Hello, I have been an insurance agent with Nationwide for 2 years and moving to the Caribbean with my fiance. I would like to continue to sell insurance but not sure the steps I would need to take to sell from outside the United States over the phone. Has anyone have any advice on how I may be able to do this?
Sell Insurance Remotely
- Thread starter elialcorn
- Start date
- 24,967
I would reach out to Jeff Root (jroot)
LottieGarza
Expert
- 32
Yeah you can go through what you are thinking, selling insurance policy will depend on the rise of consumers, you can sell the plans remotely by talking in phone by applying for telecommuting job in the insurance field, it was independent part time and full time job.
- 1,432
That sounds way-cool! I would love to at least try living in the Caribbean for a year or so. My wife has a different opinion but may change her mind after our son is in college.
You probably will want to get a VOIP phone with a local number. I use http://www.nextiva.com even though I'm stateside.
You should be able to plug the phone into a router and have a very reasonable phone bill.
You will have to figure out how to send and receive faxes from the Caribbean without paying an arm and a leg. I don't have any advice there, but my guess is that you will have a lot of Internet-based options.
Another good tool to have is the paid version of Adobe Acrobat. This will allow you to create PDF files that you can email to clients. The free version only allows you to read PDF files.
All of the carriers I use for individual health have online applications. If your carriers have online applications you shouldn't have any problems working from another country. Most people I talk with want advice from an agent but prefer to buy online.
You should be able to talk a client through an application over the phone. Most people -- unless they are buying on the nightmare they call the health insurance exchange -- won't even need that level of hand holding regarding the actual application. They will, however, need advice regarding which plan they should purchase.
I have gone years without seeing a client face-to-face. I primarily sell individual health. I got into the Medicare/MA market a few years ago so that has changed. However, as a general rule, I only see my senior clients in person.
My closing ratio would probably be better if I saw more people face-to-face, but when you factor in time, face-to-face is very inefficient for me.
If an individual health prospect insists on a face-to-face meeting, I generally suggest that they call another agent. Most clients who ask if they can meet with me are pleased when they discover that we can do the entire transaction via the phone, email, fax and Internet.
You probably will want to get a VOIP phone with a local number. I use http://www.nextiva.com even though I'm stateside.
You should be able to plug the phone into a router and have a very reasonable phone bill.
You will have to figure out how to send and receive faxes from the Caribbean without paying an arm and a leg. I don't have any advice there, but my guess is that you will have a lot of Internet-based options.
Another good tool to have is the paid version of Adobe Acrobat. This will allow you to create PDF files that you can email to clients. The free version only allows you to read PDF files.
All of the carriers I use for individual health have online applications. If your carriers have online applications you shouldn't have any problems working from another country. Most people I talk with want advice from an agent but prefer to buy online.
You should be able to talk a client through an application over the phone. Most people -- unless they are buying on the nightmare they call the health insurance exchange -- won't even need that level of hand holding regarding the actual application. They will, however, need advice regarding which plan they should purchase.
I have gone years without seeing a client face-to-face. I primarily sell individual health. I got into the Medicare/MA market a few years ago so that has changed. However, as a general rule, I only see my senior clients in person.
My closing ratio would probably be better if I saw more people face-to-face, but when you factor in time, face-to-face is very inefficient for me.
If an individual health prospect insists on a face-to-face meeting, I generally suggest that they call another agent. Most clients who ask if they can meet with me are pleased when they discover that we can do the entire transaction via the phone, email, fax and Internet.
- 384
Use Ringcentral for your fax. It's like 10 / mon. It's a web based fax.
- 8,707
There is something we are all missing he is no longer going to a be a resident of any of the 50 states so no resident license means no nonresident license.
I would be calling the state DOI and finding out if there are options to keep the resident license.
I would be calling the state DOI and finding out if there are options to keep the resident license.
- 29,487
I'd been thinking about moving to England for a couple of years and called my DOI to ask them about keeping up my license. They said that I couldn't if I wasn't a resident. I asked them, what if I didn't tell you? They said, then nobody would know. I think you could pull it off if you used a relative's address as your residence or business address. Just keep a filing cabinet there.
- 11,995
I'd been thinking about moving to England for a couple of years and called my DOI to ask them about keeping up my license. They said that I couldn't if I wasn't a resident. I asked them, what if I didn't tell you? They said, then nobody would know. I think you could pull it off if you used a relative's address as your residence or business address. Just keep a filing cabinet there.
Or a virtual office location.
- 711
You couldn't sell for Caribbeanwide?
- 29,487
