With the rise of financial literacy and increasing awareness amongst people, the insurance sector is booming fast. It has been growing amidst the pandemic and so is the career of insurance agents. While earlier, the career of an insurance agent was not so popular, nor looked upon by many.
However, with changing times, insurance agents are flourishing and trending. If you want to become an insurance agent and be a part of this growing industry, here are the details you need to know.
What Does an Insurance Agent Do?
An insurance agent handles a lot of things from client acquisition to client handling, to customer support, and a lot more. However, many of you may just recognise an insurance agent as a marketing executive. The job profile or the functions of an insurance agent includes the following tasks and services –
- Client acquisition: Insurance agents are primarily hired for acquiring new clients and getting business for the insurance company. They call, meet, discuss different plans with clients, understand the requirements of the client and suggest to them the best plan for their needs.
- Reporting and verification: Insurance agents also handle the first step of the claim settlement process. Suppose you are an insurance agent, and one of your clients, who has bought insurance from you, comes with the claim; as an insurance agent, you can verify the claim, whether it is true or not, and then report the same to the company.
- Customer services: Customer services are an integral part of an insurance agent’s services. He needs to deal with customer issues like claim settlement, premium payments, better offers, and a lot more.
- Promoting business: Finally, insurance agents are the ground workers of the insurance company. Mouth publicity is crucial in the industry and that is done by the insurance agents.
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Are There Different Types of Insurance Agents?
An insurance agent may primarily refer to an individual selling insurance products, However, there are different types of insurance agents whose work profile varies.
- Insurance advisor: Insurance advisors analyse their client’s needs and suggest insurance products accordingly. They work on a commission basis or for fixed remuneration paid by the company they work for.
- Insurance analysts: The insurance analyst’s work is to analyse the client’s financial health, needs, and goals. They do not sell or pitch any insurance products. They just analyse and share the data with the insurance advisors. However, insurance analysts are mostly found in companies dealing with corporate insurance or offering insurance to HNIs.
- Life insurance agents: As the name suggests, life insurance agents are those who specifically deal in marketing and promoting, and acquiring clients for life insurance products.
The Work Environment of Insurance Agents
If you want to become an insurance agent online, you must be wondering what your work environment would be and what opportunities you can get.
So, as an insurance agent, you can work from the office or home. It depends on the company you are working for. Travelling can be a part of your schedule. You may have to travel to different parts of the city/ state and even to other states for client meetings and dealings.
Insurance agents can work full-time or even on a contractual basis or part-time. However, as an insurance agent, you will have to deal with targets that are acquiring a certain number of clients in a month or year, and upon successfully achieving the target, you can get great incentives.
How to Become an Insurance Agent?
The process of becoming an insurance agent is as follows –
- Firstly, you have to complete your 10+2, the minimum educational qualification required by most insurance companies. If you want to join as a manager or head of the marketing team, completing your graduation and masters can help a lot.
- Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Training Programme is there for every aspiring insurance agent to complete and pass for getting their license. After training, you need to clear your exam to get the license.
- Once you earn the license, you can become an insurance agent and apply to any company dealing in insurance products.
Conclusion
A career as an insurance agent can be exciting, challenging, and rewarding at the same time. If you can master the skill of analysing people’s needs and convincing them to buy what you are selling, you can flourish in this field.
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