Insurance is a rewarding industry, but it takes hard work and perseverance to succeed. These tips can help you overcome challenges you may face when getting started in the insurance industry.
The Challenge: Building Sales Skills
Many insurance agents transition from other fields, like teaching, coaching or the military. If that’s the case for you, you may have a lot of the skills you need as an insurance agent — but you might not have as much experience in sales.
The solution: You may find that selling insurance is a difficult adjustment at first, but succeeding in sales is a skill you can learn. To start, reframe how you think about sales. You’re not pushing someone to buy something they don’t need or want. You’re helping them prevent a problem they might face in the future and protect their family, business or livelihood. You can put yourself in their shoes.
Practice your conversations with a mentor, manager, friend or family member. Address their concerns and objections and talk with them about what works and what doesn’t. Your sales confidence will improve, and so will your skills.
The Challenge: Effectively Communicating With People
Most people who choose to work in insurance work well with other people. Still, you need to understand a lot about your current and potential clients to succeed. For example, the way you communicate about auto insurance to an experienced driver renewing their policy is very different than what you would share with a young driver buying their first car.
And even with clients you know well, their current situation can influence the way you communicate. You may need a gentler, more compassionate touch when you’re dealing with life insurance, for example.
The solution: Use effective listening skills so your clients feel heard and understood. Be empathetic, ask questions, make eye contact and avoid interrupting. If you’re on the phone, be especially attentive since you can’t observe body language.
The Challenge: Good Time Management
As an agent, you’re in charge of your own schedule and your time. You need to get meetings on your calendar, answer emails promptly and build in time for reaching out to prospects. Even if flexibility is what draws you to work in insurance, the transition can be one of the toughest challenges in the insurance industry.
The solution: Take a few minutes to plan every day, either at the end of the previous day or first thing in the morning. Block out time for the things you need to get done. At first, you may find that your estimates of how long tasks will take are off, but you’ll get better at it.
Periodically, look at the big picture and see what’s working and where you want to make changes. Maybe you need to group similar tasks together and tackle them all at once, keep a day free of meetings or build in space for things that pop up at the last minute. With time and attention, your business productivity will grow.
The Challenge: Managing Your Stress
Whether insurance is your first job or you’re changing fields, it’s a big change. Switching jobs is one of the most stressful life events you can face. You take on new responsibilities, learn new skills and meet new people. Plus, you likely still have personal and family responsibilities to manage. It can be overwhelming.
The solution: Take care of yourself — eat healthy foods, try to fit in some exercise and get the sleep you need. Try stress management techniques like mindfulness, meditation or deep breathing. Even just a couple of deliberate deep breaths can make a difference. And keep in mind that with time, you’ll adjust to your role and the new responsibilities won’t feel so stressful.
Learn How We Can Help
If you’re interested in working as an insurance agent, reach out to Farm Bureau to learn more about how we help our new agents overcome these challenges and thrive in the industry.