This article is part of the Recruitment Ki SHAKTI Series of articles. This is my third article. You will find all articles on agency recruitment in my blog https://www.helpindiainsure.iistpune.in/

There is a prevailing belief and practice amongst many development officers and unit managers that the task of agency recruitment should be undertaken in the months of lean business (typically April to July) and then concentrate on business. This may not be the best work strategy to follow.

Have a look at the Table below

Month 1	Month 2	Month 3	Month 4	Month 5	Month 6	Month 7	Month 8	Month 9
Recruit: 10	Active: 6	Active: 4	Active: 2	Active: 1	Active: 1	Active: 1	Active: 1	Active: 1
	Recruit: 10	Active: 6	Active: 4	Active: 2	Active: 1	Active: 1	Active: 1	Active: 1
		Recruit: 10	Active: 6	Active: 4	Active: 2	Active: 1	Active: 1	Active: 1
			Recruit: 10	Active: 6	Active: 4	Active: 2	Active: 1	Active: 1
Total: 10	Total: 16	Total: 20	Total: 22	Total: 13	Total: 8	Total: 5	Total: 4	Total: 4

Let me explain the Table

Suppose in Month 1, you recruit 10 agents and do not recruit thereafter for the whole year. Over the next few months, slowly and gradually many of those recruited agents drop out of the agency business. You may have 6 agents interested in the business the next month. In the third month, may be 4 will be interested. In the fourth month, two more will drop out. Finally, you may be left with 1 agent.

You believe you have recruited 10 agents, but you have only one agent left at the end of 9 months or 1 year. If you stop recruiting after you have added 10 to your team, you will be very frustrated trying to get all 10 to work. It is in the nature of agency business, that many or those recruited will drop out. Agent attrition is part and parcel of the business of life insurance sales. You have to live with it and have a plan to overcome this problem.

The reasons for attrition are many. One of the main reasons is that the new agent gets frustrated with continuous rejections. There may be other reasons also, such as not able to spare time from his or her other professional activities, emergencies at home, etc. There is very little a development officer or unit manager can do about these reasons. Of course, if there is adequate coaching and mentoring during the initial days of the agent in business, may be the number of agents dropping out will be slightly lower. But even the best of coaching and mentoring cannot guarantee that all 10 agents will remain in business.

Conducting recruitment activities can be highly rewarding

But if you conduct your recruitment activities daily, you will, in a year or two, have a team of agents all motivated and eager to get new business.

(Click on this link to understand what are recruitment activities https://www.helpindiainsure.iistpune.in/2025/10/28/recruitment-ki-shakti-series-what-are-recruitment-activities/)

Instead of spending your time with inactive agents who are unlikely to deliver business, spending the same time on recruitment activities, will benefit you immensely.

Now what happens if you conduct your recruitment activities daily. Then every month you will recruit 10 agents and at the end of 1 year, you may have 4 to 5 working agents, eager to go to the market every day.

Daily conducting recruitment activities can be highly rewarding

You can see this in the Table above. When you recruit 10 agents every month (Month 2, Month 3, Month 4 and so on), you will reach a figure of 4 or 5 agents in a year. If you conduct good coaching and mentoring, adequately handhold the new agent, maybe you will have 5 to 10 agents at the end of the year.

This the reason you have to conduct your recruitment activities on a daily basis. It is the foundation that helps you develop a vibrant, super-charged, motivated team of agents

This is what you will learn when you join the unique, tried and tested method of IIST’s Recruitment Ki SHAKTI course. Visit our website https://www.iistpune.in/recruitment-ki-shakti/ to know how we can help.

More tips in my next article. Look out for regular articles on agency recruitment. In the meanwhile, you may also visit the website (https://www.iistpune.in/) of The Institute of Insurance Sales Training (IIST) to know more about the number of ways we can help you reach great heights in life insurance sales team building and selling.