Liars!

[AverageJoe]

Just Kidding! First I want to Thank everyone here, there are a lot of helpful people on this site that can teach us new guys a few things here and there. Just becareful because there are some people that are going to make establishing an insurance agency like its mission impossible.

I got my 220 license in December, my E & O Insurance on Jan 16, and with no experience I was on my way to starting an insurance agency.

With only 4 months under my belt, I represent 10 Companies, and I have over $300,000 of book of business.

I believe the hardest part so far was to get the appointments going, but call call call call email call call call email call text fax email and call them again and they will listen to you and most insurance companies are actually quite generous in appointing new agents. Never once was my lack of experience a factor in an appointment except for Auto-Owners (dangit!) but i will get them one day!

Once you have your appointments know what you can sell and that is very simple and not rocket science. once you know what you can sell, grab your pair of balls and start talking to businesses/people.

I went door to door and I will be honest, I farted the first time i was walking up to a door. I was so nervous, but act human, laugh, make them the priority and not your product and you will have success.

I am stationed in Florida and although I do not know much and Im sure most guys on here have forgotten more things than I have learned, I am willing to help and give advice. I do not want anyone going through the headaches I did when I would write a post on here.

I will tell you what, I graduated in May with a Bachelors Degree from University of South Florida and after 4 years of hard schooling I was told from employers that I was "too qualified"

I jumped into the insurance class and in only 3 months I had my license and my own company.

Insurance is a very lucrative business and the worst part is gathering all the information from the client and getting the policy written( don't worry most carriers have online software do all that for you!! just fill in the blanks in their software and answer the yes/no questions!!) Once you wrote the policy that's it, your job is done basically, God forbid a claim happens than you have responsibilities but for the most part, just wait a month and start collecting regular commission checks off that policy!

I will tell you this though. Learn how to fill out accords and how to talk to your underwriters! send them gifts, call them for their birthdays and always say thank you! they hold your life by the gonads!!!!

They have the ability to say NO to any policy so make them happy keep them laughing and always have manners!

Dont lie about the policy, be honest, and with those honest facts convince your underwriter for that particular company why they should write them!

Good Luck everyone and if you ever need help AverageJoe is your man!!

 

[nyc2phi]

Great post Joe!

What are you selling? sounds like P&C?

What type of marketing has worked the best for you?

 

[csmith2]

Great job! I second the questions from nyc.

 

[leevena]

Say what you want, but your sucess is all because you are full of bull! LOL Braham Bull that is!

 

[xrac]

Just Kidding! First I want to Thank everyone here, there are a lot of helpful people on this site that can teach us new guys a few things here and there. Just becareful because there are some people that are going to make establishing an insurance agency like its mission impossible.

I got my 220 license in December, my E & O Insurance on Jan 16, and with no experience I was on my way to starting an insurance agency.

With only 4 months under my belt, I represent 10 Companies, and I have over $300,000 of book of business.

I believe the hardest part so far was to get the appointments going, but call call call call email call call call email call text fax email and call them again and they will listen to you and most insurance companies are actually quite generous in appointing new agents. Never once was my lack of experience a factor in an appointment except for Auto-Owners (dangit!) but i will get them one day!

Once you have your appointments know what you can sell and that is very simple and not rocket science. once you know what you can sell, grab your pair of balls and start talking to businesses/people.

I went door to door and I will be honest, I farted the first time i was walking up to a door. I was so nervous, but act human, laugh, make them the priority and not your product and you will have success.

I am stationed in Florida and although I do not know much and Im sure most guys on here have forgotten more things than I have learned, I am willing to help and give advice. I do not want anyone going through the headaches I did when I would write a post on here.

I will tell you what, I graduated in May with a Bachelors Degree from University of South Florida and after 4 years of hard schooling I was told from employers that I was "too qualified"

I jumped into the insurance class and in only 3 months I had my license and my own company.

Insurance is a very lucrative business and the worst part is gathering all the information from the client and getting the policy written( don't worry most carriers have online software do all that for you!! just fill in the blanks in their software and answer the yes/no questions!!) Once you wrote the policy that's it, your job is done basically, God forbid a claim happens than you have responsibilities but for the most part, just wait a month and start collecting regular commission checks off that policy!

I will tell you this though. Learn how to fill out accords and how to talk to your underwriters! send them gifts, call them for their birthdays and always say thank you! they hold your life by the gonads!!!!

They have the ability to say NO to any policy so make them happy keep them laughing and always have manners!

Dont lie about the policy, be honest, and with those honest facts convince your underwriter for that particular company why they should write them!

Good Luck everyone and if you ever need help AverageJoe is your man!!

What you say about the underwriters is good advice.

 

[AverageJoe]

Great post Joe!

What are you selling? sounds like P&C?

What type of marketing has worked the best for you?

Yes you are right I am selling P&C.

My marketing is free, I heavily rely on word of mouth and just going up to people and talking to them.

I do use sales pitch or try to place pressure on them, I simply try and find a common ground with them and when the conversation is whinding down or if they ask what I do, i take full advantage of that oppurtunity and tell them what I do, how i love doing it, and how I can help them if they give me a chance. Most say No but the more NO you hear the easier it is to talk to new people.

however, I do spend some money on the rewards for referrals. I do all my desiging biz cards, tri-folds, postcards, etc through

uprinting.com

they have an awesome plug and play template software that u can add your logo and move any type of text around to how you like your cards or designs to look.

My most popular "referral getter" is an incentive of $50 gas card or $50 "pick any restaurant" gift card for you and a loved one, or yourself lol



As for underwriters, you could not press this issue any harder, they are the most important things in your life when it comes to writing your insurance. I always make an effort to be nice and talk about things they like because insurance can be very boring and the underwriting questions for that policy can be very stringent and annoying. I like to lighten up the mood and talk about other things that brings smile to their face, in other words, just be yourself. treat them like a friend, but hold a high regard of respect and pretty much those underwriters will bend over backwards for you.

I love my job and I would encourage anyone to do this. This business is extremely lucrative and can be very easy. Gather the info, send it out to the carrier, have a convo with the underwriter, bind the policy, and bam! wait for the commission check to come in.

If you have any questions just let me know I definitely want to help any one that needs it. I hated some of the responses that I received, even to the point they made me question my career decision and I do not want anyone going through that

 

[adamhawley]

Some of you may have heard this one. If not, I thought it was great, and it worked for me!

When visiting with an existing homeowner policy holder, tell them that "in case of an emergency, like your house being on fire while you're gone, we'd like to have the names of a couple of your neighbors. We'll send them this letter." Show them the letter that says you're insured with the (insert name here) Agency. In the event of an emergency where you feel (insert client's name's) property is damaged and they are out of town, please call us to get the claim started on behalf of your neighbor."

It does two things. 1) It sets you a part as a value-added Insurance Agent. 2) It gets the neighbors thinking about calling you for insurance advice.

Also, I always included a magnetic business card with the letter. Give it a try!

 

[wow314]

I have tried something similar. It worked ok.

 

[jjf9]

Good to hear. Wish you the best!
-Joe

 

[NCAgent]

Congrats, Joe! Glad that you were able to get up and running. Commercial is a different beast than other things; where are you going to learn how to write things properly? Are your underwriters training you or did you find another resource to go to?