Professional Salesperson or Full Time Prospector?

When you accepted the position as an Insurance Sales Agent, did you see that as a choice to also become a professional in your field? Did you have images of earning an above average income, living an above average life and connecting with movers and shakers?

Sales is a professional position. A good agent will and should earn as much as a professional in many other fields. Insurance Sales Agents should hold their heads up and be proud of their profession.

I wonder why so many agents are not able to do that? What causes an agent to feel like they are doing a lot of work and yet receiving little to no pay for it?

Here is one of the reasons; instead of working as a professional sales agent, they work as professional prospectors.

What is a professional prospector? It is an agent who spends 80-90% of their time looking for that next appointment. Problem is, none of us get paid to prospect; we get paid to sell. So how do so many agents fall into this trap? Consider the following;

1) Contrary to popular belief the successful agent does not spend the majority of his time prospecting. He is not on the phone making 100's of phone calls a day; he is not physically stuffing and mailing 100's of letters a week. He is not outside knocking on doors, walking the pavement and trying to convince someone to buy from him while he is going broke.

2) What professional agents do is realize they are paid to sell. You only make money when you turn in an application that gets approved. Prospecting is a means to an end but not the end. If you focus all of your attention on prospecting I can almost guarantee you will not last long in this business.

3) Prospecting is important. But how do you go about doing it? By working smarter and not harder. How much skill does it take to stuff a letter into an envelope and mail it? To pass out flyers on cars in a parking lot or in the doorways of the homes in a neighborhood? Some of these jobs can be done by a high school student.

4) Professionals have learned that they get paid the most by doing their profession. Doctors hire staff to draw blood, check your insurance, collect your fee for the visit, set appointments, etc. Doctors didn't spend all that time and money in school to do jobs that they can hire someone else to do. As a professional sales agent you will get paid the most when you do what you are licensed to do; sell insurance.