Crystal Ball 2019

S

squeed

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I want everyone to think about this question before answering it, because I would like you to put aside your pride and love for the work that you do. Answer objectively.

If you are about to change a career and become an insurance agent either captive or independent. Where is the business going to be in 10 years? Will everyone be buying from the web ? Will agents go the way of the microfiche machine ?

I'm trying to find out if it's worth building a business from scratch in this industry.

-S
 
Everyone will not be buying from the web. But a higher percentage of people will be buying from the web than now. And there will be a bigger pool of prospects as well.

If you have a web presence, you will be fine. If you're a Cubs fan, you'll still be waiting.
 
OK lets look at it this way .............. you do build a business from scratch in this industry................................

If done properly with the proper planning and research your business should be doing great in 10 years and it doesn't really matter if everyone is buying from the internet as long as you have set youself up correctly for this. I believe that many people will still continue to purchase insurance based on the face to face method, yes the numbers might be lower, but there will still be plenty of people to sell to. The insurance market is the best business you could get in, take a look at the average person, how many insurance policies do they have? Health, life(sometimes more than one), auto, home, boat, dental, annuity investments, the list goes on and on with the potential number of insurance products anyone single person may or may not have. In a 10 year period of time you could have a tremendous amount of renewalls built up at this point and be living a great life and in 20 years it will be even better!

now in all fairness let's look at it in a different way.......... you don't build a business from scratch in this industry..........

You will likely be in a business that will not have a residual income and will have to earn your living every day with a new sale of some sort (maybe you will be selling antique microfiche machines) perhaps you will have found a different business with residual income (but this business you have found might go by the wayside with the microfiche machine). Maybe you will come up with something unique and new and it will be the next McDonalds!!!!

The bottom line is, if this is an industry that you can see yourself enjoying, then by all means get involved today. If this is something you cannot see yourself enjoying then keep your search going for something you will enjoy doing. In order to get a good understanding of exactly what this lifestyle of being an insurance agent is really like, I would suggest talking to as many agents as you can who have been in the business for a good amount of time and ask them what it is really like to be an agent, you will find that it maybe very different than you expect. When I got into this industry 10 years ago I was told things that made me want to sign up right away and get involved, now of course these were coming from a salesperson trying to sell me on the career, but now I do have everyting he said I would have and love what I am doing. One thing to note, 10 years ago this was a very different industry, 10 years from now I am sure it will be very different from what it is now, but it's still the same thing helping people find and acquire the coverage they need to keep them protected.

The insurance industry has been around for a very long time and has always utilized agents to sell their policies, I do not see this changing in the next 10 years to the point where the agents will all be gone and everything will be done online.

Ok I am done rambling now, good luck in your quest, we wish you the best in whatever you decide to do, just make sure first and foremost you do something you can see yourself being excited about for a very long time!
 
squeed said:
I want everyone to think about this question before answering it, because I would like you to put aside your pride and love for the work that you do. Answer objectively.

If you are about to change a career and become an insurance agent either captive or independent. Where is the business going to be in 10 years? Will everyone be buying from the web ? Will agents go the way of the microfiche machine ?

I'm trying to find out if it's worth building a business from scratch in this industry.

-S
Click to expand...

Your current question and several of your past quotes concerning breaking into the insurance business brings to mind a few quotes by General George Patton...

A good plan today is better than a great plan tomorrow.
- General Patton

A good plan vigorously executed right now is far better than a perfect plan executed next week.
- General George Patton

Also note that the key to any plan is "execution". Any coach, any warrior, will tell you that a vigorous execution of an imperfect plan will win over a perfect plan executed poorly.

i can give you some examples based on my own life experiences...
1. US Marine... months of intense battle training couldn't begin to prepare me mentally for the first 3 seconds of being fired on in an ambush in the jungles of Viet Nam...
2. My first job after college... four years of study and a degree in accounting made me a hotshot ready to conquer... 15 minutes into my first day i was given a shopping cart full of computer printouts and told to have the audit for the firms's statements by 8AM the next day
3. My first (of 5) baby... after weeks of highly touted Lamase birth classes on how proper breathing by the mother and comforting by the father would temper the pain of childbirth... all completely useless in the actual pain and trauma of hard labor

The point of all this is this...
1st... decide to sell insurance, not a hard decision really
2nd...be willing to be taught and use someone else's plan to start
3rd...read and apply Og Mandino's "The Best Salesman in the World"

Also, i think it might be important to note one more thing... my experience leads me to believe that most people wanting to be an independent insurance agent do so because ....they can't work for someone else... the key word here is "work"

Finally, remember on of the truest, most ignored truths of all... what ever you sow, one day you will reap.
 
This industry and the world are constantly changing.

If you had told me 10 years ago I would be sitting at home in front of a computer screen, sending quotes and applications over the internet and never meeting my clients face to face I would think you must be nuts.

But then many never thought the Dick Tracy 2-way wrist radio would become reality either.

The way I did business 10 yrs ago, and the carriers, plans, etc I used then are not anything like what I am doing now. In fact, I never wanted to get into the individual & small group market but now wish I had done so 10 years ago rather than waiting.

Point is, things change.

I can no more predict what will happen in 10 years than I can how quickly we will crash or how far we will sink before someone realizes Mr Fixit was not the man for the job in the White House.

You have to be flexible and keep your ear to the ground. Some times you will catch a wave, some times you will miss it. But if you never try you will always fail.
 
The key is going to be adaptability.

Insurance will be insurance, and regulation will be regulation. If you're slow to embrace new technologies, new distribution systems, new plan design, etc. you will lose.
 
I will change with the market and do whatever it takes to stick with it. I will learn whatever I must in order to stay with the market.
 
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