How to be an insurance agent without cold calling

One of the most known and downright unflattering perceptions on insurance agents is that once they’re done with their warm markets, i. e., have sold policies to all their relatives, friends, and acquaintances, it will only be a matter of time before they quit. That perception is not entirely baseless. Insurance companies and brokerage firms alike are wrought with insurance agents who seemed like go-getters at the beginning, but eventually lost steam after saturating their warm markets. Part of the problem lies in the ongoing sales process of insurance companies and insurance brokerage firms alike. Anyone And Anything Prospecting Prospecting is probably the least favorite of an insurance agent’s list of things to-do, and for good reason. Nine times out of ten your prospects will reject you, and that’s on the whole. An agent might get lucky closing ten sales in a row, then end up getting rejected 20 times in a row. Now it takes an agent with a superhuman positive attitude to withstand this kind of cycle. Anyone and anything prospecting requires little effort. You can look up the white pages in the directory, or walk up to people in a bar. Remember, anyone and anything breathing is your prospect. Pre-qualified Prospecting Insurance companies and insurance brokerage firms these days are smarting from the high attrition rate of insurance agents and are, in fact, finding ways to make the sales process a little less bloody. One of these is building insurance-related websites that are already optimized for insurance-related keywords. If you know how websites and search engines work, you will know that with websites, companies are getting quality prospects, or prospects who are looking for their products and thus are already pre-disposed to buying. All this makes the insurance process less bloody, so to speak, and actually increases sales. This had even made some insurance companies confident enough to recruit insurance agents from all fifty states through their websites, with some even offering free sales leads and a free website you can use to lure prospects to you. In all, now is the best time to be an insurance agent and benefit from the monetary rewards of actively selling insurance policies. (Insurance agents in 2006 earned $58,450 on average while the average family in the United States just earned $48,201.) It’s not anymore necessary to go through the whole frustrating routine of cold calling. You simply have to find those people looking for insurance and make them find you through your website.

Insurance brokers

Did you know there are publications that have been created to serve the needs of every agent and broker? Insurance is a huge industry and trying to keep on top of all the latest news and regulations is a job in and of itself. One such magazine, American Agent and Broker, has a wonderful website located at agentandbroker. Check out this month's issue, which features articles on how to build your insurance business with boat and yacht insurance. You can read about the upcoming highlights for April's issue as well. In the UK you can access this site, insurancenewspapers for free insurance press public information. Marketing yourself and deciding how to advertise your business can be a daunting task. There are so many avenues available to brokers. Insurance is something everyone needs from infant to ancient. Brokers need to be well versed in as many areas of insurance as they can. Life, auto, home, health and disability are just a few. How is a broker supposed to get the word out that he is in business? Everyone familiar with sales knows the phrase 'circle of influence' or your 'warm market'. These terms refer to the people you know best, your friends, family and colleagues. Let them go to work for you with referrals and word of mouth advertising. Take the top ten from your list and offer gift certificates for every person they refer that you write a policy for. It's a nice way to say thank you and show how much you appreciate their loyalty. Check out other brokers and their websites, advertising efforts and community involvement. Take their best secrets and tweak them to fit you and your way of doing business. Don't discount becoming involved with your community. When you are out there working for the common good the common good is coming to you for their insurance needs. Try and think back to the first time you purchased insurance from a broker. You can make a niche for yourself by going after the newest drivers, homeowners and start up businesses. Share your wealth of knowledge with them and they will remain loyal customers for all their insurance requirements.