5 Things You Need to Know Before Joining the Insurance Industry

Hi, this is Coach James. I am writing this article to help you understand what exactly it takes to be a successful financial consultant. It is certainly a painful experience to see someone fail and leave the insurance industry. You do not want to tell all your friends that you are becoming a financial consultant, but quit the very next moment. I have seen enough people going in and out of the business, and this is why I hope this article can strengthen your conviction before joining the insurance industry.

ABOUT ME

I am a beneficiary of life insurance. I inherited the wisdom, not money. My dad cancelled all his insurance policies because he did not understand the use of them.

My dad’s health deteriorated rapidly after my grandma contracted Parkinson’s Disease. He was hospitalised for three months and the bill came up to more than two hundred thousand dollars. We were forced to downsize our house and my dad took on a mortgage loan to pay off the hospital bill. He struggled for the next two years before passing on.

On the day of his demise, it was Day 4 of my CMFAS Module 5 class. My father left behind zero assets, and only debts. It struck me harder that life insurance is a necessity for every family, and I was determined to pass all my licensing papers.

I worked very hard to become one of the youngest and fastest promoting financial consultants in the company. Within 16 months, I became a manager. My motivation came from my manager’s words, “if you want to impact more lives, then teach more people to do the same.”

After 12 years in the insurance business, I started Insurance Success Academy to coach more financial consultants to impact lives. I have trained more than 500 financial consultants in the last 2 years, and have helped some of them achieve their Million Dollar Round Table awards.

I always tell my students how noble our job is and how we deserve to succeed. We are doing our best to talk to people about taking charge of their personal finances, every single day. Our job is to ensure that people have sufficient coverage to protect themselves and their loved ones. We encourage people to constantly grow their money, because they are going to need a lot of money for retirement. Do you think we deserve to succeed? Of course! You deserve to achieve success.

If you are considering to join the insurance industry, here are the top 5 Things You Need to Know Before Joining the Insurance Industry.

1. TIME FREEDOM IS A HOAX!

Do you seriously believe that you have Time Freedom when you join this business? I hope not. This job does give you some flexibility in time management, but that is not Time Freedom. You will NOT get any Time Freedom until you are very successful. This rule applies no matter where in the world you are and which business you are in. To succeed, any guru would tell you that you need to take massive action.

Now let us examine what your top objective is, for wanting to join this industry. Is it because of time flexibility or because you are really serious about making it big in the business? If your answer is the latter, congratulations! You are now given the opportunity to prove yourself and there is a lot to do.

Muhammad Ali, a hero from the 1970s said this, “I don’t count my sit-ups. I only start counting when it starts hurting. When I feel pain, that’s when I start counting because that’s when it really counts. That’s what makes you a champion. And that’s the way it is with everything. No pain, no gain.”

What is your mindset when you are considering to join this business? Do you want to be a champion earning five to ten times of what you are earning now? Or are you just trying out, taking things easy and hoping for a miracle? Time Freedom is not possible, whether you are a newbie or if you want to earn massive income.  You have to work hard to be really successful, then will you achieve Time Freedom.

2. SALES IS NOT A NUMBER GAME

Saying that “Sales is a Number Game”, makes it seem like a mindless job. As long as you talk to ten people, a hundred or even a thousand, someone will buy. This may apply to some industries, but not financial products.

Some people become afraid when they think of the number of people they need to approach. “Do I have enough friends to approach?” “Where do I find so many people to approach?” When you are trying to find answers to these questions, your confidence drops and it amplifies the fear of failure. You mind quits before you even start. Most of the managers will focus on your activity, to see if you have spoken to enough prospects. They are not wrong in pushing you to meet more people, but there is something that you actually need to be good at - CONVERSION.

Sales is a CONVERSION game. Meeting more people does not necessarily mean you will have more sales. Meeting more people gives you the opportunity to have more sales, but the key lies in CONVERSION. How well you can close a deal is more important than how many more people you can meet. You need to know exactly why you did not get to close the case so you do not repeat the same mistake. Get yourself well-trained so you can improve your CONVERSION rate. This is not an ordinary sales job. Giving financial advice requires a lot of technical knowledge, and that brings me to my third point.

