Can i make money selling insurance

Uni the insurance agent sells Ryan a whole life insurance policy that covers Ryan for the rest of their life assuming they continue to make their premium payments. As mentioned before, a life insurance agent is not a profession for the thin-skinned or faint of heart.

In fact, more than any other factor, including education and experience, life insurance agents must possess a fighting spirit. They must be people who love the thrill of the hunt, the rush of a sale, and see rejection as a stepping stone to eventual success. A career in life insurance sales is not ideal for those who view themselves as introverted, soft-spoken, or afraid of conflict.

The vast majority of life insurance companies have no formal education requirements for becoming an agent. While many prefer college graduates, this general rule is constantly overlooked in favor of the "right" candidates. Previous experience in the insurance industry is not required because most medium and large insurance carriers have internal programs to train their salespeople about the products they're going to sell.

While it may prove easy for a tenacious go-getter to get hired at a reputable insurance company, there is one non-negotiable hurdle that stands between a potential insurance agent and their commissions: state licensing. Insurance agents are currently licensed by the individual state or states in which they'll be selling insurance. This generally requires passing a state-administered licensing exam as well as taking a licensing class that typically runs hours.

The sales commission life insurance agents might earn in the first year if they are on a commission-only salary; that's the highest commission for any type of insurance. If you feel like a career in life insurance sales is for you, there are a couple of steps to take in order to find your first job.

First and foremost, you'll need to put together a resume that highlights your entrepreneurial spirit. You'll want to include anything that shows you taking initiative to make things happen, whether it was starting your own business or taking someone else's business to the next level.

Life insurance agents have to be driven and have the ability to be self-starters. Resumes that show a track record of that kind of behavior will help you get your foot in the door. Once you've got your resume polished, you'll want to begin finding positions and applying. It's imperative that you don't feel pressured to take the first position that comes along because working for the wrong company can both burn you out and haunt you for the rest of your insurance career.

Ideally, you want to work for a well-known company with a good reputation among consumers, other agents, and insurance rating agencies.

Perhaps the best place to start in deciding where to apply is to visit the insurance company rating websites for A.

From there, you'll be able to build a list of companies that have ratings of "A" or higher in your state. These companies will typically offer the most-secure products at reasonable prices, with an emphasis on compensating and keeping quality agents. The work of a life insurance agent is grueling; most agents don't last more than a year. On the upside, this means that there are constant vacancies and it can be relatively easy to get started as a new hire.

Once you've created this list, begin looking at each company. Due to the high turnover rate of insurance agents, most companies prominently post their job listings by geographical area, which makes them easily searchable for you.

When you find a company in your area that seems to fit your personality, apply for the position and make sure you follow the company's instructions on its site. Follow up with phone calls on a weekly basis until you hear an answer either way. Many insurance company recruiters will decline to interview a potential agent who doesn't first make a follow-up call; this is considered to be a strong indicator of a potential agent's tenacity.

During your interview, continue to communicate your entrepreneurial and "never-say-quit" personality; most managers will hire someone based on these factors over all the others combined. If you're lucky enough to land the job, you can expect your first 12 months to be spent handing out a lot of business cards and making a lot of phone calls.

Your sales manager will be the first to remind you that your only "purpose" in life is to find potential clients. In fact, they'll be far more interested in how many contacts you're making each week than how well you know their product line.

You can expect to struggle financially for the first few months until your first sales commissions start rolling in. While some companies offer a salary to keep newbies from starving, this is becoming more rare. Many agents are now lucky to be compensated for one to two months of training before being put on a "commission-only" basis. While the life insurance industry promises great rewards for those who are willing to work hard and put up with a good amount of rejection, there are two pitfalls you need to be aware of.

First, you will most likely be expected to market to your friends and family. The online job search sites are full of them. Because most companies offer commission-based pay with no guaranteed income, they have no incentive to limit hiring. They offer jobs to anyone interested and hope a small percentage of hires become productive agents.

By far, life insurance sales offer the largest commissions in the insurance industry , but it depends on the type of insurance being sold. For example, most auto insurance salespeople earn a percentage of the policy that is purchased. With life insurance, you earn a percentage of the policy when it is sold, and then you get another commission each time it is renewed.

