As an agent you're required to sell the products. Hence, the product knowledge is very important. Understand the market for the particular line of insurance you want to sell.....analysis of the market demand and customer requirements are important factors to determine your success as an agents. _________________ Register Now to have your Insurance queries solved.
If you're starting as a captive agent then you may face fewer hardships in business than an independent agent.
Starting and managing an independent agency may put up some difficulties before a novice of this trade, since you'll have no book of business to start with. And in addition to this, you'll be required to maintain an office, manage all the paper works and also have to generate sufficient business to carry-on with the agency.
On the other hand, the captive agent may receive the infrastructural supports and qualified leads from the insurance company to start with.
My guess is that most of the agents who stay in the business long-term and are successful start with a captive agent situation. A lot will leave and become independent.
I couldn't have worked on my own without the skills and knowledge I acquired working for those companies.
Yeah, you're right. Its important to learn the survival skills to stay in the market. An independent business may sound attractive to many, but starting an agency without any prior experience in the trade may put forward difficulties to the agent.
In my experience I've seen agents to go down in debt when they fail to generate enough business to keep their heads up.
hence, my advice to you murph, that learn the tricks of the business first, get your license and get associated with an insurance company. Being an insurance agent is certainly an attractive career, but it also involves loads of toils.
If I had to give only one piece of advice to an agent starting out, I think I'd say don't get discouraged. It's a tough business to get started in, but can also be very lucrative if you keep at it. You'll learn something new from every agent you speak with and from every prospect you meet. Be creative with your marketing strategies and keep learning about your product. Also, try your best to do good by your clients. Unfortunately, there are those agents out there that give us a bad name. Those with staying power and those that build the best reputations are the ones who try to do the right thing. _________________ -tentel
Insurance is a great business to be in. However, too many people fail at it.
Some people have a personality that makes it difficult. Most of this can be overcome. Shyness can be overcome, but a lack of integrity and an inability to persevere is harder to overcome.
You will need to have discipline to make it in a competitive field. You will need to have confidence in yourself as well. You don't need to have confidence in your sales skills as a neophyte; you need to have the confidence that you can acquire the skills you will need.
if you work as hard as you can and learn as much as you can you will be successful.
Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 1:08 am Post subject: independent vs captive
as a consumer the more tools in your belt the agent has the more likely you have something to offer.... independent for 5 years working with my parent company and have access to thousands of companies and products...want to be unbeatable and untouchable...email me
murph, I am glad you have good advice from the community.
In addition to all the advice and suggestions you get from this thread, it is also important for you to have dreams in your life and belief in this business.
Insurance is a tough but rewarding business. When you are dejected and rejected, you need to hold firmly on your dream to keep you consistently inspired, motivated and charged up.
It is your dreams that keep pushing you to move forward and it is your belief that makes you stay.
Many people give up this business because they have lost their goals in life and faith in this business.
The worst bankrupt in the world is the one who lost his dream. _________________ I am an insuranc sales coach for almost 2 decades. I have a collection of insurance agents' sales stories. To know more, you can visit http://www.stories-connect.com or http://xoseph.wordpress.com
Hi all..my advice for the new agents would be the following-
* Study the needs of people confined to the place of your business.
* Analyze the problems & challenges associated with the daily lives of people.
* Test the understanding of people regarding the importance of insurance.
* Build up a network with more experienced agents confined to that region in order to get a taste of their success & the process.
There are a couple of other things associated with the selling process that a new agent has to study & understand carefully-
* A new agent has to memorize all the necessary details & deliver the USPs effectively
* The initial phase of conversation are very important since this is the time that the agent needs to convey the benefits & his speech should reflect his confidence.
* He should not try to impose anything on the prospect with the aim to close the deals faster..the more he tries to make it fast the more it will get delayed
* The customer's comfort level has to be ensured but the agent needs to make sure that the call control should never go beyond him.
* The agent needs to smile & face all queries forwarded by the prospective client in great details in order to earn the confidence of the prospect.
* In order to turn each objection into an opportunity an agent needs to support his rebuttals with good benefits.
Hope all these points are gonna help a bit!
Fatman
All of the above are excellent suggestions. I would like to add one more.
Customer Service. Take care of the customer. In my city alone, there are 28 pages of insurance agents. What am I going to do to stand out? Why would someone come to me? Sure, I have to get the initial phone call. But then what do I do? Customer Service. Return phone calls quickly. Be straightforward and honest with the customer. When I have customers who shop around (we all do), and call me because they found a better rate (it happens), I am able to ask them, "I know you would be saving $20.00 per month switching but...isn't the service you receive from my office and me worth $20.00 per month?"
I know their answer is yes. And they stay.
Outstanding customer service will also get referrals from current customers. Thank people for their business. Tell them you appreciate them.
The list goes on and on. _________________ Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. - Ferris Bueller
