Getting Started in the Insurance industry

[Frank Stastny]

Frank do you have your own call center, or do you just have field agents under you? Just wondering if what you are doing is all done over the phone?

I ask because I am part of an agency here in San Diego that just recently put together a mini call center for calling T-65's, 3 telemarketers on a dialer calling for 2 licensed agents. I'm going to be the one that calls them on the FE after the advantage or med-supp plan is sold.

I think that the FE is better sold by the agent that sold the Med supp or advantage plan but for some reason our agents are gun shy on the cross sell. Your thoughts?

The "call center" I have would be me. I sit in the "center" of my office and make calls. haha I no longer have agents working under me.

Just about everything I'm selling now is over the phone because of time constraints. However, going on appointments is the part of what I do that I enjoy the most. I believe I can build a stronger, longer lasting rapport with my clients that way. That is especially important when selling Med Supps.

Cross selling FE, at least for me, is easiest done by me when I make the Med Supp sale.

The business model you are working under sounds like an assembly line operation, not one designed to make the new client feel "warm and fuzzy" and let them know that the agent will be there if they every need help. "Bim bam thank you mam, next." Sounds like they are in it for the "fast buck".

The public's perception of us is we are there to see how much of their money we can get in the least amount of time. By one agent making the Med Supp sale and passing that client to another "stranger" to give them a call and try to get more of their money confirms that feeling. In other words, if I were the client I think it would piss me off.

The writing agent should be the one that offers to further assist them if they need a few extra dollars to cover funeral expenses. I enjoy selling insurance because of the personal satisfaction I get out of helping my prospects and clients, not just to see how much of their money I can get.

What is the business model for staying in touch with clients? Is there another "stranger" that they will have to talk to if they need help, have questions or problems?
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Pardon my newb question, but what's a YIO?

That is funny Newby.

It is a CRM I developed for agents to keep track of their clients and prospects. The link below will take you to my website. YIO stands for "Your Insurance Office".

 

[juswannahelp]

Praise the Lord Jesus Christ Hallelujah!! This forum is just awesome! I have spent about 4 hours on this forum today! Lots of info to cover..

Anyways.. I passed my L&H Exam (Thank God). So now, soon as I get myh license number, im ready to rock-n-roll.

Now, after reading this WHOLE thread, i've come to the conclusion that this business is a career not a job. Got that mindset already..

You got to have a desire to help people.. since God has commanded me to love thy neighbor, check.

So now, how do I go about starting. Actually, I'd like to explain how I got started and would highly appreciate where I should go from the point im at right now...

Got hooked up with a Life Agent. He just started a business thats actually a financial services marketing company with the goal of freeing up discretionary income so that we could sell Index Universal Life. WHats your guys' opinion on IUL?? He seems to think LSW has the best one out there?? Should I focus on selling JUST that poilicy?

He wants me to make up a list of people I know to start to call them and try to get them in to the presentation.. I would love sell them the policy for I am a firm believer that its not only a good insurance policy, but a great alternative to regular savings vehicle. question is, how do I become the friend who is interested in letting them know, instead of the friend who always has something to sell (been trying to push MLM opportunities before..which im done with!!)??

now the Life guy im working with has under 10 years of selling life policies and gives me the impression all he has sold is IUL... do you guys think I should go the same route to be successful??

and also, whats a good script to use for door-to-door prospecting for IULs or life insurance in general??

one last question: what should my target market be??

I highly appreciate this forum and promise to give back when I can. thanks in advanced for your guys advice and guidance.. God BLess

 

[Sarge1117]

As I stated in my introductory post, I am about a year out from actually beginning my career in insurance. It is my intent to start my own independent agency, without working for anyone else first, as I will be retiring into this second career. I am taking this year that I am still employed to educate myself the best that I can. Here goes with my first round of questions (and statements) on the forum:

I have seen in a number of places in the forums that a new agent should concentrate on one area and learn it well before moving on. In researching the independent agents in my area though, it seems that they all do auto, life, health, business etc. Can a new agency, that focuses only on health for example, compete with the other agencies that have more to offer?

As I am learning, I am looking for which area to focus on and begin my study and licensing (not to mention networking before actual launch). I will have a lump sum from my retirement to get started and a small monthly check also. If I should concentrate on one area, what would be the best to start? Eventually, I would like to get into financial services also, but that is not where I see myself starting.

I appreciate any advice you wise folks can give.

 

[STIBROKER]

Can a new agency, that focuses only on health for example, compete with the other agencies that have more to offer?

Yes....you just get contracted with all the same company's and maybe ones they don't have....but as far as health goes after the big commission cut of 2011 you might want to look at a different avenue.....

 

[Frank Stastny]

Can a new agency, that focuses only on health for example, compete with the other agencies that have more to offer?

It isn't the "agencies" that have more to offer, it is the company that the agent is contracted with.. As an independent agent you can offer prospects the very same thing that "agencies" can.

Agencies typically have less to offer an agent in the way of "real" benefits especially when it comes to commissions. I don't like the way the majority of agencies I have heard about of treat agents.

And yes, if you want to be successful pick a product, become an expert on it before adding additional products.

 

[Sarge1117]

I am glad you two weighed in on my questions; based on what I have read on this forum, I respect y'all's opinion.

Frank, your message is consistent, so one product to start for me.

STIBROKER, since you do health, I will take your advice to heart about considering something else first.

Starting out, would one be better off contracting individually with companies or going through an organization like Health Choice One, if I was to do health? (or something like it but for life...Is there something equivalent for life insurance?)

 

[Frank Stastny]

I am glad you two weighed in on my questions; based on what I have read on this forum, I respect y'all's opinion.

Frank, your message is consistent, so one product to start for me.

