If you’re considering the career of an insurance agent, you’ll have to develop certain skills and qualities to be a successful one. Most are core to the business, while at least one is necessary to keep up with industry improvements. Here’s a list of the skills and qualities you’ll need to have or develop on your way to becoming a good insurance agent.
Open to New Technology
Being able to apply technology in your practice and use a smartphone, apply email marketing, promoting yourself online via social media and a website may no longer be enough to stay competitive. These days, insurance companies are slowly incorporating AI to their operations. Doing so gives them the ability to automate and speed up a lot of paperwork, cut costs and gives them a competitive edge. As an individual insurance agent, you can make your service more efficient by automating parts of your business process, such as managing data on your clients and their claims by using claims analytics.
Prioritizes Clients’ Needs
Insurance agents that only think of the commissions they can earn and don’t consider clients their top priority don’t last in the business. A good insurance agent listens carefully to their prospects and clients and works to earn their trust. Simple as it may sound, this can be the toughest part of the job. There may be times when you must offer a product that pays a lower commission, but better suits the needs of your client.
Gives Good Customer Service
Clients need to know that their insurance agent is reliable. Part of this means being easy to contact and being able to make prompt replies to any of their clients’ or prospects’ phone calls or inquiries. To be considered a good insurance agent, don’t emulate unresponsive insurance companies. Make it a point to be within a phone call or email away to tell your clients what they need to know, deliver what is asked and be honest about what you can’t deliver.
Has the Right Amount of Positivity
Insurance gets a bad rap because it deals with unpleasant events like accidents, personal injury, and loss of property. Nothing puts off prospects and clients from buying insurance more than dealing with an agent who has a dreary disposition. Show that you are enthusiastic about helping your clients protect against these unexpected events, and emphasize the positive benefits of your products.
Has Expert Product Knowledge
A good insurance agent has to do more than sell a policy, they have to know exactly what it is they’re selling. Be sure to become fully acquainted with all the tax, legal and financial aspects of your products. You should be able to cover all the important points of the products and services you offer and provide clients with the right products. Prospects and clients need to know you have already navigated the complexities of insurance for them and can give them the right answers.
When you pursue the career of an insurance agent, it’s in your best interest to develop the core soft skills, be highly knowledgeable of your products and embrace and apply new technologies if possible. Develop these skills and you can become a good, if not great insurance agent.
