Becoming an insurance agent is not as difficult as anyone might think – and you might actually become one in less than a month. As an insurance agent or broker, you serve as a middleman between insurance companies and potential policyholders. You sell insurance policies on behalf of insurers and help customers understand the most suitable policies for them based on their needs – and you earn a commission for your efforts.
Become an Insurance Agent/Broker
If you are in Nigeria, you can become an insurance agent or broker with only an SSCE qualification. You will also do well if you have an OND/BSc. While you will understand the concepts and applications of insurance faster if you had a background in economics, accounting, marketing, any matured adult will fare well as a broker with the proper training.
After you are hired as an insurance agent, most insurance companies will train you on the marketing aspects of the business. They have a training department that will train you on calculating premiums, determining insurable risks, calculating life assurance premiums and the life assured claims, as well as prospecting potential customers.
Choose your preferred agency type
There are two types of insurance agency business – captive insurance and independent agency.
As a captive insurance agent, you work for one major insurance company and market their products only without taking on any other business from competitors until you leave the company. Your employer trains you on getting business and marketing their products and you can’t work for other rival insurers.
An independent agent or broker works for many insurance companies simultaneously; he markets products from several insurers and earns commissions from all of them based on sales made. He presents several products to potential customers and helps them choose the most suitable products based on peculiar needs.
Get licensed
In the United States, you are required to get licensed before you can work as an insurance agent or broker. You must undergo relevant trainings which may be completed in one week or one month and then pass a state-administered licensing examination. When you pass the examination and also pass background checks, the state will issue you with the relevant certification to practice as an accredited insurance agent.
In Nigeria or other countries, you may not require state licenses but you must undergo weeks of trainings from an insurance company that hopes to hire you. After passing their tests, they give you an ID card and teach you to hit the streets to canvass for new businesses.
Search and maintain customers
As a licensed marketer, you will have been trained on how to prospect new clients. You may have to knock on doors sometimes or attend social meetings to speak to prospects. You may even organize seminars on the importance of getting insured against unforeseen risks, and you may design your own marketing resources for marketing purposes.
You must be prepared to get a lot of “no” from people you prospect without losing face, and you must be ready to have lots of doors slammed at your face. You must even be willing to be called lots of names – but persistence is key to succeeding since you are into product marketing. Many people do not realize their needs for insurance until something happens to them – so you must be ready to educate them or seize upon an unfortunate event to sell them coverage.
Work with your employer and customers
You must work closely with your customers to get them the best coverage suitable to their needs. You mustn’t take advantage of their ignorance or you will regret it later, but you must work with them to pay their premiums, upgrade their policies, take advantage of financial breaks, and file claims that must be settled as quickly as possible.
You are more or less your own boss when you work as an insurance agent or broker. And you have lots of time on your hands to pursue other side-hustles that align with your main job. You can earn as little or as much as you desire, and some hardworking agents in the United States earn as much as $10,000 per month while average ones can hope to earn about $4,000 monthly.
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