All Life Insurance Tips - Is anyone an insurance agent or broker?

Is anyone an insurance agent or broker?

I need to do an interview for school, I am a paralegal major in college. If anyone could help me answer these questions if you are an insurance agent or broker. i would greatly appreciate it! What isurance agency do you work for ( optional question ) Do you enjoy working in the insurance feild? What made you go into the insurance feild? How long have you been involved in the insurance field? What type of education do you need to be in the field? What types of insurance policies do you sell? (examples: life, health, vehicle, disability, property liability, etc) Do you promote one type of policy over another (term v. whole life?) If so, why? How many policies do you sell a year? What is the most awarding part of the job? What is the most difficult part of the job? Have you encountered any unethical insurance agent, broker, or client? What was the situation? What was the final outcome? What advise would you give someone who may be contemplating entering the field?

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What isurance agency do you work for ( optional question ): Customplanfinancial.com Do you enjoy working in the insurance feild? Love it! Not many people get the opportunity to greatly change a persons mood during their worst moments by handing them a 6 figure check! What made you go into the insurance feild? I wanted to be a financial planner...this was the first step in that process as it is the more difficult to learn. How long have you been involved in the insurance field? 4 years (worked for 4 years at a bank before that) What type of education do you need to be in the field? You need the insurance licensing (no university/college required) and you must take a specific number of courses related to the industry each year. Having a good background in finance goes a long way as well. What types of insurance policies do you sell? (examples: life, health, vehicle, disability, property liability, etc) Life, health, disability, long term care, travel, critical illness. Do you promote one type of policy over another (term v. whole life?) If so, why? No, absolutely not. Each product has it's purpose and fits a specific situation. Any person that solely promotes one product over another is leaving thier clients with only half a solution. Most people that are one trick ponies (IE: the "only buy term and invest the rest" people), typically have no understanding on how the other product works, so they just stick with what they know rather than actually learning what is best for thier clients. I do have certain products that I push more than others...I'm really passionate about critical illness and long term care, but when it comes to term vs. whole life, that depends on the situation. How many policies do you sell a year? 75-100 most years, although last year I almost hit 125. What is the most awarding part of the job? See number 2. Making a real difference in someones life. You can make major financial problems disappear with the stroke of a pen. And it's not like just giving them a crummy loan...you're giving them a tax free payment that they can do whatever they want with. What is the most difficult part of the job? In the early years it's the up and down income. There is absolutely no guarantee and sometimes it's tough. Sometimes finding new clients is tough (if you're like me and don't like scumming for clients at trade shows and cold calling). Have you encountered any unethical insurance agent, broker, or client? What was the situation? What was the final outcome? Yes, I actually JUST bought out an older advisor who was retiring. He took over a block of business that was handed to him as the original agent was putting clients in some shady investments that he directly profited from (limited partnership investments). of the group of advisors, 3 of them lost thier licenses to trade for 10 years, 1 got a lifetime ban, and the other skipped the country before they got to him and is living in the USA somewhere. A lot of the clients are still jaded about it as they lost LOTS of money, even 10 years later. What advise would you give someone who may be contemplating entering the field? Tough it out through the early years and you'll make it in this business for a long, long time. And ALWAYS do what is right for the client. Don't be that pushy sales guy becuase it will just turn people off...no one likes a guy that's desperate, makes it seem like you're scared you will be out of business. Be patient with clients and if their not interested, move on and revisit them in the future. Pushy guys make the big bucks early, but flunk out in a few years. The laid back guys don't make a fortune in the early years, but they last in the business and then scoop up all the orphaned clients from when the pushy guys flunk out.
What isurance agency do you work for ( optional question ) Pass - it's optional! Do you enjoy working in the insurance feild? Yes! I love it. What made you go into the insurance feild? I fell into it by accident. When I was working on my Masters, decades ago, I needed a day job to pay the bills, and the first offer I got, was from an agency. How long have you been involved in the insurance field? 25 years What type of education do you need to be in the field? You don't need a college degree, to be a successful salesperson. You DO, if you want to work management, or work for an insurance company. In either case, having professional designations will bring you to the front of the pack. You can look at some professional designation information at www.aicpcu.org What types of insurance policies do you sell? (examples: life, health, vehicle, disability, property liability, etc) I specialize in commercial lines. Do you promote one type of policy over another (term v. whole life?) If so, why? It's silly to do this - the whole POINT of being an excellent agent, is to analyze the needs of each individual client. If you blanket them all together, you're doing the customer a disservice. First, you have to identify the needs, the risks, and what the client wants - THEN you can select the best tool to do the job. How many policies do you sell a year? Renewals or New Business? What is the most awarding part of the job? How about rewarding? For me, it's finding a creative way to accomplish a goal, on a really tough risk, at an acceptable price for the client. What is the most difficult part of the job? Hmm. My off the cuff answer, is maintaining paper files, LOL. Have you encountered any unethical insurance agent, broker, or client? What was the situation? What was the final outcome? Yes. I've heard an agent lie to an adjuster about the existance of a personal umbrella policy, when the limits WOULD have been hit, to keep the loss ratio for the agency down. He ended up getting away with it. What advise would you give someone who may be contemplating entering the field? Go hang out at an agency for a week, to see how you like it. MOST of the people I've worked with , absolutely HATE working in insurance. Me, I love it - but I'm the weirdo.
What insurance agency do you work for (optional question)? I'm going to pass on the name, but it is one of the four largest companies in the US. Do you enjoy working in the insurance field? I love working in insurance, it grants me the opportunity to help people financially today and down the line. When I find someone with inadequate coverages I am able to help remedy that situation and people love saving money when there is money to be saved. Additionally, life insurance offers its own rewards. Helping a family who just lost the sole provider by issuing a $500,000 check makes things seem a whole lot better. Knowing that you did your job the right way, and now the family will not need to sell their home to keep food on the table and little Johnny will still be able to go to college one day. What made you go into the insurance field? I got in originally on the recommendation of someone I knew who was working in the industry. They thought I would be a good fit for the company and its all history from there. How long have you been involved in the insurance field? 4 years What type of education do you need to be in the field? I completed a 4 year degree program in order to be considered by the company. Most national companies require this of their employees. After graduation, I completed an insurance certification program. What types of insurance policies do you sell? (Examples: life, health, vehicle, disability, property liability, etc) I sell all of the personal lines. Home, auto, umbrella, motorcycle, fire dwelling, life, etc. Do you promote one type of policy over another (term v. whole life?) If so, why? Absolutely not. Life insurance is one of the most personalized products around today and to exclude or focus on any particular type of product would be to minimalize the needs of the client. How many policies do you sell a year? Last year I sold about 325 policies What is the most awarding part of the job? The people I get to meet and the ways I am able to help them. What is the most difficult part of the job? Finding new clients to work with Have you encountered any unethical insurance agent, broker, or client? What was the situation? What was the final outcome? I have seen people doing things and saying things that are not quite right. In these cases I tend to address the issue directly with the rep in question, but when all else fails, there are people whose job is just making sure that agents remain complaint both with company and state rules and requirements What advise would you give someone who may be contemplating entering the field? Don't get discouraged. This can be a really tough field (only about 1 in 5 make it past the first 3 years), but it is also incredibly rewarding. You can make a great difference in the lives of those around you, or you can be one of those that find the door out as fast as you got started.