Insurance agents must have strong customer service skills to keep customers for the long term. This means actively listening to your customers and recommending insurance products that suit their needs and goals. An agent with excellent customer service skills is responsive, honest, professional, and caring. As an aspiring insurance professional, it would be great if you could sit in a room full of successful insurance veterans and ask them for advice. The Kaplan Financial Education team interviewed over 100 insurance professionals to develop this exclusive e-book for those considering entering the insurance industry.
One of the essential characteristics of a good insurance agent is that he always seems enthusiastic and anxious. As an insurance agent, you compete with other agents and competing companies, so the Bureau of Labor Statistics says you'll have to take the initiative and be confident. You don't necessarily need a college education, but sales experience significantly helps in an insurance career. The most important part of an insurance agent's job is to sell the customer what they need, so you'll want to avoid suggesting policies that don't benefit them.
However, all good insurance agents share some of the following skills and knowledge, in addition to the fundamental qualities in one way or another. If you are passionate about insurance and have characteristics similar to those described here, you have an excellent opportunity to have a long and successful career in insurance. For more information on becoming a successful insurance agent, contact the recruiting offices of a few different agencies or a headhunter who works with insurance agents. Customers who can reach their agents when needed are much more likely to be happy and calm.
An essential quality of insurance agents is recognizing that each rejection brings you one step closer to selling. Insurance agents who use deception to close deals rarely stay with the same company for long and, in some cases, may end up behind bars. If you've ever thought about becoming an insurance agent or have wondered if this career path might be right for you, there are several qualities you'll need to possess—at least to some extent. Agents can remain friendly and cooperative with each other, even sometimes helping each other, but they also remain competitive in winning customers and making sales.
As an insurance agent, you can sell life, health, disability, accident, and long-term care insurance policies and financial planning services, such as annuities or securities. A good agent knows that telling the truth in advance will earn the respect and trust of their customers and is likely to eventually get them back to doing business. Insurance agents who can easily explain coverage options in an easy-to-understand way will be much more successful than those who can't.
