Guest post by John Coffey
There is a tremendous opportunity in the American economy right now. No, it’s not a stock pick, a new cryptocurrency, or even an AI.
Insurance.
Yep, that’s right. Boring old insurance.
While you may be skeptical, demographic factors suggest that a seismic disruption will soon hit this 300 year-old industry. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 50% of the current insurance workforce will retire in the next 15 years. You read that right. Half of the industry will be leaving their positions.
This kind of “brain drain” is unprecedented in any industry, but the unique part about insurance is that the jobs themselves won’t be going anywhere. If there’s one thing you can say about a 300-year-old product, it’s that demand has remained constant.
What this means for job seekers is that over the next decade there will be roles to fill, clients to serve, and overall opportunity for those willing to invest in themselves now as insurance professionals.
While there will be opportunities in a variety of fields within insurance, the role that I believe has the most upside is that of the commercial insurance brokers. This role is essentially the sales side of commercial insurance. Insurance brokers are trusted insurance advisors to their clients, are a distribution channel for insurance carriers, and generate recurring revenue both for themselves and their firms.
If this sounds like an exciting opportunity to you, here are three things you should know in your first year as an insurance broker.
People don’t buy insurance, they buy you.
“It’s all about relationships.”
I heard this phrase a dozen times a month in my first year. Building relationships with your would-be buyers and existing clients is essential to any successful insurance broker. Why?
Because insurance is complicated and confusing, even for the most seasoned CFO or CEO.
What they want is someone they can trust.
They want to know their broker will always act in the client’s best interest. A strong relationship will help a broker weather difficult renewals, premium increases and bad claims with their clients. If an insured knows they have a broker who is doing everything they can to help their business save money while improving coverage, they’ll stick with them through thick and thin.
Don’t waste your time going after business you don’t really want.
There are many fish in the sea. This conventional dating advice is also sound prospecting advice for insurance brokers.
Since being an insurance broker is essentially a sales job, much of your day-to-day will be spent prospecting new business. It’s a process that involves a lot of rejection, so it can be easy to get excited over the first business that seems keen on working with you. There’s just one problem; not all clients are created equal.
Some will be difficult to work with, not pay enough in premium to hit your agency minimum, or will use your services to get the lowest possible price and will bounce as soon as something better comes along. You need to work with senior brokers and managers at your firm to identify what your ideal client looks like, and be willing to walk away when someone doesn’t meet that criteria.
It’s okay to learn the industry by working with a few smaller clients, but eventually you’ll need to work your way up market to clients you can provide real value to at a fair price.
If you got the business, it’s your job to make sure it’s handled well.
When it comes to technical knowledge about insurance, most brokers make one of two mistakes.
Either they don’t spend any time learning their craft and try to get by exclusively on their relationships, or they spend too much time trying to master insurance before they ever speak to a prospect.
The road to success is somewhere in the middle. Good brokers understand how insurance is marketed, underwritten, quoted and bound. They also know when to delegate these responsibilities to their service teams.
You’ll never know everything there is to know about insurance, but it’s important to have a working knowledge so you can service your client. The buck stops here, as they say, so if you brought a client on-board to your firm you need to either be able to service their insurance program yourself or effectively delegate to your team members. The best ones can do a bit of both.
Lastly, as a bonus tip, you need to be patient and realize success takes time. Relationships take time. Learning insurance takes time. But if you stay persistent, it will pay dividends. Most brokers don’t sell much in their first year, but the persistent ones reap the benefits of their hard work in their second year. With hard work, good mentorship, and a lot of patience, you can take advantage of this incredible opportunity.
John Coffey worked as an insurance broker with Gallagher.
