How to Get in Business Selling Car Insurance
If you like dealing with people and enjoy the adventure of a career in sales, starting your own car insurance business could be the right move for you. Since every state except New Hampshire requires owners to have auto insurance in order to drive, auto insurance is certainly a profession with a considerable market. Getting started, however, requires some preparation.
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Instructions
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Get a license to sell auto insurance in your state. The requirements for licensing differ from state to state, but regardless of the specific requirements, you will need to study and take a test--and perhaps attend a number of classes--in order to get your license. There will most likely be a licensing fee as well.
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Find a company you want to do business through. Three of the largest companies in the United States are State Farm, Allstate and Progressive. A smaller company that continually gets good ratings from consumer research agencies is Amica Mutual. Most insurance companies will do background checks of their prospective representatives before hiring them, so if you have a significant criminal record, you may encounter some difficulties. Also, before getting approved, the company may require you to have an Errors and Omissions insurance policy. Similar to malpractice insurance for doctors, this insurance covers you against liabilities that you may incur due to mistakes you make in paperwork. Progressive, for instance, requires you to have $300,000 in E&O coverage.
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Find leads and market yourself. You can use a number of different strategies, from word-of-mouth to advertising. A cheap way of advertising is to simply put a professional-looking sign up in your front yard with the name of your insurance company on it. Also, a number of Internet-based firms serve insurance sales professionals by supplying them with contacts of people who are in the market for auto insurance. You do have to pay for these, but the cost is marginal so long as you manage to sell policies to some of them.
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Keep track of any type of contact you make with your leads. Whether you sell a policy or not, make a record of your associations with clients and prospective clients. A good way of doing this is by investing in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. This will help you to effectively get back in contact with leads you have spoken to briefly, as well as sell to the friends and family of clients.
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References
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