3. EDUCATE YOURSELF AND EDUCATE OTHERS

Let me give you some insights on your education path. First, there are six licensing exams which might take you one to three months to clear. When you get your license, you receive mandatory training on compliance, products, presentation, prospecting, financial planning, policy summary and review, estate law, investment and claim procedures.  

Most people do not realise the fact that being a financial consultant requires a lot of technical knowledge. People assume that this job is all about prospecting, knowing how to talk to people and convincing them to buy. Behind the scenes, no one knows exactly how many hours of hard work is put into acquiring knowledge. The learning curve is very steep and you want to keep educating yourself so that you can educate your prospects. When prospects are educated by your knowledge, they become your clients and refer more people to you because you are good. People do not refer friends to you because you can talk well or because you are friendly. People refer because you know your stuff and they are confident that their friends will benefit from listening to your advice.

You might be surprised by the amount of things that you have to learn. You can develop your skills further with professional certifications like CHFC and professional courses at Insurance Success Academy. Personal development is the reason some financial consultants can earn more than others. Like what Robert Kiyosaki said, “You work to learn, not to earn.”

Focus on learning. The more you learn, the more you earn.           

4. PERSONAL STRATEGY TO SUCCESS

Not many people understand the difference between strategy and tactic. Strategy is the overall plan and tactic is the execution of the plan. This is important, especially if you want to do well in this business. You would want to know the strategy your agency is implementing to help you excel in this business.

I once met a financial consultant in his 40s, who joined an agency with mostly younger people. He found it hard to communicate with the team and often felt left out. The team’s strategy was to focus on the cold market. Their tactics were street prospecting and cold-calling. He was trying his best to talk to people on the street, but was not effective in doing so. The agency did cold-calling in the evenings, but he could not join due to family commitments. As a result, he had ZERO sales for three months and barely any income for almost 6 months. Sounds scary? Let us analyse the situation to see what he could have done instead. 

This financial consultant was an accountant for 20 years before joining the insurance industry. It would have been a waste for him to ignore his warm market and social circle with strong purchasing power. He strictly followed his agency’s strategy but it did not yield him success. This agency is doing well, but not him. It cost him time, effort, money and morale for not applying the correct strategy.

Here are some good questions that you can ask the manager who is recruiting you:

• What are the agency’s strategies?
• What are the tactics deployed?
• What specific strategy they have for you?
• What are the training and development plans?
• How do they develop you as a person?

Remember, whatever that works for others might not work for you. We cannot blindly follow what others are doing without first assessing our own strengths and situation.

5. BURN YOUR BRIDGES

The decision to focus on this business will determine your success before you even start. The first step to success is to DECIDE to Succeed. Many people have the fantasy that they can earn great income by doing this business part-time, while holding on to a day job. Some might close some deals, but it is not going to be substantial or sustainable. After a while, they get stuck in the situation of wanting to quit, yet finding it hard to inform friends who supported them.  

If you believe this business will take care of you, then do it wholeheartedly. If you want to give it a shot, then set your mind to make it big. You must have faith in yourself and trust that you will do well in this business. Start the first step right. I know it is easier said than done, but there are so many people who have succeeded in this industry simply because they have given their full commitment. 

You have to burn all your bridges, and be determined to do well in this business. In my 14 years in the insurance industry, I have not seen a single person succeed doing this business part-time. Eventually, they all quit. Many fail not because they are incompetent. They fail because they lack commitment. They think that they will just try this out and go back to their current status if they fail. I always say that life is fair. When you give this business your very best, it will take good care of you. It all starts with a decision.

CONCLUSION

I hope that you have benefitted from reading this article. This business is a noble job; it is very meaningful. I want to see more people succeeding in the insurance industry. There is no try-try in this business. Months or even years of your life can be wasted if you join the insurance industry with a try-and-see-how attitude. Learn more about the business before actually getting into one. Your mindset determines your success - be firm about what you want.

For people who want to learn more about the insurance industry, here is my offer to you. I am personally conducting a half-day Career Guidance Workshop that will give you deeper insights into the insurance industry. You will be taken through three different personality tests that will allow you to understand your strengths and weaknesses, as well as, assess your suitability for this career. You will be playing the well-known Cashflow 101 game, designed by international best-selling author of the "Rich Dad Poor Dad" series. I will NOT be holding such sessions often. Seats are limited, register here now!

I wish you all the best in your career!

James Yeow

Master Coach

Insurance Success Academy