Insurance Agent Success Stories: Tips from the Pros

As a new insurance agent, you might be asking yourself, "How can I become an expert in my field? How did my predecessors achieve success?"

To help you follow in the footsteps of the pros, we've highlighted some agent success stories and best practices in four areas to incorporate into your business methods—and bring you professional success for years to come.

Experience

It's the age-old??dilemma: How can you get experience if no one will give you experience?

When it comes to insurance sales, you can benefit from experience in other areas of business. If you read the biographies of successful insurance agents, you will see that most of them have had experience in marketing, consulting, product development and public relations. Successful agents have learned to integrate lessons from other areas of business and adjust them to fit their insurance sales practices.

While insurers and consumers alike strongly consider the experience of an agent, it's important to remember that you can enhance your industry experience by applying your knowledge from other business forums.

Think like a Pro: Create a list of the skills and abilities you've acquired through past work and/or educational experiences; once you've identified these components, ask yourself how you can shape those skills to fit the mold of insurance sales.

Continued Education

Because the insurance industry is in a near constant state of evolution—from changes in insurance law to the way consumers shop for insurance—the top insurance agents do all they can to stay abreast of the latest developments.

In addition to staying current with industry news, the vast majority of successful insurance agents seek additional certification by joining organizations like The American Insurance Association and the Insurance Research Counsel and earning accreditations such as the Charter Life Underwriter distinction and Chartered Financial Consultant.

All of these measures are aimed at becoming an expert in the agent's respective fields—gaining respect from their peers and value in the eyes of consumers.

Think like a Pro: Be a sponge! Subscribe to industry newsletters and magazines to continue learning about new developments in your field and look into attending as many industry-related events as you can.

Marketing

Today's top insurance agents didn't rely on luck to get the word out about their business and neither can you. Successful agents employed multiple tactics to gain recognition—from handing out flyers to cold calling, successful agents have done it all.

Here are some additional tactics used by the pros:

Give Freebies. Distribute pens, coffee mugs, calendars and key chains bearing your company name to residents in your selling areas. Giving consumers something they can use will be handy come renewal time. Think Outside of the Box. One agent fluent in Russian took out newspaper ads in Russian newspapers and ad sheets in his area—zoning in on other sectors of the local market. Be Public. Setting up kiosks at malls and airports (with permission) are great ways to connect with prospects. One agent reported great success selling child fingerprint kits-providing a great service for the public and supplying them with promotional goods. Lend Your Voice. Consider paying for a radio spot—it's cheaper than advertising on television and can pack just as much punch.

When it comes to marketing, you must be willing to test all areas of the advertising waters and adjust your methods until you find something that works.

Think like a Pro: Put a creative spin on your marketing materials. Companies like FarFromBoring.com specialize in unique and useful materials for business promotion.

Goal-Setting

Successful agents didn't become what they are by flying by the seat of their pants. To achieve their accomplishments, top agents set goals to continually advance their business to the next level.

What kind of goals should you set as a new agent? The pros suggest starting with these:

• Hand out 100 flyers per week
• Talk to 10 to 15 non-clients every day about your services
• Check in on one or two existing clients each week
• Call local businesses or establishments to set up one promotional display per month
• Compile updated lists of prospects daily

By starting small, the pros agree that you'll be able to knock out larger goals such as improving closing ratios and increasing sales dollars.

Think like a Pro: Create a list or spreadsheet to fill out or cross off after completing a task or goal—keeping a visual record of your accomplishments will give you an added sense of achievement and motivate you to complete the next goal.

Join the Pros Today!

The one thing every successful insurance agent has in common is drive and the commitment to succeed. By putting your nose to the grindstone, you'll soon find that the rewards of becoming a top insurance agent far outweigh the challenges to get there!