Photo by Jeff Sanders
Can you see the forest for the trees? Put another way, can you see beyond the money and understand what you’re really getting yourself into when considering selling insurance? If you’ve ever spent any time on the major job search engines – Monster, CareerBuilder, Yahoo! HotJobs, etc. – you’ve almost certainly been solicited by an Insurance Recruiter whose given you a line like this: “Based on the impressive qualities of your resume we would like to offer you a Management Position and a 1st year salary EASILY exceeding $100,000!” Sounds exciting, right? Sounds like a job you’ve been waiting for, right? Sounds like a bunch of BS, right? Well, not entirely, but close. Big cities are insurance hot spots. If you’ve ever looked at a map of insurance companies around cities like Boston, Nashville, and or Houston, they light up like a swarm of lightning bugs on a summer night. The reality is that insurance is an old school business that is here to stay. People need it whether they realize it or not, and it’s not cheap. There’s a lot of money to be made by someone, and every Insurance Recruiter out there thinks it could be you. So is it? Let’s find out.
Pros
1. Money – Yes, it’s true. Insurance Agents, Recruiters, Door-to-Door Sales People, they all have an opportunity to rake in the dough. Depending on who you work for, typically you can take home anywhere from $100 – $1,000+ per sale. If you average a few sales a week at the higher end you could walk away with an average of $2,500 per week. Over a year’s time that adds up to around $130,000. That’s where the big salary figure comes from when Recruiters talk the big game. In addition, over time you can begin to accrue renewals, meaning you can earn money when your clients renew their policies, as long as the policies stay intact. The potential to make a great living DOES exist. These figures are round estimates and don’t apply to all companies, but many of them have very similar business plans.
2. Freedom – For the most part, you can work whatever schedule you want. Most sales people set their own hours and can choose to work as much or as little as they want. This can be very enticing if you have a busy home life and need to work odd hours. Don’t forget, in a lot of these situations you don’t have someone breathing down your neck to get the next sale. Because you work on commission, if you don’t sell anything, it’s your loss, not your superior’s.
3. Promotions – In many companies, when the Recruiter talks about being a Manager and moving up quickly, they’re talking about selling a lot and then getting to show others how to do the same. That’s a promotion. If you find yourself making it big in sales, you’ll more than likely be asked within the first year to start training the newbies. You may think you’re a newbie, and you are, but if you know more than the person you’re training, you’re the expert. Typically, when you make the move to Manager, you also get a raise, sort of. Usually, you have the opportunity to make commission from your trainees’ sales as well as your own. Over time the money goes up and the opportunities for advancement occur significantly faster than traditional cubicle jobs.
Cons
1. Starting Up – Right from the beginning your head will be swimming with dollar signs and future promotions, but try to contain your excitement. Starting up this “business” is going to be REALLY hard for a decent chunk of time. Insurance sales is really your own business and you have to treat it that way. The beginning usually involves little to no training, and NO MONEY! That’s right. Commission all the way! So, you could get lucky and get paid a small stipend to tide you over until you’re own your own, but it’s rare. Normally, you’ll have to pull from your savings to make it through the first 4-8 weeks.
2. The Hours – 10 to 12 hours a day, 6 to 7 days a week. That’s normal. It will slow down after the first year, but an insurance sales position requires you to be on call every day. This means even on your days off you have to be ready to drop your golf clubs and help your client, whose house just burned down, and they live 50 miles away. This scenario is not an every day occurrence, but it does happen. Be prepared to work all the time. This is not a job, it’s a lifestyle.
3. Rejection – Beyond the bad hours, long days, and the occasional call from your wife asking why you’re not home yet, the most challenging aspect of this endeavor is rejection. It’s sales. Rejection and sales are synonyms. Repeat that. Sales = Rejection, Rejection = Sales. Getting told no, being thrown out of someone’s house, having a toaster hurled at your head, these ARE an every day occurrence. Sales requires a tough demeanor and an ability to pick yourself back up after the worst customer service experience you’ve ever had. Take it from a guy who worked a door-to-door, business-to-business, cold call sales job for 9 weeks, I don’t know how I made it that long.
Conclusion
This career is either the best thing that could ever happen to you, or you’re absolute worst nightmare. It all comes down to you. The reality is that you can’t focus on the money, because it will only come after you’ve placed your focus in the right direction. Focus on your customers, focus on your attitude, focus on the opportunity. If you’re seriously an entrepreneur at heart and you absolutely love insurance, this is your calling. However, If you’re life is not ready for this commitment, the challenges will look like marathons, one after another, with no end in sight. This takes guts, perseverance, and a willingness to put yourself in awkward situations all day, every day. If you’re successful, you CAN make great money and find fulfillment in your career. If you’re not successful, well, you’ll know and then you can move forward to pursue something better. Insurance is an old money business, but new money is being made every day. Be creative, utilize technology, discover your passion, pursue YOUR ideal career, and ultimately transform your life! Good luck on your career and stay positive!
The Clueless Graduate,
Jeff Sanders 
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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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