Would Love Some Advice

[M.loss]

I've been looking at getting into insurance and have been doing some research on it (i.e. searching the internet, speaking to people in the industry, reading this forum, speaking to an online school) and I have a couple questions. There are obviously quite different opinions out there on what's best but I wanted to hear some advice based on my specific situation. Here are my details. I live in Washington state, I'm a 30 year old female (I only say that because I read on another thread that can make a difference), I would say pretty well spoken lol, I'm an introvert, have no problem talking to people but cold calling makes me fairly uneasy. I have seen some of the recommended reading on selling and definitely will get that material. I have no problem learning what I need to know to be successful and I am not afraid to put in the hard work necessary. I guess my questions are, what is the best kind of insurance to get into to start? I want to eventually be licensed in several areas to give me more options, but as far as getting started, where would the most success be? Also, I've heard different opinions of captive vs independent and commercial vs personal. I was talking to a friend of mine and she recommended personal because commercial is difficult in regards to most companies have an insurance agent they like and are going to stick with them. Also, she recommended high risk insurance and working for a broker.

Sorry if this post sounds jumbled and some of the questions are uneducated lol. I've been on the internet researching this for a week and a half and my mind is all over the place at the moment

Any advice/direction would be great! Thank you for your time!

 

[todd02]

I've been looking at getting into insurance and have been doing some research on it (i.e. searching the internet, speaking to people in the industry, reading this forum, speaking to an online school) and I have a couple questions. There are obviously quite different opinions out there on what's best but I wanted to hear some advice based on my specific situation. Here are my details. I live in Washington state, I'm a 30 year old female (I only say that because I read on another thread that can make a difference), I would say pretty well spoken lol, I'm an introvert, have no problem talking to people but cold calling makes me fairly uneasy. I have seen some of the recommended reading on selling and definitely will get that material. I have no problem learning what I need to know to be successful and I am not afraid to put in the hard work necessary. I guess my questions are, what is the best kind of insurance to get into to start? I want to eventually be licensed in several areas to give me more options, but as far as getting started, where would the most success be? Also, I've heard different opinions of captive vs independent and commercial vs personal. I was talking to a friend of mine and she recommended personal because commercial is difficult in regards to most companies have an insurance agent they like and are going to stick with them. Also, she recommended high risk insurance and working for a broker.

Sorry if this post sounds jumbled and some of the questions are uneducated lol. I've been on the internet researching this for a week and a half and my mind is all over the place at the moment

Any advice/direction would be great! Thank you for your time!

First, stop listening to your friend. If I thought every person already had an insurance agent I wouldn't have become one. I also hate cold calling so I hired one from the beginning. It's best to get your license and then go job hunting and get a base salary while they train you in the industry. Unless you have a lot of money to burn through while you learn. Yes women can get people to trust them faster than a man. Take advantage of the situation. If you are good at sales then this is a great business for a woman. Also make sure you learn a lot about marketing and the difference between successful marketing and wasteful marketing. Learn how to manage people and always recruit quality people and pay them well. yadayadaydaa.

 

[M.loss]

So commercial is the best way to go? Do you have any suggestions as far as companies to work for? Is working for a broker the way to go or not? Sorry for all the questions lol. Thank you for your response!

 

[DHK]

He didn't say that. Be careful to read what you need to hear, instead of what you think you want to hear.

What he said was:

First, stop listening to your friend. If I thought every person already had an insurance agent I wouldn't have become one.

This means that you must believe that there is opportunity for you in ANY market that you chose to focus your time, effort, and expertise in serving.

What you need FIRST is quality training. Pre-licensing has almost NOTHING to do with training... only the knowledge you'll need to pass your licensing exams.

This means that you need to find someone who specializes in both of these fields:
1) The line of insurance you want to sell.
2) The market you want to market that line of insurance to.

Broker contracts are for people who do not need training... or they get their training from 3rd party companies. That doesn't necessarily describe you at this point.

