vurtle
New Member
- 3
Which license is recommended to get first and why? Thanks in advance?
- 1,459
It's not really which one to get first as where do you want your business to focus? You can make money and good money with both, but they are different businesses. I'm biased, but here is my opionion:
P&C: make less up front, better renewals and more stable as time goes on. More commodity selling in my opinion.
Health: similar to P&C, but you accelerate quicker, renewals aren't quite as rich. Some pending questions to be answered in the legislature and at the least, more government interference going forward.
Life: very little in the way of renewals compared as a percentage to FYC. More "selling" than the two above, that's not good or bad.
I've done the health side and liked it, never tried the P&C route and never wanted to, I'm focused on the life side now and I'm having a blast with it. Bottom line, all three options come down to marketing and getting infront of enough qualified prospects. Learn how to so that, you'll succeed in any of the three, if you don't learn it quickly, "welcome to Walmart."
I pretty much agree, though in reality, personal lines P&C, individual health and term life are all commodity sales. You are fooling only yourself if you think otherwise.
Most P&C agents are 'agencies', i.e., an agent with a few staff members to round it out. Most do P&C, health and life.
In the P&C area, you can also focus on businesses, which gives a bit more of a challenge.
Health is usually done by the agent by himself (or herself). The majority don't have any staff, making it a bit easier to manage. The reality is, there are very few service issues in health coverage, compared to P&C.
For health, the steadier money is in group coverage. Group is pretty competitive, but then, most insurance is nowadays. You only need a few group accounts to make a decent living, though group has more service than individual does (employees coming and going type of thing).
I'm not a strong life sales person, though I sell a reasonable amount. This is a cross sell for me (I'm primarily P&C). To breakout in life, you will have to get into things like annuities, mutual funds, and more extensive 'planning' type scenarios. You would have to sell a LOT of 10 year term $250K face value policies to even pay the monthly bills.
It is more about where your passions lie than anyone telling you what the 'best one' is. Personally, I would avoid getting into health right now, but if I was selling life, I would add health to the toolbox, just to round out sales.
For P&C, you either go captive or spend a fair amount of money getting up and running. There are some other options, but most of them involve putting yourself on a road traveled by many, successfully navigated by few, such as using Insurance Noodle or SAIS as your PRIMARY GA, rather than as a backup for additional markets.
Dan
Most P&C agents are 'agencies', i.e., an agent with a few staff members to round it out. Most do P&C, health and life.
In the P&C area, you can also focus on businesses, which gives a bit more of a challenge.
Health is usually done by the agent by himself (or herself). The majority don't have any staff, making it a bit easier to manage. The reality is, there are very few service issues in health coverage, compared to P&C.
For health, the steadier money is in group coverage. Group is pretty competitive, but then, most insurance is nowadays. You only need a few group accounts to make a decent living, though group has more service than individual does (employees coming and going type of thing).
I'm not a strong life sales person, though I sell a reasonable amount. This is a cross sell for me (I'm primarily P&C). To breakout in life, you will have to get into things like annuities, mutual funds, and more extensive 'planning' type scenarios. You would have to sell a LOT of 10 year term $250K face value policies to even pay the monthly bills.
It is more about where your passions lie than anyone telling you what the 'best one' is. Personally, I would avoid getting into health right now, but if I was selling life, I would add health to the toolbox, just to round out sales.
For P&C, you either go captive or spend a fair amount of money getting up and running. There are some other options, but most of them involve putting yourself on a road traveled by many, successfully navigated by few, such as using Insurance Noodle or SAIS as your PRIMARY GA, rather than as a backup for additional markets.
Dan
Completely agree, it's not a question of which first, but a question of which and that'll set you off on a course to a certain type of practice.
All that has been stated so far is an excellent portrayal. I'll reiterate, going the life route will require a greater focus on financial advising if you want it to truly take off. The only real exception here is a specialized focus in certain business scenarios, but even then your running into a lot of financial matters.
You'll find yourself with more suspects with a P&C license if you are going consumer driven (business P&C is tough). There's nothing wrong with getting your P&C license and being part of an agency or captive for a few years.
With respect to being a life agent who also has a P&C license or vice versa my recommendation is don't try it. I thought about it once, they are completely different universes and you'll very likely be a lackluster P&C agent and financial guy/gal if you try to do a lot of business with both. Instead, build a partnership with an agent who is complementary licensed/focused. The ability to develop client relationships and better serve under this scenario is much larger then trying to go it alone and do it all.
All that has been stated so far is an excellent portrayal. I'll reiterate, going the life route will require a greater focus on financial advising if you want it to truly take off. The only real exception here is a specialized focus in certain business scenarios, but even then your running into a lot of financial matters.
You'll find yourself with more suspects with a P&C license if you are going consumer driven (business P&C is tough). There's nothing wrong with getting your P&C license and being part of an agency or captive for a few years.
With respect to being a life agent who also has a P&C license or vice versa my recommendation is don't try it. I thought about it once, they are completely different universes and you'll very likely be a lackluster P&C agent and financial guy/gal if you try to do a lot of business with both. Instead, build a partnership with an agent who is complementary licensed/focused. The ability to develop client relationships and better serve under this scenario is much larger then trying to go it alone and do it all.
- 707
BNTRS -- that is perfect advice. The only thing I have to add is:
Before you do anything, take a look at yourself and ask yourself how motivated are you?
If it's not much, and you'd rather sit on your couch and watch TV, then are best not to waste your time.
This business takes balls, motivation and brains.
The rest just fail.
Before you do anything, take a look at yourself and ask yourself how motivated are you?
If it's not much, and you'd rather sit on your couch and watch TV, then are best not to waste your time.
This business takes balls, motivation and brains.
The rest just fail.
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Sell what you enjoy selling, not what pays the most. If you enjoy it, the money will come because you will work harder and smarter, because you like what you do. You will get up early and work late, if you want to, because it is not work.
This is my point. I sell 2 products that I love to sell, Med. supps and commercial P&C, because it is what I like to do and that makes life much more enjoyable. They are both daylight hours products, and both pay great renewals.
There really is no right answer to your question, but if I had to start over again, I would still get my L&H license first.
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CharityQuotes
Expert
- 44
I would go with Health and Life first. Easier to get appointments and your going to be more financially stable in the short term.
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