What Are a New Agents Biggest Challenges?
- Thread starter Insurancetechhead
- Start date
- 4,023
Insurancetechhead said:
That is interesting. We have had some of that inclination in our industry for quite awhile. In my years as a captive in home service companies, I've seen all kinds of creative contests to encourage sales or agency growth. We see elements as independents if we have an opportunity to win a trip or a new iPad, etc. Of course these are all non-tech versions of what this article is talking about (if i'm correctly understanding the point). How would you envision gamification working in the life insurance business in the future?
Insurance can be a tough industry to break into for a number of reasons. Lack of training, hilariously inept managers, Confusing products, having no idea how to market ect
So here's a question
For all the new agents what is your biggest challenge?
For the old war horses, What do you remember as your biggest challenge to give the new guys a heads up?
Do you mean besides getting out of bed?
Fear is a powerful weapon. It can keep you from reaching your goals or dreams.
Dont be afraid of failure. I learn a lot from my mistakes in this business. In order to find out what does work, you will also have to find out what does not work.
Always be doing/trying something. Dont have any idle time.
I call it brainstorming. Think of ways to get in front of prospects. Figure out what they need or their problems are and then solve them.
Read as much as you can. Read those agent guides, underwriting guides and everything you can on prospecting.
Dont be afraid of failure. I learn a lot from my mistakes in this business. In order to find out what does work, you will also have to find out what does not work.
Always be doing/trying something. Dont have any idle time.
I call it brainstorming. Think of ways to get in front of prospects. Figure out what they need or their problems are and then solve them.
Read as much as you can. Read those agent guides, underwriting guides and everything you can on prospecting.
CenCalAgent
New Member
- 6
As a P & C agent my retention rate is at 90% but this is just after 5 years in the biz. Losing a client depends on how much premium it is, if its an auto policy that is minimal but if it is a larger commercial account it can be substantial. Just depends on the size of the account. Referrals are bread and butter but starting out it is tough to get referrals but after you establish yourself in your community and build up your client base referrals come in more and more. Referrals are nice because you didnt have to work to get them to come in and they are more likely to buy from you because someone referred them
This may be a little off topic but I want to dig in the "old war horses brains a bit" For those that don't know yet I'm in my 1st year of insurance sales. So, don't worry I won't give you unnecessary advice I simply want to use experience to my advantage.
I use a standardized process of how I prospect when I did door to door sales.
1. Map out area to work for the day or week
2. Set daily goal,
example: I want to talk to 20 people today, schedule 5 appointments, do 5 insurance presentations, and collect 3-5 referrals each individual I speak with.
3. Don't stop until daily or weekly goal is met
4. When the day/week is done focus on family time, not worrying about what happened or what might happen next week. (to keep your sanity and your families)
This is a typical system that I follow. I don't know if it is the best, but it's what I've done for about 3 years.
I think the key is too be self disciplined. You have nobody but yourself to report to (unless your captive or married lol) and generally speaking you have to make the system you use work long term. You won't last if you don't enjoy it or you get burnt out.
That's why I saw hundreds of people drop out of door to door product sales because the ones that did well never saw their families and the ones that I didn't see much made less than the guy with the cardboard sign on the street begging.
Do you use a similar model when in insurance? I moved from product sales to insurance due to the potential and residuals I simply want to make a decent living ($40-60k/year) with time to have with my family as a professional. I'm done working with shady salesman I want to become a valuable resource for my community, not a sleezy salesman trying to make a quick buck on every joe schmo I run into.
Oh and sorry for the long post, I tend to ramble when I get going.
I use a standardized process of how I prospect when I did door to door sales.
1. Map out area to work for the day or week
2. Set daily goal,
example: I want to talk to 20 people today, schedule 5 appointments, do 5 insurance presentations, and collect 3-5 referrals each individual I speak with.
3. Don't stop until daily or weekly goal is met
4. When the day/week is done focus on family time, not worrying about what happened or what might happen next week. (to keep your sanity and your families)
This is a typical system that I follow. I don't know if it is the best, but it's what I've done for about 3 years.
