practice specialties
| By Allen C. McLellan, LUTCF, CLU, ChFC, CASL, CFP
MASTERING THE FUNDAMENTALS
Surviving and Thriving as a New Agent
Follow these tips to make sure your first few years in the business are successful.
This is a tough business that is not for the timid or the faint-of-heart. If it were easy, more agents
would prosper. The grim statistics show
about three-fourths of newly licensed
agents do not renew their licenses after
two years. If you are a new agent, what
can you do to survive and thrive in a
challenging business environment?
Commit to success
Perhaps the best advice is to commit for
at least three years to building a successful business. Without that determination,
you are likely to become discouraged
and quit after a tough stretch. If you
are new in the business, work as if you
intend to remain in it permanently. This
attitude will change your actions. You
will strive from the beginning to create
quality clients who appreciate your
services and refer you to others.
You will develop networks for growth
within the community, such as service
groups, tips clubs and business associations and you will never pass up an opportunity to speak to a group from two
to 200. If you are not a good speaker,
you will practice until you become one.
With this commitment, you will early
on pursue life-long professional education that will quickly distinguish you
from the “wannabe” agents. Professional
workshops, industry training and conventions are powerful motivators as you
meet and hear successful agents who
were just like you. Only one or two great
ideas can turn your business in the right
direction. Courses leading to respected
professional designations, such as the
LUTCF or the FSS designations provide
a wealth of knowledge about effective
marketing and servicing concepts.
Be a disciplined prospector
Hope is a great thing, but hope alone is
not an effective planning strategy. You
14 ADVISOR TODAY | November 2009
must quickly develop disciplined prospecting skills because more agents fail
from a lack of good prospects than for
any other reason. A proven method of
target marketing will pay off beyond your
greatest expectations. You do not have to
“reinvent the wheel” in this regard. Experts with vast experience have developed
and proved the methods, and you can
quite easily learn and apply them.
If you have call reluctance, you must
quickly overcome it or you will probably
fail in this business. Learn the techniques and hold yourself responsible for
making the calls to set the appointments
that inevitably lead to sales. You can have
the proverbial doctorate in insurance,
but with no prospects, you will perish,
professionally speaking.
Develop a personal budget
To survive the first three years, you
must develop your personal budget
and cash flow. Once again, simply
hoping for the best is risky. Create
a “beans-and-greens” budget that
sets the absolute minimum after-tax
income you will need. Want to pay the
rent or mortgage? Put it into the budget. Do the same with utilities, insurance and a reasonable food allowance.
The trips to the beach and the home
entertainment center must wait until
you are on a solid financial base.
Next, you must determine the
sources of the dollars you need. If your
total income will derive from your business, you must calculate the amount of
sales you will need and a plan to achieve
those sales. Most companies have
helpful guidelines based on historical
averages of agent income for each type
of sale. If you will need a loan from your
favorite Aunt Madge, then call her now
and make sure the money will be available. The key is to make conservative
estimates and avoid surprises.
Do not reinvent the wheel
You may someday discover what will
revolutionize the entire insurance
business, and I will applaud you if you
do. Meanwhile, in your first year or
so, sit at the feet of the masters in the
industry. Seek out the most successful
advisors in your company. Invite them
to lunch, glean their knowledge and
learn what they did to succeed. They
will feel honored when you ask for
their advice.
Here are three recommended questions to start that conversation:
■ What did you do to be successful?
■ What mistakes did you make, and
how can I avoid them?
■ As a new agent, what are the top
three or four things I must do to
succeed?
These brief tips may not guarantee your survival as an agent, but
they will increase the probability of
your success. So many people need
your advice, professional services
and excellent financial products. To
help them in the long run, you must
survive and thrive in your early years.
Good luck and good selling.
Allen C. McLellan, LUTCF, CLU, ChFC,
CASL, CFP, is an assistant professor of
insurance at The American College. In
his financial-services practice, he focused
on seniors’ needs. Contact him at Allen.
McLellan@theamericancollege.edu.
