How to Track Agent Activity in an Insurance Agency
To track agent activity in an insurance agency, track the activity ladder from hours on the dialer to applications and measure the conversion between each step. Then check a sample of recorded calls every week so the counts can't be padded. A manager who reads the ladder this way can see where each rep is stuck without standing over anyone.
Copy this ladder and fill in the last column with your own daily targets. Use your numbers, not someone else's.
| Step | Definition | Formula | Your daily target |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Hours on the dialer | Time the rep is logged in and dialing assigned leads | Sum of dialing sessions for the day | ______ |
| 2. Dials | Outbound calls the rep started | Dials per hour = [dials] / [hours on dialer] | ______ |
| 3. Contacts | Calls answered live by the person on the lead | Contacts per hour = [contacts] / [hours on dialer] | ______ |
| 4. Conversations past the opener | Contacts where the prospect answered a second question | Conversation rate = [conversations] / [contacts] | ______ |
| 5. Presentations | Rep qualified the prospect and showed a specific quote or plan | Presentation rate = [presentations] / [contacts] | ______ |
| 6. Applications | Applications submitted to the carrier | App rate = [apps] / [presentations] | ______ |
What to track, in order
Each step feeds the next one. A rep can't present to people they never reached, and they can't reach people if they weren't on the dialer. That's why you track in order and read the conversions, not just the totals.
Before you track anything, write down what each step means on your floor. If two managers count a "contact" differently, the numbers are useless.
- Contact: a live answer by the person on the lead. Not voicemail, not a wrong number, not a relative who hangs up.
- Conversation past the opener: the prospect answered the rep's second question. This tells you the opener worked.
- Presentation: the rep finished qualifying and showed a specific quote or plan. Reading prices before qualifying doesn't count.
- Application: submitted to the carrier. "They said yes, I'll send it tomorrow" is not an app.
Placement happens weeks later, so track it monthly, not daily.
The formulas
- Dials per hour = [dials] / [hours on dialer]
- Contacts per hour = [contacts] / [hours on dialer]
- Contact rate = [contacts] / [dials]
- Conversation rate = [conversations] / [contacts]
- Presentation rate = [presentations] / [contacts]
- App rate = [apps] / [presentations]
- Apps per dialer hour = [apps] / [hours on dialer]
Back-solve the daily targets
Don't pull a dial target out of the air. Start with the apps you need and work backward using each rep's own recent rates.
- Dials needed per day = [daily app target] / ([contact rate] x [presentation rate] x [app rate])
- Hours on the dialer needed = [dials needed per day] / [dials per hour]
If the hours come out higher than the rep's schedule allows, the fix is a conversion step, not more hours. That's where the rest of this guide comes in.
Counts lie without call quality
Any count you post on a board will get gamed, usually without bad intent. Reps learn what you look at and push that number. Watch for these patterns:
- High dials with low talk time. The rep is skipping through the list or hanging up fast.
- Lots of short contacts that never reach the second question. The opener is losing people, or the rep is giving up early.
- Presentations that skip qualifying. The rep is quoting everyone to hit the presentation count, and the app rate falls.
- Apps that don't place. The rep is writing business that doesn't fit the prospect.
Pair every count with a quality check. Put this table next to your ladder.
| Count | Quality check that goes with it |
|---|---|
| Hours on the dialer | Talk share = [talk minutes] / [dialer minutes]. Low talk share on full hours means time is going somewhere else. |
| Dials | Are dials spread across the assigned list, or is the rep redialing the same numbers? |
| Contacts | On a recorded call, did the rep confirm the right person and say who they are and why they're calling? |
| Conversations | Listen to the first 60 seconds. Did the call reach the second question naturally? |
| Presentations | Were the qualifying questions from your playbook asked before the quote? |
| Applications | Does the app match the needs found in qualifying? Check placement at month end. |
The weekly call review
Pull [your number] recorded calls per rep every week. Use the same number for every rep. Pick them like this:
- The shortest contact of the week.
- The longest call of the week.
- The rest at random.
Score each call against your playbook. If you don't have one written down yet, build a sales playbook first, because you can't score a call against a standard that lives in your head.
