How to Succeed in the Insurance Business
The insurance industry has a great deal to offer to career seekers, for those just entering the work force and those transitioning from other careers. The hours can be long -- especially in the early years of building a successful practice. But, the insurance salespeople who prosper have tremendous personal freedom, set their own hours, have unlimited income potential and build a steady stream of residual income that will remain an asset for years.
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Instructions
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Make a list of 200 people you know. Ask them for an appointment to show them what you do for a living, share some ideas and ask for their opinion. If their reaction is favorable, schedule the appointment. When you go, be professional and ask if they have any objection to you serving as their agent in the future.
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Find a mentor. A mentor can be a manager or a senior agent who can go on appointments with you and help you bring in new clients. Look for successful agents who have several years of Million Dollar Round Table eligibility behind them. The Million Dollar Round Table is only open to agents who meet a solid standard of production. Most senior agents are happy to help you with appointments in exchange for splitting the commission. More experienced agents will typically close business more often and uncover larger insurance needs than you would uncover on your own.
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Schedule three qualified appointments per day or 15 appointments per week. A qualified appointment is an appointment to review insurance needs with someone who is willing to talk to you, needs or wants insurance and can afford it. Of those 15 booked appointments, you can expect three to five to cancel or reschedule.
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Prospect relentlessly. Develop a system for prospecting that works for you and work it every day. You can prospect in person, walking into small businesses and asking for an appointment with the owner or manager, or you can make phone calls. One possible system is to walk in 30 small businesses per day every day, asking for the owner or manager. Combine that strategy with making 50 phone calls to follow up with people you spoke to earlier in the week, every day. The rest of the time, you should be on an appointment or on your way to an appointment. If someone cancels, use the opportunity to prospect some more.
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Recruit a board of directors. Even though you may be an agent with an agency, ultimately you are in business for yourself. Find people who are successful in business with different fields of expertise in accounting, marketing, sales, technology and any other business discipline. Meet with them regularly, ask for input and bring referrals. Your mission isn't to make them clients, but they may ask to do business with you and they may have ideas for referrals for you.
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