Getting Started in the Insurance industry

[osubuddy777]

Hi Everyone,

I am new to the forum and considering getting into the insurance business. Here is my situation: I have a B.A. in Accounting and a Masters in Education. I worked in Accounting for 5 years and have been teaching for the past 15 years. I am near the top of the pay scale in teaching, and I feel like I'm ready for a change in my life where I can start creating some financial freedom. I considered taking my CPA exam and testing the waters, but after speaking to a friend who is a CPA, he told me that I should consider selling insurance. He got his license four years ago and has done quite well (with income in the 200K range). He suggested that I keep teaching for now, get my license, and slowly work my way in to learn the business and gain some experience. Eventually, I would like to quit teaching and go full time into insurance as an independent agent.
I'm looking for some direction as to where I should start. Should I get my license to sell all kinds of insurance or just focus on one thing at a time. What do you guys recommend for someone in my situation? I am home by 3:30 every day and, of course, have the entire summer off to build my client base. Any help would be appreciated. I'm not looking to make a huge income working part-time, but I don't want to give up my teaching job until I feel like I would be able to make it in the business.

Buddy

 

[Frank Stastny]

I'm looking for some direction as to where I should start. Should I get my license to sell all kinds of insurance or just focus on one thing at a time. What do you guys recommend for someone in my situation? I am home by 3:30 every day and, of course, have the entire summer off to build my client base. Any help would be appreciated. I'm not looking to make a huge income working part-time, but I don't want to give up my teaching job until I feel like I would be able to make it in the business.

Buddy

Pick a product you have some interest in and focus only on that product only until you become literally an expert.

Once you have mastered that then begin looking to expand to other products. One of the biggest reasons agents fail at this business is they start out trying to be all things to all people.

 

[Frank Stastny]

How many of these "newbee" posters from 2008 and 2009 are still selling insurance and on here?

Counting all of them, even the one's who may have sold four or five policies? We will never know but I'll bet the number is staggering.

The retention of those who view selling insurance as a career is much higher than those who become an agent simply to "make money".

Read posts by newbees and you will get a good indication of their chances of still being an agent twelve and twenty-four months from now.

 

[DHK]

How many of these "newbee" posters from 2008 and 2009 are still selling insurance and on here?

That's a good question that you should be asking an agency manager about their agents & retention... not a forum.

Anyone on here can be full of BS.

You keep asking for "who should I listen to" and "who is the most credible".

I'm going to give you a hint: If you don't like hearing it, it's probably credible.

http://www.amnesta.net/mba/thecommondenominatorofsuccess-albertengray.pdf

 

[Frank Stastny]

I'm going to give you a hint: If you don't like hearing it, it's probably credible.

I agree. There are many people on here who have become proficient at telling agents "what they know what they want to hear", "blowing smoke", as opposed to giving them accurate, real life information.

I talked to a new agent yesterday and he told me that he was told if he followed a particular "system" that he would shortly be selling forty Med Supps per month.

He wanted to believe it and was very skeptical when I said I didn't think he would be able to do that as a brand new agent.

I don't "blow smoke" at agents. Even a gentle breeze will make it go away.

 

[sonofthetis]

That's a good question that you should be asking an agency manager about their agents & retention... not a forum.

Anyone on here can be full of BS.

You keep asking for "who should I listen to" and "who is the most credible".

I'm going to give you a hint: If you don't like hearing it, it's probably credible.

http://www.amnesta.net/mba/thecommondenominatorofsuccess-albertengray.pdf

DHK, I hear ya. I've asked that to the DM and he was specific to a point in his response. I'm also aware of geographical differences which would present problems for some and not others.

I take my FL 2-15 license on Tues, so my inquisitive nature has shown itself in my previous posts. I'll tone it down and hopefully become a poster worthy of some of the other posters such as yourself and several others which I have found to be a good resource.

The credibility issue is what hopefully most anonymous posters on a board would provide, but then again, when I took a leak off the bridge the other night, I noticed a different water temp then I'm used to.

 

[DHK]

I take my FL 2-15 license on Tues, so my inquisitive nature has shown itself in my previous posts. I'll tone it down and hopefully become a poster worthy of some of the other posters such as yourself and several others which I have found to be a good resource.

Good luck on the glorified IQ test!

Search the forums and read more. You might find some golden nuggets here and there.

Asking questions is great! Unfortunately, the questions you're asking are just showing how new and (unfortunately) naive you are about the business.

You need to focus on 3 things in sales: Prospecting, Presenting & Following Up. Of the 3, prospecting is your #1 priority.

Most recruiting managers are full of s***. I've learned this the hard way. Once you see it, you can recognize it in about 95% of all managers in the industry. This is why you're sensing a different "water temperature".

What you are looking for, is guidance and mentorship. You need someone credible to show you what this profession is really all about.

I'd ask your manager to introduce you or give you a list of every agent in the office who is doing 100+ lives in a year and (ideally) has been doing so consistently. See if you can learn from someone like that. They may be doing worksite presentations and enrollments or other "hard work" sales that wasn't told to you during your interviews. You need to find those who are Kicking Ass and Taking Names.

Otherwise, you're going to have an extra hard time getting started.

 

[sonofthetis]

DHB, I got your message and I really appreciate all of the info and realism that is provided on the board by everyone. I'll only know in the next 3 to 6 months how honest and credible the pre-employment pitch was, but we all know what you can do with what you are told. A mentor will be first a foremost in my mind, and I have several in my sights that I will approach.

My experience in sales tells me that no one will care how well I'm doing if I'm not lining their pockets, so I'm going for the top. The benefits received from this board; the contacts made, the info received, and the warm welcome that everyone has given has been all well and good, but now its time to sell (or flounder)

 

[Frank Stastny]

I take my FL 2-15 license on Tues,...

A quick tip on taking the test. For the most part the tests are not as difficult as they are tricky.

Most will have four multiple choice answers. Two will be obviously wrong and can be eliminated. Of the remaining two one will be, at first glance, the correct answer. It is designed to be that way.

To make sure you select the correct answer, read the question, then read it a second time word for word. Look at the answers and then read the question a third time, word for word. Then mark your answer.

There is no prize for finishing in "record time".

 

[sonofthetis]

Good luck on the glorified IQ test!

Search the forums and read more. You might find some golden nuggets here and there.

Ok, so I passed the test (and I officially am a NOOB, with no idea how to sell insurance). Now I have to hang my license and go for broke. I'm gonna check on the Project 200 thread, everyone I've interviewed with seems to want me to provide one of those.