Most insurance agents are poor. The Bureau of Labor statistics reports that average income for insurance agents is less than $40,000 annually. This is surprisingly depressing because the best agents earn $1 million+. Why the disparity? The poor agents, unfortunately, don't have a clue that their job is to gain and keep clients. The poor
insurance agents activity is all about selling insurance products. There is a big difference between selling financial products (poor agents' focus) and on gaining and keeping clients (rich agents' focus). Let's explore.
It’s important to understand the big picture and how to make money as an insurance agent. Your goal, if you want to get rich, is to have face to face meetings with prospects who meet two criteria:
1. The prospect has money in their control (i.e. not tied up in a 401k)
2. The prospect is interested in opportunities to do better with their money
If you have any additional criteria, you will lose money as an insurance agent. For example, if you have a third criteria that the prospect have interest in annuities because you sell annuities, this will cost you a lot of sales because there is NO PROSPECT who cares about annuities. Prospects care about their objectives such as
1. Safety of principal
2. Tax relief
3. Liquidity
IT’S YOUR JOB TO SHOW PROSPECTS HOW THEIR OBJECTIVES ARE CONSISTENT WITH YOUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES. THEY DON’T COME TO YOU INTERESTED IN ANNUITIES OR MANAGED ACCOUNTS OR ANYTHING ELSE OTHER THAN THEIR OBJECTIVES.
Most insurance agents miss this concept and rather than focusing on the maximum number of appointments with prospects who meet the two criteria above, the insurance agent will call the prospect to determine their interest in annuities, managed money, life insurance , etc. But such a call makes it obvious to the prospect that your interest is in YOUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICE and not their objectives. That’s why you don’t get the number of appointments you should. That's why you're poor.
Let’s provide an example. In one of my businesses, we run a lot of ads on the Internet to find consumers interested in financial topics. The ad which got the all time best response was for a booklet about ways to increase social security income. This is a HOT TOPIC for seniors. But every insurance agent told us “I don’t want those leads. I can’t make any money talking to people about social security.”
This is unfortunately a near-sighted view that keeps most advisors poor. Many of these prospects who order this booklet on social security income meet the two criteria above but because the advisor is SO FOCUSED ON THEIR OWN AGENDA, THEIR OWN PRODUCTS AND SERVICES, they will never have an appointment with viable prospects who could become good clients. It never occurs to poor insurance agents that people interested on a booklet on increasing social security income are interested in more income, from any source. So they may be perfect candidates for immediate annuities. But the insurance agents' product-centered tunnel vision never allows this possibility to surface.
Focus on the big picture--meet with people you can help and don't focus on your products and services. The financial products and services are merely tools to help people accomplish their objectives, tools that don't need to be discussed until the last 10% of your conversation. Be a rich insurance agent.
