If you are relatively new to insurance, what one important factor caused you to make the final decision to enter the insurance career field?
Total Comments: 25
Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 01:37 am Post Subject:
We have a few new ones here, hope they will come a long and answer your queries. :D :D
Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 05:21 am Post Subject: Its volume
Hi Insurance Maze,
In my opinion, more & more people are getting associated with the global insurance industry since it is the largest financial industry across the globe. As a result a large volume of services are getting attached to the industry with each passing day. More services, are generating more service levels, more quality parameters are set...& in turn it is demanding more & more people.
Regards,
Fatman
Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 05:27 am Post Subject:
Ofcrs...the huge buckets of cash which are rolling within the industry absorbed in the form of its numerous branches...what else do you think! :)
Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 01:18 pm Post Subject:
Buckets of cash, I didn't know those were still in existence :)
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 02:13 am Post Subject:
Quality of life, the ability to make my own schedule. I spend less time in a cubicle and more time with my wife, 4 year old, and newborn!
Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 10:01 pm Post Subject:
Fatman, you are right the insurance industry is getting more diverse, which means that a professional insurance agent must spend more time studying new product designs.
Too many agents start selling before they actually understand the product.
As far as the "Buckets of Cash", I haven't seen those yet. I have made a good income in the insurance business, but I've earned every penny.
As I have always said, we earn what we think we're worth. If we let someone else put a "lid" on us, than that's our fault.
Maze
Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 03:32 am Post Subject:
It seemed to be the first logical step into the financial sector without a degree. I considered trying to go directly into a stock position, but with all the big brokerages having problems it seemed like bad timing. I hear Merrill Lynch is getting ready to layoff 10,000 which will further flood that market.
JS
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 09:32 pm Post Subject:
Don't expect too much here, this one's "on the house".
Seems like mother moderator feels that I have exhausted my limit on posts for today and maybe next week, as well.
This is a very important topic that has been allowed to die on the vine and got sentenced to the archives.
It is very important for people to understand why insurance agents are insurance agents and why some just don't make it.
I hope we can have more discussion on this topic.
Maze
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 11:06 pm Post Subject:
Insurance Maze wrote:
It is very important for people to understand why insurance agents are insurance agents and why some just don't make it.
Well, let's be honest regarding, "...why insurance agents are insurance agents..."
There is a one word answer.
Money.
That being said I'm always amused at attorneys, bankers or news media who always love to point out that agent commission is very lucrative.
Yes, indeed. The reason being... that's the rate of pay it takes to attract people to this industry. Of course if you're not willing to pay the price to be successful in this business your paycheck will be $0.00.
...and why some just don't make it.
Initial agent training and/or you're [the "new" agent is] nothing more than warm market prospecting bait for an established agency.
More on this later when I get back to this thread.
Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 11:27 am Post Subject:
Okay, where was I?
Oh yeah....why agents fail?
Now this is a no brainer.
They fail because they are NOT making continuous contacts with people who they suspect may need their product or services.
It's that simple.
Or, the new agent wants to reinvent the industry in their image.
It the words of smokin' Joe Gandolfo when he was a struggling brand new agent he came up with a brilliant idea to get himself out of his slump.
What did he do? Simple. He made a commitment that he was going to do exactly EVERYTHING his sales manager told him to do and if he fails it will be the manager's fault, not his.
Click on the link above...the rest is history!
Regarding "prospecting bait." Some agencies don't give a flying fudge sickle whether you personally are successful or not. YOU as the new agent are their prospecting raw meat with your warm market. Once you've exhausted/sold your mother, father, brother, sister, neighbors, best friends... then you're out of the business... and they haven't shown you a damn thing about actual insurance marketing.
But they did show you some marketing didn't they? New recruits are the life blood of the agency system. So if your sales manager is mostly interested in sharing an idea with 100 of your closest relatives, friends and neighbors you are more likely than not just being used as their prospecting tool.
Also, if you are entering the business and the first thing that comes out of the sales managers mouth are pejorative blanket condemnations of the entire financial services industry, "EXCEPT THEM" your are being recruited into one of the various financial services cults that are out there.
By the way, I'm talking about the Life, Health, Annuity, Long Term Care, Disability side of the business as I readily admit I don't even know how to spell P&C.
Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 01:37 am Post Subject:
We have a few new ones here, hope they will come a long and answer your queries. :D :D
Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 05:21 am Post Subject: Its volume
Hi Insurance Maze,
In my opinion, more & more people are getting associated with the global insurance industry since it is the largest financial industry across the globe. As a result a large volume of services are getting attached to the industry with each passing day. More services, are generating more service levels, more quality parameters are set...& in turn it is demanding more & more people.
Regards,
Fatman
Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 05:27 am Post Subject:
Ofcrs...the huge buckets of cash which are rolling within the industry absorbed in the form of its numerous branches...what else do you think! :)
Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 01:18 pm Post Subject:
Buckets of cash, I didn't know those were still in existence :)
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 02:13 am Post Subject:
Quality of life, the ability to make my own schedule. I spend less time in a cubicle and more time with my wife, 4 year old, and newborn!
Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 10:01 pm Post Subject:
Fatman, you are right the insurance industry is getting more diverse, which means that a professional insurance agent must spend more time studying new product designs.
Too many agents start selling before they actually understand the product.
As far as the "Buckets of Cash", I haven't seen those yet. I have made a good income in the insurance business, but I've earned every penny.
As I have always said, we earn what we think we're worth. If we let someone else put a "lid" on us, than that's our fault.
Maze
Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 03:32 am Post Subject:
It seemed to be the first logical step into the financial sector without a degree. I considered trying to go directly into a stock position, but with all the big brokerages having problems it seemed like bad timing. I hear Merrill Lynch is getting ready to layoff 10,000 which will further flood that market.
JS
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 09:32 pm Post Subject:
Don't expect too much here, this one's "on the house".
Seems like mother moderator feels that I have exhausted my limit on posts for today and maybe next week, as well.
This is a very important topic that has been allowed to die on the vine and got sentenced to the archives.
It is very important for people to understand why insurance agents are insurance agents and why some just don't make it.
I hope we can have more discussion on this topic.
Maze
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 11:06 pm Post Subject:
Insurance Maze wrote:
It is very important for people to understand why insurance agents are insurance agents and why some just don't make it.
Well, let's be honest regarding, "...why insurance agents are insurance agents..."
There is a one word answer.
Money.
That being said I'm always amused at attorneys, bankers or news media who always love to point out that agent commission is very lucrative.
Yes, indeed. The reason being... that's the rate of pay it takes to attract people to this industry. Of course if you're not willing to pay the price to be successful in this business your paycheck will be $0.00.
...and why some just don't make it.
Initial agent training and/or you're [the "new" agent is] nothing more than warm market prospecting bait for an established agency.
More on this later when I get back to this thread.
Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 11:27 am Post Subject:
Okay, where was I?
Oh yeah....why agents fail?
Now this is a no brainer.
They fail because they are NOT making continuous contacts with people who they suspect may need their product or services.
It's that simple.
Or, the new agent wants to reinvent the industry in their image.
It the words of smokin' Joe Gandolfo when he was a struggling brand new agent he came up with a brilliant idea to get himself out of his slump.
What did he do? Simple. He made a commitment that he was going to do exactly EVERYTHING his sales manager told him to do and if he fails it will be the manager's fault, not his.
Click on the link above...the rest is history!
Regarding "prospecting bait." Some agencies don't give a flying fudge sickle whether you personally are successful or not. YOU as the new agent are their prospecting raw meat with your warm market. Once you've exhausted/sold your mother, father, brother, sister, neighbors, best friends... then you're out of the business... and they haven't shown you a damn thing about actual insurance marketing.
But they did show you some marketing didn't they? New recruits are the life blood of the agency system. So if your sales manager is mostly interested in sharing an idea with 100 of your closest relatives, friends and neighbors you are more likely than not just being used as their prospecting tool.
Also, if you are entering the business and the first thing that comes out of the sales managers mouth are pejorative blanket condemnations of the entire financial services industry, "EXCEPT THEM" your are being recruited into one of the various financial services cults that are out there.
By the way, I'm talking about the Life, Health, Annuity, Long Term Care, Disability side of the business as I readily admit I don't even know how to spell P&C.
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