Going after a new career!!!

[Cjatlanta]

Hello Everyone,

I recently quit my job that I was extremely unhappy with. I have always been interested in owning my own business and recently have enough capital. I am looking to get into insurance business and work with allstate or state farm to get a new agency. I have no prior insurance experience but signed up for kaplan classes to get my P&C license for now in the state of GA. Will be working towards Life, Health, series 6 and 63 in upcoming months after I pass my P&C exams. I look forward to being an active part of this forum and learning all I can to put myself in a better position to succeed. I am looking at January 2020 to start my own agency. Plan is to work for couple of months to get the experience I need after I get my exams.

I would love for you anyone to provide any feedback.

Regards,
CJ

 

[DHK]

The insurance and financial services career is unlike ANYTHING else out there. You'll need FAR more than a "couple of months" to get the experience you need after you pass your exams.

In fact, licensing isn't a test of competence. It is a test to see if you can be held liable for your actions and recommendations by the various regulators.

There is nearly an INFINITE amount of study and directions you can take this career.

In fact, here's a Van Mueller 4-hour training on life insurance and annuities for State Farm agents. You might want to check it out:

 

[Cjatlanta]

The insurance and financial services career is unlike ANYTHING else out there. You'll need FAR more than a "couple of months" to get the experience you need after you pass your exams.

In fact, licensing isn't a test of competence. It is a test to see if you can be held liable for your actions and recommendations by the various regulators.

There is nearly an INFINITE amount of study and directions you can take this career.

In fact, here's a Van Mueller 4-hour training on life insurance and annuities for State Farm agents. You might want to check it out:

Thank you for your response and providing link. If you don't mind, can i ask you few questions?

I have been in Sales and Marketing field for nearly 10 years. I am very familiar with product sales and brand sales. I have been in CPGS industry.

My end goal obviously is to start my own agency with the help of a corporate company to market. What steps should I take right now to put myself in a successful position?

 

[DHK]

My perspective is the life, annuity, and perhaps investments mentality, rather than P&C.

The biggest thing, is to leverage whatever brand you have (New York Life, State Farm, whomever)... and control the conversation. No one REALLY knows who you are and what you do when you say "I'm DHK with State Farm" as if that speaks to what you really do.

A better way to direct that conversation is to say something like: "I'm DHK with State Farm. What most people don't know about State Farm is how we help families and retirees to (insert 1, 2, and 3 problems you can solve here)."

Nobody cares about your product. For life insurance, either people want to pay less for their current coverage, or see if they can GET coverage (because they're uninsurable). They know what life insurance IS... but they don't know what it DOES. I want healthy people to spend tens of thousands of dollars a year on a policy with me.

People don't "buy insurance" (or corporate entities). People buy people. It's about the relationship, not necessarily the brand behind you - but having a trusted brand can't hurt you.

My "sticky" thread is here with lots of resources: https://insurance-forums.com/community/threads/guidance-for-new-life-agents.29999/

 

[Cornelius]

People bash other organizations and nothing about the opening remarks?

 

[DHK]

I'm confused.

 

[BADTROUT]

Hello Everyone,

I recently quit my job that I was extremely unhappy with. I have always been interested in owning my own business and recently have enough capital. I am looking to get into insurance business and work with allstate or state farm to get a new agency. I have no prior insurance experience but signed up for kaplan classes to get my P&C license for now in the state of GA. Will be working towards Life, Health, series 6 and 63 in upcoming months after I pass my P&C exams. I look forward to being an active part of this forum and learning all I can to put myself in a better position to succeed. I am looking at January 2020 to start my own agency. Plan is to work for couple of months to get the experience I need after I get my exams.

I would love for you anyone to provide any feedback.

Regards,
CJ

First, WELCOME!
Second, Great choice in career paths...
Third, Trust me, do NOT put a timeline like January 2020 on opening your own agency if you are going to attempt P&C&L&H&6&7&63 . . . @DHK is right... you will own ALL of the responsibility to be perfect without having learned a thing just yet if you spread so thin.

