An Introduction to Insurance Sales

Insurance sales agents are the people who help their clients choose the insurance policy that will best suit their needs. They help not only individuals, but also businesses and families. There are many kinds of insurance agents, which handle different policies.

Captive insurance agents are those who only work for one insurance company and only sell their employer's products. Their counterparts, independent insurance brokers, represent several companies and sell insurance plans from all of them.

There are many types of insurance plans that a person can get, including life insurance, health insurance, property insurance, casualty insurance, disability insurance, and long-term care insurance. Depending on a person's needs, he may have all of these insurance plans or just some of them.

There are about 400,000 insurance agents in the United States alone, about a quarter of them self-employed. Most agents don't work for carriers but work for agencies and brokerages instead.

If you want to be an insurance agent, you need to match up to the job requirements. These include a college degree in either business or economics, and knowledge of insurance laws of the state in which you intend to work.

Insurance agents also need to be licensed before they can work. Each type of insurance policy requires a different license, which means that having a license to sell casualty insurance isn't enough to be able to sell life insurance. To get a license, insurance agents need to take a few courses and pass licensing exams.

Insurance agents who do particularly well tend to become store or branch managers. It also helps when the candidate has a pleasing personality, good communication skills, and charm, because these traits get the job done better.