STIBROKER, since you do health, I will take your advice to heart about considering something else first.

Starting out, would one be better off contracting individually with companies or going through an organization like Health Choice One, if I was to do health? (or something like it but for life...Is there something equivalent for life insurance?)

I'm prejudice, bias, and opinionated. I believe that Med Supps are the easiest to learn, get appointments for and sell. The agent in essence is the underwriter and companies typically pay first year commission for the first six years.

Once "in the door" with Med Supps there are all sorts of cross selling opportunities.

If you want to BS about it give me a call.

However, an agent will need to be independent.

 

[Sarge1117]

I will absolutely take you up on that call. I will get some things together, so I can speak intelligently about it with you. When is the best time to call?

When you said an agent needs to be independent, do you mean as opposed to being a captive agent, or is there another level of independence you mean? My parents dubbed me "Mr. Independence" over 35 years ago, if that helps out.

 

[Frank Stastny]

I will absolutely take you up on that call. I will get some things together, so I can speak intelligently about it with you. When is the best time to call?

When you said an agent needs to be independent, do you mean as opposed to being a captive agent, or is there another level of independence you mean? My parents dubbed me "Mr. Independence" over 35 years ago, if that helps out.

When I say "independent" I mean, "doesn't play well with others". That would be me and most successful independent agents. Does that help?

Don't worry about speaking "intelligent", I'm just an insurance agent.

The best time to call is when you have time. 573.544.4091

I'll look forward to it.

 

[mikelnix]

I have an Oklahoma resident license. I started out 5 years ago as a CSR for a State Farm agent. As far as I know, you're not required to work for anyone for a specified amount of time. But you do have to pass the insurance tests. There is a test for Property & Casualty and a separate test for Life & Health. You can take one or the other or both. I would suggest both because once you pass them, it just gives you more weapons for your arsenal and you're not so limited. I would recommend working for an agent first for a couple of reasons. Classes are offered to prepare you for the tests but they cost money. However, I found that the tests and the information provided to pass the test didn't really prepare me much for specialized products. It's really nice to be able to watch an agent sell some products and get paid for learning how it's done than doing the whole trial and error thing. Don't get me wrong, trial and error is pretty much how I prefer to learn everything else, but for selling insurance I wouldn't recommend it. It's kind of like when you started out playing Monopoly as a kid before you took your real money into the world and started buying stuff. Better to make mistakes (and learn) under someone else's E&O policy and not using your real money. Additionally, some agents will pay for your classes and the test if they think you might hang around for awhile and be an asset to their company. And don't be afraid to talk to these agents about commissions and an hourly wage. The downside to this is if you work for State Farm, Shelter, Farmers, Allstate, etc., (in other words, captive agents) you won't be able to pursue the independent side much. I also have a non-resident license in Arkansas and the Farmers agency I worked for didn't offer Farmers Health insurance. In that instance, I was able to sell health to our customers using other health insurance companies. Additionally, sometimes client's have health issues that make them ineligible for life insurance with your State Farms, Farmers Insurance Companies, and the like. In those situations, if you wanted to get appointed with life insurance companies who have minimal underwriting requirements or who accept clients with cancer, heart disease, etc., you might find a niche there. Professionally, I think it's a smart move to get appointed with these types of insurance companies because if you have a customer who needs life insurance and they get turned down by your captive agency, you might still be able to help them. Clients like people who have more than one trick up their sleeve to help them. Also when it comes time for that client to consider if they want to take their auto or home policy somewhere else, they will usually think twice because they will remember how resourceful you were when they needed an important product. Anyway, it's something I have tried and have been moderately successful at. Of course, the majority of customers are most likely going to qualify for a policy at some rate. Oftentimes, underwriters like to use what's called a table rate to increase the cost of a policy for certain conditions so they don't have to decline the policy but they can still charge a sufficient rate for the risk. So keep in mind that you'll probably actually only have a small percentage of people you could write with another company.

I'm in the process of starting an independent agency myself ; which means, I can't speak from too much experience comparing the pros and cons. One thing I can say is, I miss making sales calls from a marketing list provided from my former boss using his money and/or good old cross-selling. That being said, I'm a great boss and I'm no longer that disgruntled employee who has been overworked and underpaid! I'm still looking for other companies to write Life and Health policies for who don't require E&O policies to get started with. And I'm thinking about trying my hand at Medicare. I've been afraid of taking it on in the past because I had such a busy work schedule when I wasn't working for myself and I think there is some other training that is involved to be able to sell Medicare. I couldn't take much time off when I worked for someone else and usually all my vacation days were used taking care of a sick kid...so I didn't have any vacation time left to take to go to Medicare seminars. But I would suggest that you test for everything so there are no limits to how you're able to help your customers. You touched on wanting to be able to help people in your post and I think that's a great intention to start out with. People work most of their lives to afford a home. People depend on their cars to take them to the place that helps them pay for their home and to get home at the end of the day. People need life insurance to take care of their loved ones when they pass away. People need health insurance to help them stay alive as long as possible. Insurance agents have a lot entrusted to them and a pretty unique opportunity to help people make good decisions in protecting the things they place a lot of value on. So, I hope that as you gain experience and start writing policies that you remember to help the customers first, sell them the products they need, provide sound advice, and think more about their needs than your need for a commission check. I've worked with both types of agents...the one who had a desire to help his customers and the one who had a desire to help himself. Ironically, the one who helped the customers first had a better attitude AND more money...they both had the same amount of experience and sold similar products. So, personally and professionally, I'm sold on the helping others aspect. Anyway, I wish you success if you choose to take this path. Best of luck!

Thank you for this information. There is alot of good information here that I plan on saving and referring back to. I am thinking about going into the industry, so this information will help me a great deal.