The 5 Common Denominators of Successful Insurance Agents

Every year, hundreds of thousands of people join the insurance industry. There are also hundreds upon thousands of agents who leave the insurance business. Only a few insurance agents are able to stay in the business for long periods of time. They do well, and many are the best insurance agents.

What is the difference between the best and the worst insurance agents? An agent must have the right attitude and behavior to succeed in the insurance business.

It is hard to believe that sales performance is due to lack of knowledge or skills, despite billions of dollars spent each year on training and products. The root cause must be more concrete and likely to be attitude and behaviour.

Top insurance agents share a similar mindset and follow good practices that help them succeed in their businesses. Five common traits of highly successful agents in insurance are passion, common sense, continuous improvement, and positive mental attitude.

(a) Good Work Habits

Habits play a crucial role in our lives. Habits determine our character. Our habits are what shape our futures. Business success is also dependent on the ability to form habits.

Competitive agents who are successful and competitive remember to start the race every day as soon as they get up from bed. Gradually they learn to program themselves to be ready for work every day so they can do more.

Activity management is a useful tool that can help agents develop good work habits. Activity management helps agents plan and track all sales activities, including the number or customers they have to meet, the number or appointments they need to make, the number or leads that they wish to acquire, etc.

Good work habits are key to your ability to survive and thrive in your business. You will unconsciously form bad habits if you don’t make a conscious effort to form good ones. One bad habit can ruin everything you have, including your chances of success.

(b) Passion

Do what you love and you’ll do more. Selling is a process. It is important to have positive outcomes. However, insurance agents must be able to concentrate on the sales process.

Exceeding sales targets can bring moments of joy, satisfaction, and even a sense of accomplishment. But it is the process of reaching sales targets that salespeople feel fulfilled and appreciate the work they have done.

It is possible to achieve extraordinary success doing something you don’t like. Sometimes, we have to do things that we don’t like because of circumstantial reasons. To avoid this task, we will make every excuse possible.

To excel, you must change how you feel about what you do. When you fall in love with your work, this is the turning point. Then you will be able to find all possible solutions to the problems you face.

(c) Common Sense

Common sense refers to people skills and how we interact with others.

It may not be possible for two points to travel the shortest distance in a straight line. There are many things that may be more difficult than they seem, whether it is a personal relationship or a business relationship. Simple tasks may take more effort to complete because of the many considerations that must be made before they can be completed.

Apart from process and procedure rules, regulations, and process and procedures, there is a host of subtle elements such as protocol, cultures and perceptual differences. These are important to understand before we can do the things we want to do. It may not be as simple as it appears.

To manage such situations, it is important to have common sense. To get things done, it may take patience and cooperation. We may have to use some strategies and tactics to deal with difficult issues.

Sometimes, getting over a hurdle is not the best solution. There are many ways to solve this problem. We can choose to either skip the obstacle or wait until the temporary one is gone.

Jumping over the hurdle is the fastest way to get from A to B. However, if you don’t have the skills or aren’t ready, it could lead to unimaginable consequences.

Although we may need to put in more effort to get over the hurdle, we still achieve similar results. We can also wait until the temporary hurdle is gone, but this will require patience and time.

The above illustration is a metaphor. In reality, we must use common sense to determine the payoff versus the effort we put in as well as the risk we are willing take.

The key to making your ride enjoyable is common sense. If it is impossible to travel from Point A to Point B in the shortest distance, then i.e. If a straight line is not possible, then a curvy one may be an alternative.

Smiles are a way to set everything straight. ~ Phyllis Diller.

(d) Continuous Improvement

Change is the only constant. The business environment is constantly changing. Customers’ expectations are constantly increasing. Products change constantly. It is impossible to use technology from yesterday to solve the problem of today.

Only those who can stop are able to speed. First time skiers need to learn how stop. They will be able to control their speed down the slopes if they learn how to stop.

In life and in business, it is important to take time to be still. It is important to take the time to look at new challenges. We then determine what technology or new skills we need to overcome these challenges so we can move forward faster and with more confidence.

A person who doesn’t see his weaknesses will not be able to recognize them and take advantage of the chance to make improvements. We feel sorry for someone who doesn’t see the flaws in himself, but decides to not learn anything new because he is satisfied with his current knowledge.

Realizing that there are things we can do better is the first step to moving forward in your life. Your imperfections make your life more meaningful.

Each challenge and every change in the business environment is an opportunity to become more skilled and better.

(e) Positive Mental Attitude

A positive mental attitude is a source of inner strength. To combat the negative thoughts of others, we must have a positive mental attitude. Both joy and frustration can be found in the sales business. When we reach our sales targets, it brings us joy. When we fail to reach the target, it brings us disappointments, depression, and a feeling of defeat.

Joy and satisfaction are not problems and therefore do not require any action. Frustration, rejection and negative feelings, depression and a feeling of defeat or hopelessness are serious problems that need to be addressed.

A positive mental attitude can be a proactive way to deal with rejection issues. Positive mental attitude is the best defense against negative thoughts and feelings.

Positive mental attitude refers to looking for the good side of a problem and choosing the positive response. Positive self-talk can help us to overcome negative thoughts and banish them.

The 5 common denominators, which are all key factors in top-performing insurance agents’ success in the sales industry, are the reason. These 5 common denominators are responsible for top insurance agents being forward-looking, imagining success, and happier people.