A simple scoring sheet:
| Playbook step | 0 = skipped | 1 = partial | 2 = done to the playbook |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opener | |||
| Qualifying questions | |||
| Presentation | |||
| Objection handling | |||
| Close attempt | |||
| Next step set |
The lowest-scoring step across a rep's calls usually matches the weakest conversion on their ladder. When it does, you've found the coaching target.
Reading the ladder: where each rep is stuck
Find the first step where a rep falls below their own target. Fix that step only. Problems further down the ladder often fix themselves once the upstream step works.
| Symptom | Likely stuck step | First fix | Who owns it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low hours on the dialer | Schedule, lead flow or engagement | Check whether the rep had leads assigned. If yes, a one-on-one about schedule and goals. | Sales manager. Owner if the lead queue was empty. |
| Full hours, low dials per hour | Time between calls | Review wrap-up habits and note-taking. Listen for long gaps. | Sales manager |
| Normal dials, low contact rate | Lead source, lead age or calling times | Compare against reps working the same lead source. Check when the rep is dialing. | Owner or whoever buys leads |
| Lots of contacts, few conversations | Opener | Role-play the first 10 seconds. Score openers in the call review. | Sales manager |
| Conversations, few presentations | Qualifying | Drill the qualifying questions from the playbook. | Sales manager |
| Lots of presentations, few apps | Close or objections | Objection drills on the two objections the rep hears most. | Sales manager or a top producer |
| Apps fine, low placement | App quality or follow-up | Review declined and not-taken apps with the rep. | Owner or operations |
Compare reps only on similar lead flow
A rep working fresh leads and a rep working aged leads will have different contact rates, and neither number tells you who is better on the phone. Compare reps only when they work similar lead sources and lead ages. Otherwise compare each rep to their own past weeks.
This only works if leads go out by rules, not by who grabs them. If you haven't set that up, read how to distribute leads fairly and how to stop agents cherry-picking leads. The full path from vendor to sale is in lead management for insurance agencies.
The review rhythm: daily, weekly, monthly
Tracking without a rhythm turns into a report nobody opens. Set three meetings and keep them short.
Daily (10 minutes, before the huddle). Look at yesterday's ladder for each rep and pick one number per rep to mention. Usually that's hours on the dialer or the step they're working on this week. Bring it into your daily sales huddle agenda as a quick shout-out or a check-in, not a call-out.
Weekly (30 to 45 minutes per rep, or less for a small floor). Review the week's ladder conversions and the scored recorded calls side by side. Agree on one coaching target for the next week. Write it down.
Monthly. Look at the trend for each rep against your own targets. Add placement. Then tie activity to money: compare each lead source's ladder with what it costs you. The method is in calculate cost per acquisition.
Weekly activity review template
Copy this into a doc, one per rep per week.
WEEKLY ACTIVITY REVIEW
Rep: ____________ Week of: ____________ Manager: ____________
Lead sources worked this week: ____________
LADDER This week Last week Target
Hours on dialer ______ ______ ______
Dials ______ ______ ______
Contacts ______ ______ ______
Conversations ______ ______ ______
Presentations ______ ______ ______
Applications ______ ______ ______
CONVERSIONS This week Last week Target
Dials per hour ______ ______ ______
Contact rate ______ ______ ______
Conversation rate ______ ______ ______
Presentation rate ______ ______ ______
App rate ______ ______ ______
CALL REVIEW (calls scored: ____)
Lowest-scoring playbook step: ____________
One thing done well: ____________
FIRST STEP BELOW TARGET: ____________
COACHING TARGET FOR NEXT WEEK (one only): ____________
How we'll practice it: ____________
How we'll know it worked (number to watch): ____________
Last week's target hit? Yes / No / Partly
Notes: ____________
Tracking a remote floor without micromanaging
Remote floors tempt managers to watch screens. Don't. Track the work itself.
- Track what's tied to your leads and your system. Calls placed on the leads you assigned, recordings of those calls, and apps submitted. That's the work. Screen time and mouse movement tell you nothing about selling.
- Tell reps exactly what you look at and why. Show them the ladder, the definitions and the scoring sheet on day one. No surprises.
