How Your Agency Can Help New Team Members Learn Insurance

Do you remember when you had to learn insurance? For many of us, it was a very long time ago, and let’s be honest, things were a bit simpler back then. Today, when you hire a new team member, you need to set up 76 logins, and they have to know insurance, the carriers, the systems, and then service or sales. Learning insurance is a bit complex, and to do it well, it does take time. If you’re like many independent insurance agencies, you aren’t trainers. You don’t onboard new hires all that often, so materials, cadence, and even finding the time someone needs can be challenging. So what many agencies do is have the team members shadow the best person in the office. The hard part is you need that person working, and they are training the team member as work comes in rather than stopping and showing them 10 endorsements. It’s an endorsement, quote, remarket, and payment, all with different carriers and policies. So the training is, at best, chaotic.

We have a problem in the insurance industry. Simply put, we need more people. We do not have enough licensed agents, and many current agents are at or around retirement age. This means that qualified licensed agents are either treated extremely well and not looking to move, or we need to really pay top dollar, with a slew of benefits, to encourage someone to come over to our agency. The reality is many independent agents need to develop agents by finding someone who has a good attitude, is teachable, and can learn insurance. However, how is that possible when we have the problem we just outlined in the last paragraph? Training is hard, and to be blunt, we aren’t good at it. In this blog, we will cover just how your agency can train and onboard a new insurance team member with a good success rate.

Before we dive into the how, I want to share with you that I am very encouraged by the agencies that I work with that have embraced this model. Now, the beginning is a little rough (taking someone with no insurance experience and getting them started); however, that burns off. One year in, I am seeing that these new agents are technologically very efficient (one of my critical requests), they love processes and follow them exactly, so you’re not begging people to document, they are teachable, and they are looking for leadership and mentorship. Now, the common knock on hiring new people and training them is that they may leave. Yes, this may happen (also, anyone can leave). However, you can work against this with a lot of clarity, a clear career path, routine recognition and raises, and really mentoring them. Most people leave because they are looking for something their current agency is not giving them.

Lastly, before we dive in, if you have some concerns about the next generation, I completely understand. Each generation that comes forth is different. They were shaped by different norms and societies. However, you can learn Gen Z. They don’t see hierarchy very much, they are very interested in understanding their feelings, and they really don’t like clunky processes. They do, however, like to be communicated with and shown other points of view, they value individuality, and they thrive on recognition. If you can adjust your style to the next generation, you can have a winning program. We recently ran a program with a group of freshly licensed college students and also seasoned veterans making renewal review calls. The college students actually had better retention, cross-selling, and coverage increases because they stuck to the script and the process. I’m here to tell you it’s worth it to make this investment.

Hiring New Team Members Without Insurance Experience

It all starts with finding the right people. You need someone who is teachable and has a good attitude. If they have those two things, they can learn insurance. I’m going to add one more item to the list. The modern agent needs to be comfortable with technology, using it and learning new ways of doing things. For example, if a new hire can’t type or is not familiar with a CRM system, their learning curve will be much higher. 

However, someone who is used to entering data, recording client information, and understanding how baseline systems work will have an accelerated path. I’ll be upfront: if they can’t type, it may not be worth your time or investment.

Setting Expectations

Expectations are tricky. We can all be clear, but until someone is in it, it’s hard to really understand what it will be like. Where many agencies fail is that they talk about how hard and challenging it can be to learn insurance, but the real magic is in what your agency does to make it simpler and easier. The reality is the new hire has no idea the road they are up against. Instead, we need to create and share with them a training roadmap.

Onboarding the New Hire

Now, what I am going to tell you is not right, but it happens a lot. Don’t be shocked or surprised if your team isn’t instantly excited about the idea of having a new insurance trainee on the team. We have seen it all, from agency team members openly being rude to them, having no patience, and getting annoyed when they have questions. All while we are sitting here trying our hardest to get people into this industry. 

We recently had a new-to-insurance team member leave one of our agencies, and the only reason they did was because they stated they did not want to end up like the current members of the team (grouchy, grumpy, stressed, and mean). You can’t have that. New people really want to make friends, learn, and develop. If you have people on your team with terrible attitudes, now may be the best time to align them.

Building Your 90-Day How to Learn Insurance Roadmap

Just to be extra clear, it will take more than 90 days to train the team member. However, the first 90 days are the most important. At around day 85, if you wouldn’t hire them again, you need to move on, as well as evaluate your training program. However, at 90 days, you usually get a decent feel for the person and whether they are a culture fit, can learn insurance, and are adding value.

Here are the items you need in your 90-day training plan: 

• • Month 1, Month 2, and Month 3 Objectives: This allows you to say, at the end of Month 1, where they need to be. Think of this as a high-level overview of the first 90 days.

• Weekly Game Plan: Each week, you need to sit down and provide the game plan. Who will train them, what is the training on, and what time and date. This helps everyone stay organized.

