Is This a Sign That I Will Be Successful?

[agenttobe]

Thank you all for your words of encouragement and words of support in my previous post.

I have been dealing with several "Debbie Downers" regarding my decision to become an insurance agent. This is not something I am going into lightly. I am in the research phase of developing my business plan and have given myself a time frame of three months of research before I make the life changing decision to do this. I am receiving mixed reviews from my family, some are very supportive and others are telling me that there is no way I can do it.

I have informed them that one thing I do know is that with my background I can provide small business owners with a strong support system in dealing with employee benefit issues and dealing with their insurance agent. The level of health care insurance experience is only enhanced by my customer service experience and commitment to providing excellent service to all of my clients. I am already experienced in looking at a persons situation and giving them advice as to what type of plan will best suit their needs. Recently, I assisted someone who is now saving $700 a month in premiums and is very happy with the choice that they made.

The areas that I am lacking is in the sales and marketing. I keep seeing on this board that if you do not know the products or understand them, you will not be successful.

My list of commandments:
A sale is a commitment to your client- Once the sale is done, the relationship still needs work. Assist your client in resolving all issues they have. A dissatisfied client is more likely to take their business elsewhere.

Adapt- Coming into this new, I do not want to be tunnel visioned in how I will get my appointments or close my sales. I need to be multi-faceted to meet the needs of the economy, my clients and the industry. It is not possible to have one style that will work with all clients.

Niche- Find your niche and perfect it before taking on more than you can chew. Find one area, whether it is group, individual or medicare supplement to "actively market". Still advertise other products, so clients know they are available for referrals etc.

Salary- When doing financials. Give yourself a percentage of the income as your "salary" and stick to it. Invest the rest in growing the business. If you need a raise you have to work for it!

Please tell me if I am on the right track? I really want to see my vision become a reality.

 

[arnguy]

Yes, sir.

 

[jody108]

or yes ma'am ...

 

[Mark]

Sales and Marketing is very important. It does not matter if you have the best company and product in the world if they don't know about it.

Don't reinvent the wheel. Find out how others are marketing to them and copy them.

 

[mszlazak]

I am in the research phase of developing my business plan and have given myself a time frame of three months of research before I make the life changing decision to do this.

I don't know what exactly you mean by a "business plan" but if it's a lot of that elaborate thought and modeling people do to get financing from a bank then don't unless you want financing from a bank. Otherwise they are a total waste of time. Keep it short and simple, more an outline ("back of a knapkin") of what you plan to do.

 

[Full Throttle]

My list of commandments:
A sale is a commitment to your client- Once the sale is done, the relationship still needs work. Assist your client in resolving all issues they have. A dissatisfied client is more likely to take their business elsewhere.

Adapt- Coming into this new, I do not want to be tunnel visioned in how I will get my appointments or close my sales. I need to be multi-faceted to meet the needs of the economy, my clients and the industry. It is not possible to have one style that will work with all clients.

Niche- Find your niche and perfect it before taking on more than you can chew. Find one area, whether it is group, individual or medicare supplement to "actively market". Still advertise other products, so clients know they are available for referrals etc.

Salary- When doing financials. Give yourself a percentage of the income as your "salary" and stick to it. Invest the rest in growing the business. If you need a raise you have to work for it!

Please tell me if I am on the right track? I really want to see my vision become a reality

Although the above sounds warm and fuzzy, I think you're making it too complicated. I'll try to give you the most direct advice I can, since I didn't get much coming into the industry and it's a miracle I'm still here.

No matter what line of insurance you sell, it comes back to two basics:

1. Build a clientele (ie find new clients)
2. Build relationships with your clientele (the sale is only the beginning of a relationship).

Anything other than those two is really just noise, necessary noise, but it doesn't produce revenue. During the day, you need to focus on those two, save the rest for before or after hours.

In the beginning, building a clientele and producing revenue fast enough before you fail out is the challenge. Most people don't enjoy this task, so they avoid it. Excuses such as "developing a marketing plan", "studying products", and "determining your business legal structure" are all examples. Necessary? Yes. But no where near the top focus.

How do you go about gaining clients as fast as possilbe? This is more dependent on what you plan on selling from the start. I would find one product line with wide demand (health, med supps, life) and start running with it. As you get a base flow of revenue coming in, then adjust if you desire to do so.

Let us know what you want to sell, there will be at least a few people who have been there, done that on this forum to give you a track to run on. What you are after is a simple, realistic daily game plan of the activitie(s) you need to accomplish each day to build a clientele as fast as possible. If you have a proven game plan (as Mark said, don't reinvent the wheel), do what needs to be done each day, have at least a small savings buffer, then you are virtually guaranteed success.

If you don't do what is absolutely necessary each day as 90% of agents do not, you will fail out of the business like 90% of incoming agents and have a miserable experience. Ask questions, but be aware of anyone who tells you it will be easy or they have the greatest sales system that was given to them on the top of Mt. Sinai. It is absolutely bull ****, this is a simple business when you learn what you need to do each day, but that doesn't mean it's an easy business.

 

[maksim]

=) Your friends dont like what you do? F them. =)