- Share their own ladder with them. A rep who can see their contact rate drop on Tuesday can fix it by Wednesday without waiting for you.
- One coaching target a week, not ten. A rep can change one habit in a week. Hand them a list of ten and they'll change none.
- Coach from recordings, not from memory. Play the actual call. It ends arguments about what was said.
For more on running a distributed team, see team visibility for agencies.
What your software needs to show you
You can run all of this on a spreadsheet for a few reps. It breaks when reps self-report, when calls live in one tool and contacts in another, or when you have to listen to calls you can't find. Use this checklist on any vendor demo.
| What to check | Why it matters | Question to ask the vendor |
|---|---|---|
| Every call tied to one contact record | You can't count contacts or presentations if calls float free of the lead | "Show me one lead with every call and meeting on it." |
| Searchable recordings and transcripts | The weekly call review dies if finding a call takes ten minutes | "Find the shortest contact this rep had last Tuesday." |
| Lead assignment from one place | Fair comparison needs leads assigned by rule | "How do I assign a batch of leads to specific reps?" |
| Call data by rep | The ladder starts with dials, contacts and talk time per rep | "Which call counts can I see for each rep, and for what date range?" |
| How scores and statuses are defined | Your definitions of contact and presentation have to match the tool's | "How does your system decide a call was a contact? Can I change it?" |
| Exports | You'll want the raw data for monthly cost work | "What can I export, in what format, and how often?" |
| Getting started help | A tool your managers don't set up won't get used | "Who sets this up with us, and what do we do ourselves?" |
Ask to see each item live on the demo, not in a slide.
Where Nohl fits
Nohl is built for phone floors that sell insurance, so the pieces this guide depends on sit in one system.
- Assigning and managing. Mogul lets agency owners assign leads and manage their reps from one place.
- One record. Dialer, CRM and video meetings are in one place, with one contact record behind every call and meeting. That's what makes the ladder countable.
- The weekly review. Searchable call recordings and transcripts, so you can pull the calls you need for scoring. Recording laws vary by state. Some states require everyone on the call to consent. You are responsible for recording notices and consent.
- Money and activity together. Mogul includes business analytics with call data and P&L today, with more being built.
- Coaching on the call. Sales AI suggests the next line or an objection answer to the rep during the live call. The prospect never hears it. Use it alongside the one coaching target you set in the weekly review.
- Lead order. Bag Score ranks your leads (Apex, Precision, Oracle) so the best calls come first.
- Rep-started calls. Every call is started by a rep. You are still responsible for consent and for following the laws that apply to your calls.
Where it may not fit: if your floor depends on a specific custom report, ask sales what exists today before you commit. Mogul includes white-glove getting started; ask sales for details. Larger floors and IMOs get a custom quote through Enterprise.
See Mogul for agencies and IMOs
Frequently asked questions
What activity metrics should insurance agents track?
Track the ladder in order: hours on the dialer, dials, contacts, conversations past the opener, presentations and applications. Then track the conversion between each step, such as contact rate, presentation rate and app rate, and check a sample of recorded calls each week so the counts reflect real work.
How many dials should an insurance agent make a day?
Work it out from your own numbers. Dials needed per day = [daily app target] / ([contact rate] x [presentation rate] x [app rate]), using each rep's recent rates on the lead source they work. If the answer is more than the schedule allows, improve a conversion step instead of adding hours.
How do you track remote insurance agents?
Track the work tied to the leads you assign and the calls on your system: dialer hours, dials, contacts, presentations, apps and recorded calls. Tell reps exactly what you look at, share their own ladder with them, and set one coaching target a week.
What is a good contact rate for insurance leads?
It depends on your lead source, lead age and calling times, so use your own baseline. Contact rate = [contacts] / [dials]. Measure it by lead source, compare reps only on similar leads, and compare each rep to their own past weeks.
What's the difference between activity metrics and KPIs?
Activity metrics count what a rep does each day, like dials, contacts and presentations. KPIs are the outcomes you run the business on, like applications, placement and cost per acquisition. Activity metrics show you which step to fix when a KPI misses.