How To Become An Insurance Agent

Posted on: 14 February 2020

If you're good with people and enjoy working with numbers, a career as an insurance agent might be perfect for you. Insurance agents help individuals and businesses purchase the right insurance for their needs. Unlike insurance brokers, insurance agents work very closely with insurance companies. Agents have the ability to offer insurance packages that have been pre-approved by the companies they represent. If you're interested in becoming an insurance agent, here are the four things you will have to do:

1. Become licensed.

In order to become an insurance agent, you will need to obtain a license. If you have your high school diploma or an equivalent, you're eligible for a career as an insurance agent. You will probably want to take a class that will teach you everything you need to know for this career. You can take a licensing exam, and if you pass, you will receive your license in the mail after paying your fees. If you fail the exam the first time, you will have the opportunity to retake it.

2. Decide if you want to be independent or affiliated with a company.

Insurance agents can work independently or they can choose to be affiliated with a company. Both strategies have their advantages. Insurance agents who work independently have the opportunity to represent multiple insurance companies. However, working for a single insurance company can give you greater benefits and more job security.

3. Earn your commissions.

Insurance agents are typically paid on commission. This means you'll earn a percentage of every insurance sale that you broker. Working on commission is a great method for anyone who is good at making sales. Earning commissions can be excellent motivation to continuously better yourself as a salesperson. Learning sales techniques can help you sell more insurance and so can learning as much as you can about your product.

4. Take continuing education courses.

In the insurance business, things can change quickly. That's why it's important to make sure that your knowledge is always current. You can keep your knowledge up to date by taking insurance continuing education courses. Many states require insurance agents to take a certain number of continuing education courses each year in order to maintain their license. Fortunately, you can take these courses online. Some insurance courses are taught through live webinars, so you can interact with your teacher in real time while fulfilling your education requirements.

To learn more about insurance live webinars, reach out to a continuing education company.

Share

Little-known Insurance Tips

While I have had auto insurance ever since I bought my first car at 16 years old and home insurance ever since I bought my first home several years ago, I have to admit that over the years I knew very little about insurance. I tended to just look at the price of the coverage and sign the paperwork without really looking into the pros and cons of each policy. After my friend was in a car accident recently (thankfully, she is okay!) and she said she had to pay for some of the damage to the other vehicle out-of-pocket even though she had a minimum state coverage auto insurance policy, I decided to put a lot of careful research into insurance policies and what they really offer. I want to help others by sharing the information I have learned on a blog. I hope I can help you!