Authored by David Corwin Are you “in the business” or do you just have an insurance license? Here are some indicators to tell you where you are:

• Do you have a business plan? Crafting a meaningful business plan takes a lot of thought and time. Set out the strategy for your business – particularly your marketing strategy. Set targets and objectives, including sales and financial goals so that you can monitor business performance.
• Are you actively looking for new prospects (referrals and warm market) or just replacing the business you wrote in the past?  It really should be a 60/40 split. Sixty percent of your marketing efforts should be spent on referrals and warm marketing. Forty percent should be reviewing clients that you’ve written before, both fostering the relationship built as well as looking for new business.
• Are you running enough appointments throughout every week to get the results you want?  The old numbers game.  It only makes sense that if you have enough lines in the water the more fish you will catch. The more successful agents run between 10-15 appointments per week.  If you’re running less than that…..run more. It’s as simple as that.
• On your appointments do you implement a fact finder to obtain material facts that allow for cross selling opportunities?  If you don’t, well then you’re probably an order taker and if you don’t have what they want then you’ll go back to your office without the business.  Last I checked, an insurance license allows you to sell Life Insurance, Annuities, Health Insurance, Long Term Care and Disability Insurance.  If you don’t use one, then you just have an insurance license.
• Are you furthering your education through industry leading programs like CLU, ChFC, CFP?  Furthering your education makes you better informed to assist with the variety of unique requirements that individuals, professionals, and business owners may have with respect to their estate planning, wealth transfer, income replacement and risk management needs. Holders of these designations increase their sales by up to 51%.