No matter how smart or experienced you may be in business, I encourage you to seek out someone who can mentor you if you’re new to the insurance industry. The insurance industry is not like any other new industry. It has its own terminology and acronyms. Every insurance category, be it property & casualty or life &health, has its own unique idiosyncrasies. Each company has its own processes and forms, in addition to obvious differences in product offerings. A mentor can help you focus on the most important things.
You can either do it alone or join an agency
This is purely a personal decision. As I mentioned in the introduction, this was my first time joining an agency. But I quickly realized that this wasn’t the right fit for me. It was too restrictive and confining for how I prefer to work. That first organization was where I met the person who taught my the basics of health insurance. Those first few months were a learning curve that proved to be quite dangerous for me and my clients. You can expect to receive the initial training in an agency setting. This will set the stage for all the other lessons you will learn later.
Fixed costs, i.e. phone, copying, office supplies, and so on. Captive agreements should be avoided, in my opinion. These are companies or agencies that require you to only offer their products for your clients. These arrangements limit your market too severely and whatever they offer (leads or stock options, etc.) it is never worth the risk. You won’t have the experience necessary to start your own online agency.
CHOOSING A Mentor
Knowing what I know, I would start today in the insurance industry. I would prefer to be independent and work from home, representing multiple insurance carriers for both life and health products. I would also use the internet to market and sell and find a mentor who can help me succeed. You will save a lot of time and money by having a mentor in your business. They will also teach you things you wouldn’t have learned on your own.
Your mentor should make a commission from all sales. Although you might earn a lower percentage at first, the sales and time saved will more than make up the difference. My college math class taught me that 80% of $10,000 is greater than 100% of $2000, which is close to the difference that a mentor can make. Most likely, you will have more than one mentor in your career. My career has seen me have 3 mentors. One mentor taught me how to sell HSA’s, and the basics of health insurance.
My second mentor showed me how to layer multiple products and how you can use your health insurance money to finance life insurance. My third mentor helped me to train and recruit agents. You can make it a lonely venture working from your home office. To be successful, you will need to build relationships that will benefit both of you. Mentors can help you do that. Look for someone who has an example of a successful business or strategy. If they teach you how they do it, make a deal where they have the right to override your production. A mentor will help you make more money.
