How Insurance Agents Become Successful
Successful insurance agents share many of the same habits and practices while setting themselves apart from the less-successful competition. Attaining success in the insurance industry is not a matter of parroting what well-known earners do. Instead, it is a matter of understanding what you are doing and why, how to make your insurance offerings stand out to your clients, and how to market yourself as an agent.
Whether you have been in the insurance field for a long time and are looking for ways to boost business and add a new shine of success, or you are just getting started and want to begin your journey on the strongest foot possible, we’re here to advise.
Understand Your Insurance Product
Insurance agents need to know what they are offering inside and out. Customers are relying on you to be an expert, especially when you are providing coverage for especially risky activities or niche product lines. Not only that, but you need to fully understand any competitors’ insurance products too, so you can explain why a client should opt for you.
Learning everything there is to know about insurance lets you become an expert in the field, which helps make you a trusted source of information. If people have questions about insurance, they will be more likely to come to you with the expectation that you know the answer and/or will lead them in the right direction. Demonstrating your expertise is a powerful way to make and keep contacts, which is vital to your business success.
Focus is Key
You can’t do everything. In the insurance world, if you try to spread yourself too thinly with product lines, you are less likely to be successful in each one. If you focus that same level of attention and investment into one area of expertise, however, it’s easier to know the subject inside and out. You will automatically stand out from the generalists.
The need for focus also applies to clients themselves. Even if your insurance niche is very small, you are likely to find that you cannot apply your approach across the board to every client or prospect. Keep track of your clients and their accounts, and you should be able to allow the right amount of resources to each client to make the most of your time, money, and effort.
Remember – You’re a Salesperson
Among other things, insurance agents are salespeople. As an insurance agent, you are selling a product or service to clients. That requires marketing skills. Instead of only marketing a product, however, you need to understand how to market yourself too. Each interaction with a client or prospective client is an opportunity to build a relationship and pitch what you are offering.
Selling insurance means relating to your clients and prospects, finding out more about them and their lives and how your insurance products can put them at ease and improve their lifestyles. As such, every conversation is an investment in a potential opportunity and an investment in your ongoing success.
It also means that you need to highlight all of those things that set you apart, so clients can see your unique value proposition and why they should choose you over another agent.
Perhaps it’s that niche product line that you offer, or maybe it’s the way you have bonded with the customer over a shared interest you discovered in conversation. You generate your own branding, and you always need to be ‘on.’
Networking is Critical
Yes, you want to stand out from other insurance agents, but that shouldn’t stop you from networking! Especially if you are new to the field or otherwise need mentorship, networking with successful insurance agents is a great way to pick up tips and tricks of the trade.
Consider going to conventions, seminars, and other networking events to talk to other agents and insurance providers. You can check out what events Prime Insurance Company will be at on our website. We are always eager to talk to insurance agents about how we can aid in finding success.
Use Every Tool at Your Disposal
Whether it’s a Facebook presence, a commitment to answering every email in a specific amount of time, an investment in continuing education, or the hours you put into researching what insurance niche is the best fit for you, you have to put effort and resources into every tool available.
Track your customer data and any other metrics that reveal what is working and what needs to be changed. Insurance may feel like guesswork at times, but when you track labor, revenue, and customer relationship management data you should be able to uncover what marketing is landing and what is missing the mark, the return on investment for any given campaign or customer, and whether or not a certain tool or tactic is worth the spend.
Successful insurance agents are committed and resourceful. More than that, they are determined. Take the time to investigate what tools fit into your toolbox, and use them, all the time. You will not always be successful, but that commitment to trying over and over again is what ultimately turns into a strong knowledge of insurance and how to use it to add value to your clients’ lives. Persistence is key, especially through challenging times.
Contact Us
Prime Insurance Company can help you put these tips into practice. We can give you access to the product lines you need to be successful as an insurance agent at any stage of your career. We have countless customer testimonials that boast how well we do our jobs, and that translates to your job being easier, too.
Get started with Prime Insurance Company today. Connect with us at 801-304-5500 or info@primeis.com, and you can visit us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Authored by Rick J. Lindsey, CEO, President, and Chairman of Prime Insurance Company
Rick J. Lindsey hails from Salt Lake City, Utah. He began working in the mailroom of his father’s Salt Lake City insurance firm, getting his introduction to the business that became his lifelong career. Lindsey quickly rose through the ranks while working in nearly every imaginable insurance industry job. As an entrepreneur, specialty lines underwriter, claims specialist, risk manager, and a licensed surplus lines broker, Rick Lindsey is highly skilled in all levels of leadership and execution. As he progressed on his career path, Rick discovered an urgent need for insurers willing to write policies for high-risk individuals and businesses. He was frequently frustrated that he could not provide the liability protection these entities desperately needed to safeguard their assets. He also formed the belief that insurance companies acted too quickly to settle frivolous claims. Lindsey decided to try a different approach. He started an insurance company and became the newly formed entity’s CEO. This opportunity has enabled Rick to fill a void in the market and provide a valuable service to businesses, individuals, and insurance agents who write high-risk business. Prime Insurance also specializes in helping individuals and businesses who live a lifestyle or participate in activities that make them difficult for traditional carriers to insure. If you’ve been denied, non-renewed, or canceled coverage, don’t give up quite yet. Chances are Prime Insurance can help.
