18 Key Attributes Insurance Sales Agents Need To Succeed In Their Career

by Noah Smith

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Insurance sales agents sell life, property, casualty, health, automotive, or other types of insurance. They may also refer clients to independent brokers, work as an independent broker, or be employed by an insurance company.

The core tasks that insurance sales agents are likely to carry out include:

Sell various types of insurance policies to businesses and individuals on behalf of insurance companies, including automobile, fire, life, property, medical and dental insurance or specialized policies such as marine, farm/crop, and medical malpractice.
Interview prospective clients to obtain data about their financial resources and needs, the physical condition of the person or property to be insured, and to discuss any existing coverage.
Call on policyholders to deliver and explain policy, to analyze insurance program and suggest additions or changes, or to change beneficiaries.
Seek out new clients and develop clientele by networking to find new customers and generate lists of prospective clients.
Ensure that policy requirements are fulfilled, including any necessary medical examinations and the completion of appropriate forms.
Customize insurance programs to suit individual customers, often covering a variety of risks.

In order to successfully forge ahead with their careers, analysts in a survey carried out by U.S. Department of Labor (via O*NET) have marked out the following as important attributes that insurance sales agents would need. These attributes have been selected from characteristics and requirements strongly associated with the occupation. They are

Abilities: Enduring attributes of the individual that influence performance
Interests: Preferences for work environments. Occupational Interest Profiles (OIPs) are compatible with Holland's (1985, 1997) model of personality types and work environments. Six interest categories are used to describe the work environment of occupations: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional. An OIP consists of six numerical scores indicating how descriptive and characteristic each work environment (or interest area) is for an occupation
Knowledge: Organized sets of principles and facts applying in general domains
Skills: These include basic skills, which are developed capacities that facilitate learning or the more rapid acquisition of knowledge. Plus cross-functional skills, which are developed capacities that facilitate performance of activities that occur across jobs
Style: Personal characteristics that can affect how well someone performs a job

We have listed out attributes which were scored 80% or more in terms of importance by the analysts.

Having a strong preference for enterprising work environments. Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.
Attribute Type: Interests Score: 100%

Being honest and ethical.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 95.8%

Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Attribute Type: Knowledge Score: 91.8%

Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Attribute Type: Knowledge Score: 91.4%

Being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 90.4%

Being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 89.4%

A willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 87.8%

Accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high stress situations.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 85.8%

Persistence in the face of obstacles.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 85.6%

Maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 85.2%

Being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 83.2%

The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Attribute Type: Abilities Score: 82.4%

The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Attribute Type: Abilities Score: 82.4%

The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Attribute Type: Abilities Score: 82.4%

Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Attribute Type: Skills Score: 82.4%

Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Attribute Type: Knowledge Score: 81.2%

Establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 80.4%

Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
Attribute Type: Skills Score: 80%