If you’re training to be an insurance advisor, it’s likely you’ve chosen this career path in the knowledge that it can be both professionally and financially rewarding. What you may not know is that beyond training, the most successful advisors have also learned how to use a few key skills to their advantage. Even if you don’t naturally possess these qualities, you can start working to improve them now to ensure greater success in your future occupation!
Here’s a closer look at the skills and qualities that separate the best insurance advisors from the rest.
1. Communication and Tuned-in People Skills
If you already rate yourself as a people person and an effective communicator, you’ve got a great head start to using your insurance advisor diploma towards a successful career. People in this industry need to know how to engage with clients in a way that makes them feel that their needs come first. Not only does this require a personable and patient approach, but it’s also dependant on clear and informative communication. If a client feels you’re not approachable, that you don’t explain policies clearly, or that you’re only interested in gaining a commission out of them, they are likely to seek insurance services elsewhere.
Your clients need to feel you have their best interest at heart—that’s where people skills come in!
2. Listening Well Leads to Superior Customer Service
When you complete your insurance agent training diploma and start looking for clients, one thing to remember is just how important it is to listen to them. Superior customer service in this field is all about providing the right solution to the people you work with. That means truly listening with an empathetic ear to a client’s needs, and laying out a practical plan from there according to their financial situation.
By truly hearing them, you will be able to offer them the most appropriate products for their budget and general situation—and you will have gained their trust by showing that you have their best interest at heart. Not only might this lead to repeat, enduring business with them—but they are also more likely to recommend you to others.
3. High Energy Can Help Pave the Way to Success Following Your Insurance Advisor Courses
A great insurance advisor is an enthusiastic one. Not only should you feel this energy inside, but it should be evident to everyone around you as well. Your clients look to you for inspiration and for reassurance, and your eager, positive demeanour will rub off on them. In the same vein, if you come across as dismal or flat, this will not inspire people to purchase your products.
An energetic spirit is usually also a persistent one, which is key in this field where you will need to hustle to get new clients. Your high energy will also likely make you more resilient, helping you through the many rejections you will face along the way in the selling game.
4. Being a Fast Learner Helps You Know Your Products Inside and Out
When you’re not spending your energy chasing down new clients and working overtime for existing ones, you should be using your reserves to study the insurance products of your trade thoroughly. Depending on the type of insurance you end up specializing in, you’ll need to have comprehensive knowledge of each and every one of your products, including the application and underwriting process for each.
Acquiring this product knowledge and keeping up to date on plan changes will help you recommend the most appropriate options to a prospective client—and also means you won’t run the risk of losing their confidence by fumbling your product descriptions.
The moment you see you’ve truly helped someone in need of your expert knowledge by combining the above skills with the training received through specialized insurance advisor courses is the moment when you’ll feel genuinely rewarded in your career path!
Passionate about pursuing a career as an insurance advisor?