If you want to do any kind of P&C, you will want to spend time learning the ropes, so that you can become a broker one day. From what I've read, it's harder to get appointed with companies unless you have some documented experience for about 2 years. Life & Health doesn't require any of that on the broker side... but you'll still want and need training.

 

[todd02]

He didn't say that. Be careful to read what you need to hear, instead of what you think you want to hear.

What he said was:


This means that you must believe that there is opportunity for you in ANY market that you chose to focus your time, effort, and expertise in serving.

What you need FIRST is quality training. Pre-licensing has almost NOTHING to do with training... only the knowledge you'll need to pass your licensing exams.

This means that you need to find someone who specializes in both of these fields:
1) The line of insurance you want to sell.
2) The market you want to market that line of insurance to.

Broker contracts are for people who do not need training... or they get their training from 3rd party companies. That doesn't necessarily describe you at this point.

If you want to do any kind of P&C, you will want to spend time learning the ropes, so that you can become a broker one day. From what I've read, it's harder to get appointed with companies unless you have some documented experience for about 2 years. Life & Health doesn't require any of that on the broker side... but you'll still want and need training.

^this.

You can't think becoming an Agent is as simple as it seems. Get your license on your own, study in the evening or take a class. An employer is 10X more likely to hire and pay you more already licensed, assuming your smart and interview well.

Pick an agent and company that are rapidly growing and ranked top in your area. Learn what they do well and what they don't.

That would take ~12-24 months.

 

[M.loss]

Thank you for your replies. I didn't think I was going to become a broker at least not right now. I was just talking about working for one. Again thank you for your advice.

 

[VolAgent]

A slight correction here.

Your friend is right, basically every business and most preferred personal line prospects have an insurance agent they like and trust.

He thinks this is a bad thing, ultimately it is a good thing. Once you win them over, they are going to like and trust you and be reluctant to leave you. So it will be harder to gain clients to start, but once you have them it will be easier to keep them. Just make sure you don't ignore them, but depending on the client and business, they can generally be serviced by a CSR.

The moral is, you are going to have to work hard now and be rewarded later. Starting out, you are going to be looking for the people who are unhappy with their current agent, and trust me there are plenty. As you develop, you'll find it easier to win new accounts.

 

[DivineFoodie]

@ M.Loss. I am going to be moving to Washington State next year; however, I currently live in Colorado. I recently passed my P&C here in Colorado and will initially be a resident agent here, and then become a non-resident when I move to Washington State.

Anyway, I'd love to speak with you if you'd like. I don't know anything about Life & Health insurance; however, I was in Personal Lines (claims) and Commercial E&S (Surplus Lines Claims) for a number of years, in varying positions and roles; however, being a Broker will be new to me. I can speak to some of the things you asked in respect to being a woman and such. I will say that it is a very male dominated business (in general); however, if you are bright, articulate and generally a personable person it can go a loooooong way with getting business and people to trust you. It's NOT easy by any stretch of the imagination, and it's a lot of work, but as the expression says, "No risk, no reward(s)."

If you want to PM me, I'd be more than willing to email with you or chat on the phone. Best of luck to you with whatever decision you decide, and there are a lot of really good people with awesome advice on this forum too.

And VolAgent hit a lot of it on the head: hard work now = rewards later on!

 

[DHK]

M. loss won't be able to PM anyone for a while, until she posts more in the threads. And the limit of posts before being allowed to PM seems to always be fluctuating... so we can avoid spammers who post inane comments just to get the privilege of PMing other posters.

 

[DivineFoodie]

M. loss won't be able to PM anyone for a while, until she posts more in the threads. And the limit of posts before being allowed to PM seems to always be fluctuating... so we can avoid spammers who post inane comments just to get the privilege of PMing other posters.

Oh shoot! I forgot about the minimum post thing.
Thanks for the reminder; regardless, I'm here to help and answer questions to the best of my knowledge and experience.