I believe in the General Agent experience meaning you have more than one area of expertise. I think L&H agents and P&C agents can both intermingle, coexist, and even be one person... like me. But adding in the variable to me is asking for trouble so soon. Pick one, or the other, hone it, then expand.

Lastly, be it that you have sales experience, and lets say you become a student of the industry and excel at your skills and are the best at what you are licensed in at the end of 2019... to start and run a successful agency, WHILE you haven't even had a full year of experience means you will likely (prove me wrong please!) fail because you will be learning how to run a business with new products so you may not have time to sell, or you will sell what you don't completely understand... you can wing it with a few lines, but not all of them.

@Cjatlanta I make the bulk of my income now by assisting people in starting their agencies so please understand I'm not just some cynical guy trying to dissuade you from a wonderful career. I am good at what I do, and I don't make that money by setting people up to fail. This is why I'm wishing you well, but hoping you'll hear what @DHK and I are saying. Either way, welcome, and good luck!

 

[Cjatlanta]

My perspective is the life, annuity, and perhaps investments mentality, rather than P&C.

The biggest thing, is to leverage whatever brand you have (New York Life, State Farm, whomever)... and control the conversation. No one REALLY knows who you are and what you do when you say "I'm DHK with State Farm" as if that speaks to what you really do.

A better way to direct that conversation is to say something like: "I'm DHK with State Farm. What most people don't know about State Farm is how we help families and retirees to (insert 1, 2, and 3 problems you can solve here)."

Nobody cares about your product. For life insurance, either people want to pay less for their current coverage, or see if they can GET coverage (because they're uninsurable). They know what life insurance IS... but they don't know what it DOES. I want healthy people to spend tens of thousands of dollars a year on a policy with me.

People don't "buy insurance" (or corporate entities). People buy people. It's about the relationship, not necessarily the brand behind you - but having a trusted brand can't hurt you.

My "sticky" thread is here with lots of resources: https://insurance-forums.com/community/threads/guidance-for-new-life-agents.29999/

Thank you and can you please expand as to why choose life, annuity over P&C?
Great information on your stick thread and gives me a lot to think about.

 

[Cjatlanta]

People bash other organizations and nothing about the opening remarks?

I am not sure what you mean. Can you expand as to your thought process on the opening remarks?

 

[Cjatlanta]

First, WELCOME!
Second, Great choice in career paths...
Third, Trust me, do NOT put a timeline like January 2020 on opening your own agency if you are going to attempt P&C&L&H&6&7&63 . . . @DHK is right... you will own ALL of the responsibility to be perfect without having learned a thing just yet if you spread so thin.

I believe in the General Agent experience meaning you have more than one area of expertise. I think L&H agents and P&C agents can both intermingle, coexist, and even be one person... like me. But adding in the variable to me is asking for trouble so soon. Pick one, or the other, hone it, then expand.

Lastly, be it that you have sales experience, and lets say you become a student of the industry and excel at your skills and are the best at what you are licensed in at the end of 2019... to start and run a successful agency, WHILE you haven't even had a full year of experience means you will likely (prove me wrong please!) fail because you will be learning how to run a business with new products so you may not have time to sell, or you will sell what you don't completely understand... you can wing it with a few lines, but not all of them.

@Cjatlanta I make the bulk of my income now by assisting people in starting their agencies so please understand I'm not just some cynical guy trying to dissuade you from a wonderful career. I am good at what I do, and I don't make that money by setting people up to fail. This is why I'm wishing you well, but hoping you'll hear what @DHK and I are saying. Either way, welcome, and good luck!

@BADTROUT! Thank you so much for your reply. I am going to focus on P&C right now and work on L&H&6&6&63 later on. I will try to spend as much time as possible on learning it before I open up an agency. I will not rush it but at the same time I want to have a goal in mind to work towards. I am very goal oriented but at the same time realistic. I am not going to push it unless I learn all the products, services, customers and industry.

Thanks again for taking the time to respond.