• Self-Taught Weekly Game Plan: Many agencies will have the new team member learn insurance by watching webinars, video training, and more. Set this up so the trainee knows what the expectation is when they are not sitting with someone.

• Twice-Daily Trainee Check-Ins: Put these on the calendar and meet with your trainee 2x per day to review questions, where they are, and what is next. Remember, many new-to-insurance team members may be shy or not sure who to ask or what to do. This will help regulate their training.

• Training Checklist: We encourage agencies to create a checklist of everything the trainee needs to learn. In the checklist, you can note that they have been trained, the date, and by whom, what questions the trainee may have, whether they have practiced it 10x, and then the manager and the trainee sign off that they have learned it and are proficient at the item. Also, this allows you and the team to celebrate their progress.

Integrating Role-Playing, Quizzes, and Presentations

Why were there quizzes in school? Because they work. When your trainee knows they will be quizzed, learning changes from awareness to deep absorption. We recommend at least a monthly quiz to test the learner’s comprehension. If it’s essay answers, you can see a bit more of where they are coming from as well. While you may think role-playing is the worst, again, it still works well. What better way to get a new person up to speed than practicing? 

Lastly, having your team member present a topic will get them to study and learn at a new level. Taking your college group projects and applying them to interactive learning is the fastest way to get team members up to speed. If they don’t nail it, have them try again as well. The more you practice, the easier it will be!

How Important Is the Person Training the Trainee?

Honestly, it’s pretty critical. Training takes time, patience, a touch of tough love, but also that big high five when you get it. It is also important that the trainer can simplify training and make it so that it’s not the most overwhelming thing on the planet. I stress that it’s very difficult to train and do the normal role. 

You may need to make adjustments, temporarily, to create a training culture. Training a new person can’t be something you need to get off your plate. It’s critical for you, the team, your clients, and that new hire.

What to Do If Your Agency Doesn’t Have the Time to Train or You’re Not Good at It

First of all, great job knowing your strengths and weaknesses. Next step, you still need to train. You can have help training, but you need to lead and guide the trainee and mentor them—those are things that cannot be outsourced. However, let’s focus on what you can get help with.

• • New Agent Licensing: Send them to a licensing school; do not have them self-study. Have them enroll in an in-person class if possible. If not, find something live online. You will be surprised how much more the person will learn if they can interact and hear other trainee questions. It’s well worth the time and investment.

• System Training: Your management system will have video training, but come up with your own quizzes and how-tos. You can also give them tasks and test them.

• Carrier Training: Call your marketing reps to see if they can recommend some live webinars or 1:1 training. 

• • Identify In Your Insurance Community Who May Be Available: Maybe you know someone who has retired or is a stay-at-home mom that can come and help train a few hours per week. 

• Use Artificial Intelligence (AI): Did you know you can take processes, carrier webinars and even your own training and turn them into AI interactive models, quizzes, or presentation prompts? You can!

• Contact Your Association: Many of your state associations have new-hire training and CE options, so use the tools at your disposal.

How APP Can Help Train Your New-to-Insurance Hire

Well I am so glad you asked! This has been a big demand of our clients as we encourage agencies to invite new people to the industry. Here is how we can help.

Type of Training Agency Performance Partners Offers

At Agency Performance Partners, we have two types of training: 

• • Live Virtual Training: Small groups of 10-15 agents from across the country who are all learning the same topic over 10 weeks. There are quizzes, videos, live instructor-led training and homework all graded by a trainer.

• On-Demand Video Training: The APP Agency School is full of on-demand video training, quizzes, learning guides, scripts, and documents to help structure the trainee’s learning. They can keep going back to it and you have it for the entire agency (there is more than new-hire training in there!).

For New Hires We Recommend the Following Training

• Insurance 101 (launches July 2026)
• WOW Customer Service
• 10 Agency Processes 
• How to Sell and Explain Insurance Coverage
• Agency Growth, if they are entering into sales (or How to Sell Commercial Insurance)

Check it out, you can’t go wrong with our training opportunities!

Conclusion

In conclusion, building a successful training program for new insurance team members isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s one of the smartest investments your agency can make in a talent-short industry.

By hiring teachable, tech-savvy people with great attitudes, setting crystal-clear expectations, following a structured 90-day roadmap with check-ins, quizzes, role-playing, and real mentorship, you’ll turn raw potential into confident, process-driven professionals who actually stick around and outperform the status quo.

Yes, the first few months may feel bumpy, but the payoff is undeniable: more efficient teams, stronger client service, higher retention and cross-selling, and a pipeline of future leaders who love what they do.

Don’t let the fear of “they might leave” or generational differences hold you back—adjust your style, lean into recognition and communication, and watch these new hires thrive.

If time or expertise is tight, remember you don’t have to go it alone. Agency Performance Partners is here with live virtual classes, on-demand video training, and proven resources designed exactly for this moment, including our brand-new Insurance 101 program launching this July.

The future of your agency starts with the next person you bring through the door—give them (and your team) the gift of great training, and you’ll be building something sustainable for years to come.

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