Bluefire Insurance

What if mastering a few easy skills could help you earn more money each month? 

When you have an insurance agent career, your goal is straightforward: to sell as many products to as many customers as possible. Today, there is plenty of competition, so you need to sell your products more persuasively and persistently than anyone else. 

Becoming the best-selling agent in your area takes a lot of work and skill. Learning these six job skills is key to reaching your sales goals. Keep reading to discover the job skills that will take your insurance sales to the next level! 

1. The Importance of “Soft Skills” 

As you may already know, certain skills such as communication skills, creativity, and adaptability are often referred to as “soft skills.” But here’s some irony for you: the average insurance agent finds these soft skills are actually very hard to develop! 

Why? By definition, soft skills can’t be taught. They must instead be cultivated through experience. Here’s some good news, though: you can practice working on soft skills like communication with every client interaction.  

We also recommend you foster your creativity and problem-solving skills with hobbies like writing, drawing, or even gaming. In addition to being fun, these “after-hours” hobbies will help you develop those much-needed job skills. 

2. Experience in Sales Is Invaluable 

When you first become an insurance agent, it’s not critical to memorize every bit of industry knowledge. You’ll have time to learn all the finer points you need to know as you go along. If you want to make sure that your career isn’t cut short, it’s critical that you develop good sales experience and that you continue to work on your sales skills week after week. 

Those without much sales experience often wash out of the insurance industry because they think their success hinges on forcefully selling their products to unwary customers. In reality, a good sales agent listens to customers’ needs and pain points, asks the right questions, and then offers customized insurance solutions. 

Not only will this help you sell more products, but it will foster loyalty among customers and word-of-mouth referrals from those customers. They appreciate that you offered exactly what they needed, exactly when they needed it. 

3. Problem-Solving While Keeping Customers Happy 

As we just noted, your ability to consistently sell your insurance products hinges on your talent to provide customers with coverage packages that meet their exact needs. Some of the best agents are those with prior problem-solving skills because it helps them discover the best solutions for customers’ specific issues. 

For example, let’s say that someone is telling you about how unhappy they are with their current carrier. Throughout the conversation, the customer says they’ll have to pay a new homeowner’s rate on top of other premiums like their car insurance. Not only is this premium expensive, but they hardly ever drive. Instead of pushing a single product on them, this would be your chance to offer a customized package that bundles homeowners and auto insurance, including a low-mileage discount that further reduces their costs. 

Customers stay loyal to those who solve their problems and address their concerns. Therefore, your job success often comes down to how well you can quickly connect the dots of unrelated problems and find creative ways to solve them. 

4. Prior Marketing Experience Is Useful 

When starting out, many insurance agents have a gap in their marketing skills. There is usually a simple reason for this: Most of those who have mastered the art of selling various products and services have never had to sell themselves before. At the end of the day, you can’t really succeed in this industry unless you can convince the local community that you are the best insurance agent to meet their needs. 

Interestingly, the difference between effective marketing and ineffective marketing usually comes down to the agent’s level of emotional intelligence. For example, take note of how many companies and local public figures include phrases like “we care about your needs” and “we’re here to help.” 

Beyond simply providing great products and services to the area, the most successful agents market themselves as empathetic professionals who care about improving their community. Call it human psychology: customers are more likely to do business with those who appear to care about them. 

5. The Power of Networking 

By now, you’ve probably heard so many people discuss the importance of networking that it just seems like a meaningless buzzword. However, make no mistake: extensive networking skills will always be what separates the best insurance agents from the rest of the insurance agents. 

At the bare minimum, networking with fellow agents can help you stay on top of upcoming industrial changes, and this knowledge can help you and your business stay up-to-date and competitive. Networking with associated industries also gives you an edge, since you can help your customers find trustworthy services for their other needs, such as lawn care or remodeling professionals. 

6. Energy and Enthusiasm: Critical Qualities 

We won’t sugarcoat the facts. Some of these skills may take a long time (years, in some cases) for you to master, but we know it will be worth it when you see how your career has been transformed. Until then, though, here’s a skill you might be able to cultivate overnight: appearing energetic and enthusiastic in all customer interactions. 

Think about it: No matter what they are selling, everyone is always more enthusiastic when they seem genuinely excited about what they are selling. You can practice this yourself by remembering the need to be “on” when talking with customers on the phone and especially in person. Be sure to smile often! It may take a few tries before you get it “just right,” but this is a simple skill that can supercharge your sales and help you build repeat business. 

Take Your Insurance Agent Career to the Next Level 

Now you know the soft job skills that help set you apart as an insurance agent. Bluefire Insurance will help you take your career to the next level by offering stellar insurance products to your clients! 

At Bluefire Insurance, we’re here to help talented independent agents like yourself take their business further than they thought possible. To discover exactly what we can do for you and your clients, all you have to do is contact us today!