I think the key is too be self disciplined. You have nobody but yourself to report to (unless your captive or married lol) and generally speaking you have to make the system you use work long term. You won't last if you don't enjoy it or you get burnt out.
That's why I saw hundreds of people drop out of door to door product sales because the ones that did well never saw their families and the ones that I didn't see much made less than the guy with the cardboard sign on the street begging.
Do you use a similar model when in insurance? I moved from product sales to insurance due to the potential and residuals I simply want to make a decent living ($40-60k/year) with time to have with my family as a professional. I'm done working with shady salesman I want to become a valuable resource for my community, not a sleezy salesman trying to make a quick buck on every joe schmo I run into.
Oh and sorry for the long post, I tend to ramble when I get going.
- 4,023
tiamat said:
That looks like a good system. It's very similar, even in some of the numbers, to what I used to teach my home service agents. The number of referrals per each individual may be a little ambitious, but if you can get that many, absolutely do it! Have you considered adding to your goals a minimum amount of premium sold each week? That's helpful for some, as long as you don't slack off your activity goals no matter how much you sell.
Actually I dont usually have a sales goal execpt for a historical number.
What I mean is if agents typically do 20 presentations they sell 5 and average xx per sale ect.
The reason I do that is I want goals that reflect my actions so I cant blame a bad neighborhood or overly picky people. Basically I remove my ability to give up or blame factors I cant control. And justify leaving a area early or quitting to early.
I dont want to get in my own way.
What I mean is if agents typically do 20 presentations they sell 5 and average xx per sale ect.
The reason I do that is I want goals that reflect my actions so I cant blame a bad neighborhood or overly picky people. Basically I remove my ability to give up or blame factors I cant control. And justify leaving a area early or quitting to early.
I dont want to get in my own way.
- 4,023
tiamat said:
I agree that focusing on activity is more important than focusing on $. If you have enough of the right kind of activity, the $ will take care of themselves. As a matter of fact, I heard Zig Ziglar speak a few years ago, in his later years. He said that he hadn't set a sales goal in years - meaning a $ goal. He had decided that if he just made sure he helped enough people get what they want, he would have enough of what he wants. I agree with that philosophically, that while you're in the field your focus needs to be on activity and clients' needs. However, you should have some measurements in place besides simple activity measurements. Looking at it, as you put it, historically is fine as long as you have measurements like premium $ sold & issued, persistency, etc. to determine whether the activity you're pursuing is profitable activity.
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I have known a few people who lost weight on the WeightWatchers program. Their focus was always on calorie count. But the way they knew they were making progress was by standing on a scale. I'm currently watching what I eat because of cholesterol & other issues. My focus is on changing my eating & lifestyle habits. I'm not that worried about my weight, even though it's a little high. Yet weight is one of the numbers I use, along with blood pressure & cholesterol level to know if my health activity is bringing about desired results. I'm sure you get my point. Focus on activity, but don't fail to evaluate the result.
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I agree. I have a bit of difficulty at times getting discouraged when things dont work out right away.
Ive found, at least in my expierience, ive suffered brief unnessesary hardship because I was too focused on the $$.
When I adjusted my focus on activity the success came back. You do make a great point that the $$ are a great way to benchmark your results.
going from confused new agent to focused professional is what im trying to figure out. I guess finding that perfect blend of helping others and creating wealth for yourself is what salesman are forced to figure out. Unfortunatly a lot of people never do get to that level.
I like that you refeerence zig I got into his books early on in his career.
Ive found, at least in my expierience, ive suffered brief unnessesary hardship because I was too focused on the $$.
When I adjusted my focus on activity the success came back. You do make a great point that the $$ are a great way to benchmark your results.
going from confused new agent to focused professional is what im trying to figure out. I guess finding that perfect blend of helping others and creating wealth for yourself is what salesman are forced to figure out. Unfortunatly a lot of people never do get to that level.
I like that you refeerence zig I got into his books early on in his career.
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