The U. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that insurance sales agents earn a wide range of salaries. In addition to high commissions, some life insurance companies advance their agents a specific amount of commission based on calculating the agent's earning potential rather than making them take it as earned, but others do not.

The downside occurs if the policy lapses within the first six months; if that happens, your employer charges back the unearned portion of your advance. The commission you earn on a life insurance policy sale is not limited to the first year.

Rather, you keep getting paid as long as the policy is in force. This is the passive income you receive each month without even having to get out of bed.

Most life insurance agents do not last a year in the business, and even fewer make it five years. The ones who persevere, however, are rewarded immensely with renewal commissions. Insurance Agents. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Career Advice. Life Insurance. Practice Management.

Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for Investopedia. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data. We and our partners process data to: Actively scan device characteristics for identification. I Accept Show Purposes. Your Money. Personal Finance. Your Practice. Popular Courses. Careers Career Advice. Key Takeaways Successful careers in selling life insurance take time and perseverance.

Life insurance agents are paid in commissions and must find customer leads on their own in a competitive market. It can be relatively easy to find jobs selling life insurance.

Life insurance sales can add up to passive income, as once you sell a policy, you continue to earn a commission on it, providing the owner of the policy pays their monthly premiums. Article Sources. Agent has an insurance product, sells it to someone, and moves on to find another person to sell.

Using the right marketing materials will help with this! At one point they may have been licensed to sell life insurance, but they have transitioned their focus on life insurance settlement cases which focus on around selling inforce life insurance policies. This agent found their niche and when they are prospecting for new clients, they are using the right message at the right time. Even if term life is something we offer to multiple segments, what we say to the young couple will undoubtedly be different than the couple with college just around the corner.

Too often insurance marketers carpet bomb with the same message and then wonder why nobody responds. Be very intentional with your messaging and speak directly to the heart of your target customer. Rounding out accounts is the low hanging fruit of a growth strategy.

You already have a book of business that knows and trusts you. This is a fact! You may have a strong commercial lines book of business, but are you offering Key Man Insurance or Buy Sell funding solutions using life insurance? Did you know that individuals turning 65 not only need Medicare options, but they should also be considering safe money options such as fixed annuities in retirement?

Rounding out your accounts can be simple when the offering makes sense. Train your CSR team to consistently ask a few basic questions. They are speaking with your clients on a daily basis and are the perfect folks to generate discussions which can be pivoted to new sales appointments. Along with asking the right questions, you need to stay in touch with your existing clients consistently.

Start an email marketing campaign using video. Video is one of my favorite techniques in selling life insurance! My friend, Mike Demko at My Insurance Videos , has an excellent program that easily allows you to stay in front of your clients all year long.

The greatest part about this is the ability to put the entire program on autopilot… you can set it and forget it. Using some simple techniques, Mike can have you up and running with an automated video email marketing campaign in literally 15 minutes.

He has already created the content for you which is then branded with your logo and information. This will save you time and money and instantly separate you from your competition. Clearly, you need to speak differently to commercial and personal lines clients. However, the real issue—and opportunity—will be to determine what specific groups or segments of clients to target.

Small to medium sized business owners are a fertile target audience. For example, LLCs have operating agreements and owners often have buy-sell agreements. Other business structures have similar needs.

We would recommend one of your first letters focus on life insurance to protect their business. Remember, term life insurance is the most basic protection at the lowest annual premium. Fixed annuities are an excellent tool to manage risk and provide predictable income in retirement and most clients are totally unaware of the benefits of annuities. Virtual assistants are a growing trend with independent insurance agents.

They are an excellent way for you to delegate responsibility and free up time to complete your core sales activities. Plus, they are much more affordable than a traditional assistant. The life blood for a life insurance agent is commissions for selling life insurance.

Your virtual assistant could work a few hours each week to track all your commissions and reconcile your reports. They could call and get all your required forms for your upcoming policy delivery.

You can even have them calling existing clients to schedule policy reviews. They can complete all of these are activities which are burning your precious sales time.

Hire a virtual assistant and start off-loading responsibilities to free up your time to start selling. Having a CRM in your insurance agency is going to help you keep track of your clients and maximize your sales efforts. You can simply use your CRM to filter based on the information you are looking for and pop out the exact list you need. Another way to use a CRM is by creating your daily call list, which is one of the common challenges in selling life insurance.