I am thinking aabout a career change. Entertaining the Insurance Agent side of it esp Home and Property.
Anyone here in the field that can tell me the pros/cons, realistic money, good/bad companies, and any other good info?
My wife has been a customer care agent at allstate for about a year and a half. Not sure if she wants to go up the ladder and become a full agent yet. From what she has said so far is those people gotta hustle. Not in the sense that they have to talk old ladies into buying coverage they don’t need. Lots of cold calls.
If your a good worker and don’t mind going to customers houses after hours once in a while you can make some damn good quid. Bad economy has not affected them as much as you might think. In fact they are opening up new branches and renovating older offices as well. If you want send me a pm and I’m sure she can fill you in alot better tham me. Hope this helps.
I did an internship with Northwestern Mutual for a summer selling life and health insurance. What sucked the most about that was passing the state issued life/health insurance exam (70+ where I’m from). It was pretty much like taking another college course. If you have a lot of friends/connections/relatives at the age in life where they can afford or understand the need for insurance you’ll do fine. I was not so fortunate as I was in college yet. It’s definitely an industry where one must put in the time for quite a while before you get results. Nice aspect of any sales oriented position is the compensation is basically in your hands, unless the company, for some reason, gives you a ceiling. My advice is if you can’t afford or believe in the product, don’t sell it (when dealing with financial and/or risk management products).
Also, it takes someone who is more pushy than the average person. Out of the 10 college students who came on when I did, only 2 are still at it after 2 years (which is when the payoff starts to take kick in). I realize you weren’t looking so much at Life/Health, but that’s my experience in the insurance industry. One last bit of advice, make sure you get your name out there right away. Let everyone you know (plus people you don’t) what you are selling. That way when they come to the realization they need such a product you are the first person to come to mind. I’m shutting up now…
Thanx guys for the input. I agree with you in the fact that you have to believe in what you are selling to have in success in it.
I can see how selling life insurance could be more difficult than auto and home. Since every home with a mortgage and car on the road has to be insured.
I have a follow up interview with State Farm later this week so we will see what they have to say.
If you can stick out the first few years you’ll be golden. Good luck with it, man.
Doesn’t State Farm offer discounts to customers who purchase more than one of their products? That is a great selling point and reduces a lot of the hassle for customers (as well as insurance companies). Good luck with your interview as the job market is tough right now. However, sales positions are usually open since the people in those positions do control their own fate. Wish you the best, if nothing else, you’ll learn a ton about yourself.