Becoming an independent insurance broker is an exciting career opportunity! In addition to being a business owner and providing your clients with more types of insurance products to choose from, an independent insurance agency can also provide you with financial security.
If you’re thinking about becoming an independent insurance broker, we’ve put together our top tips to help you learn more.
Our top tips include:
Let’s get started!
When you’re curious about becoming an insurance broker and are not already involved in insurance sales, it’s essential to understand the steps you would need to take to become an independent insurance broker.
Let’s look at what an insurance broker does. An insurance broker sells insurance products from several insurance companies.
Now that you understand what a broker does as part of the insurance industry, let’s look at the steps involved in becoming one.
The process of becoming a broker includes:
Insurance carriers work with two types of agents in the insurance industry: captive agents and independent agents. A captive agent has a parent insurance company. A captive agent can sell only insurance products from their parent company. If their clients or prospective clients don’t like the premiums offered, a captive agent cannot shop around with other insurance carriers. The client or prospective client must either accept what is offered or go to another insurance agency.
An independent agent is an insurance broker. They sell insurance from multiple insurance carriers. They can sell all types of insurance, depending on the licenses they hold. They could sell health insurance, life insurance, auto insurance, home insurance, or a combination of these products from different insurance carriers. If their clients or prospective clients aren’t happy with a premium, an independent insurance agent can shop around within the insurance industry to find an insurance product that hopefully meets their needs.
In insurance sales, you make money when you sell insurance policies. In the end, the commission structure and profit margin depend on the agreement between you and the insurance carriers you represent. This agreement explains the percentage that you are paid as a commission on each new policy that you write when it is written.
After a policy is written, you are generally paid the following year for the policy as well. However, the amount you make on each policy is set by the insurance carrier.
While the definition of success is mainly based on what any person wants to do in life, a successful independent insurance broker is, in short, someone who manages to have a profitable insurance agency. We can all agree on that.
To stay profitable, there are specific characteristics of a successful independent insurance broker:
Utilize social media and other marketing strategies. You can and should use social media and other forms of free and inexpensive marketing (and other types as your financial resources allow) to bring in new business.
If you’re a captive agent and you’re thinking about becoming an independent insurance broker, there are some things you should know.
Although independent insurance brokers don’t have the same support as a captive agent, they don’t have to walk the road alone. SIAA provides a network of insurance brokers and resources to help brokers just like you become successful and profitable. From mentoring to continuing education opportunities to profit-sharing, SIAA helps provide growth and access to insurance carriers. Learn more about how we can help you with your career now!