are not licensed. This will help you in creating a hierarchy of vetting candidates. 

You can manage your candidates with a simple spreadsheet. Enter their personal information for easy sorting later, including columns for the licenses they hold. If hired, adding them to your Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) is easier.

Pool #1: Licensed Agents with Insurance Sales Experience

• List various insurance licenses, NPN, and length of time in business
• Carriers they have been or are contracted with (if applicable)
• Sales experience (insurance, Salesforce, and other sales/marketing software)
• Technology acumen, PC/Mac, CRM, databases, Salesforce, virtual platforms
• Customer service, compliance, contracts
• If they were/are independent, they may possess human management skills
• Familiarity with industry products, carriers, compliance, and selling seasons

Pool #2: Licensed Agents

• List various insurance licenses, NPN, and length of time in business
• Carriers they have been or are contracted with (if applicable)
• Sales experience (insurance, Salesforce, and other sales/marketing software)
• Technology acumen, PC/Mac, CRM, databases, Salesforce, virtual platforms
• Customer service, compliance, contracts

Pool #3: Experienced Salespeople (Not Licensed)

• Please note if this person has any insurance industry experience, such as a CSR, underwriter, or other area of insurance.
• Years of sales and an understanding of strategies, leads, goals, closing
• Knowledge of product and/or service, or “ownership” of a product
• Initiative, motivation, and willingness to learn

This is your hierarchy of hiring. No matter which pool you hire from, ensure that all agents have soft skills like communication and active listening, relationship building, emotional intelligence, problem-solving, time management, organization, and integrity. 

When adding to your downline, consider that it only takes one agent to violate a compliance issue, hurt a relationship, or damage your reputation. Choose wisely when building your team, and take your time to find agents who genuinely value client relationships.

As you select agents, set and manage expectations – yours and theirs. Create a plan to balance your agents’ online training and their time job shadowing with clients. While your agents are getting trained, use your work time to continue serving your clients.

Where can you find new agents?

Position your business in such a way that it’s not only client-facing but also recognizable because you network, sponsor, host, and stay involved in your community. Joining industry-related organizations is also a way to expand your reach.

Being active and relevant on social media is also a great touchpoint. For agents, getting your LinkedIn profile up and making regular connections is important, as it is primarily geared to building business relationships.

As mentioned earlier, colleges are anxious to hire their graduates soon after graduation. Consider offering these candidates free soft skills training, professional development, and job shadowing. You may find your next best agent.

Take the time to assess the communities you are selling in and identify your Centers of Influence (COIs). Your COIs are usually business owners, financial advisors, CPAs, real estate professionals, loan officers, mortgage brokers, and existing insurance agents.

Don’t underestimate the power of your COIs. It is not because all of these connections have clients that they can refer to you. It is vital to have a relationship with them because oftentimes, they are the final decision-makers.

COIs will refer business to you, help you grow your business, and may even send you quality candidates because they operate in spaces that align with your business. This is a great resource for finding someone highly skilled who may want a career change. 

When you’re partnered with an FMO/IMO/NMO, you can delegate many processes that are necessary to bring on downlines. Ask any organization you’re thinking of working with what the process looks like when you want to bring on downlines. 

Their agent portals and systems should make it easy for an agent to get connected to carriers and other resources they may need for training and certifications. You can’t ask too many questions. Your representative should be able to explain their process.