Your first 90 days: the checklist nobody hands you

Licensed, contracted, excited, and nobody told you what Tuesday looks like. Here is the order that saves the most pain.

Before the first dial

• E&O in force, and the certificate saved where you can find it.
• Carrier appointments actually approved, not just submitted. Check the writing numbers.
• A phone number for business, with caller ID that says a name, and voicemail set up.
• A CRM you'll actually use, with your leads in it, before you buy more leads.
• Two products you can present without notes. Not ten. Two.

Weeks 1 to 4

Dial the same block every day. Track dials, contacts, appointments, presentations, applications, issued. Those six numbers are your business. Do a mock presentation to another agent twice a week.

Weeks 5 to 8

Start the follow-up rhythm: every "not now" gets a date. Review every declined or postponed case and learn the underwriting reason. Verify every draft date on the account, not on what the client thinks.

Weeks 9 to 13

Look at persistency on your first policies. Call every client at day 30 and day 60, before the first draft surprise. Decide whether your lead source is working from your numbers, not the vendor's pitch.

What would you add? Reply with the one thing you wish someone had told you in week one.