How much did you make in first month/year?

Salary

  • 20-40k

    Votes: 9 75.0%
  • 60k and up

    Votes: 3 25.0%

  • Total voters
    12
What is your sales experience?

Close to none. I worked for ~10 years in logistics as a dispatcher. Freight forwarding, Selling loads, negotiating rates, etc. As far as insurance sales or cold call/door knocking I am basically brand new. I have been learning the “back end” of commercial lines working in operations/account managing learning the submission/quote/bind and service side of things for commercial accounts.
 
Close to none. I worked for ~10 years in logistics as a dispatcher. Freight forwarding, Selling loads, negotiating rates, etc. As far as insurance sales or cold call/door knocking I am basically brand new. I have been learning the “back end” of commercial lines working in operations/account managing learning the submission/quote/bind and service side of things for commercial accounts.

Sales is something few people can do. Even fewer people can sell, and enjoy doing it. You understand commercial insurance, which is part of it, but to be frank, I am in a building full of people that probably understand commercial insurance better than I do, but would starve if they had to try to sell it.

Selling to business owners ads an extra layer of difficulty, because you often have to get through the gatekeepers, identify who the decision maker is, and try to get the attention of someone that is getting pitched constantly.

In a business with 5 employees, who would you think the decision maker is? How do you identify them? How do you get ahold of them? What about 50 employees? What's the best time to call the owner of an auto repair shop? What about a contractor? What about a Chiropractor? What about a breakfast and lunch restaurant? What about a dinner restaurant?

The failure rate for commercial p&c producers is huge. I wish you the best of luck, but the odds are stacked against you. Go out there and kill it, but have a backup plan.
 
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I made a very good income my first year, I won't say the amount because it sounds like BS. First week, $5,000K in potential commission, (depending on persistency). I was at the top of the office leader board. This was great for a guy that really is not a natural sales person. I was sitting on 200 leads though as I sat there and called for I think a little over a week straight.

Then more breaks, Branch manager allowed me to work orphans of which there was a buildup. There was a reason she did this I won't get into and it was not because she liked me, too bad because she was very attractive.

A lot of things came together just right for me, probably a perfect storm.
 
Sales is something few people can do. Even fewer people can sell, and enjoy doing it. You understand commercial insurance, which is part of it, but to be frank, I am in a building full of people that probably understand commercial insurance better than I do, but would starve if they had to try to sell it.

Selling to business owners ads an extra layer of difficulty, because you often have to get through the gatekeepers, identify who the decision maker is, and try to get the attention of someone that is getting pitched constantly.

In a business with 5 employees, who would you think the decision maker is? How do you identify them? How do you get ahold of them? What about 50 employees? What's the best time to call the owner of an auto repair shop? What about a contractor? What about a Chiropractor? What about a breakfast and lunch restaurant? What about a dinner restaurant?

The failure rate for commercial p&c producers is huge. I wish you the best of luck, but the odds are stacked against you. Go out there and kill it, but have a backup plan.

Yes I understand the turn over rate is out of this world and majority of people give up. My back up plan is to go back to my account manager position, the company I work for is giving me an opportunity to try being a broker and are willing give me my old position back if I learn it’s not for me. So far I have a marketing/sales plan mapped out for my first year or two as well as various accounts who are willing to let me quote. (Construction and transportation, some small and a couple very large)

I have accepted its going to be very hard for the first 3-5 years..I just know I am going to regret it forever if I don’t at least TRY. I believe my work ethic and overall motivation in life/gym/home etc will transfer over and make me a great salesmen.

Any books/online resources you would recommend for a newbie? I just started reading Fanatical Prospecting.

thanks for the replies by the way, I am grateful for the input!!
 
Yes I understand the turn over rate is out of this world and majority of people give up. My back up plan is to go back to my account manager position, the company I work for is giving me an opportunity to try being a broker and are willing give me my old position back if I learn it’s not for me. So far I have a marketing/sales plan mapped out for my first year or two as well as various accounts who are willing to let me quote. (Construction and transportation, some small and a couple very large)

I have accepted its going to be very hard for the first 3-5 years..I just know I am going to regret it forever if I don’t at least TRY. I believe my work ethic and overall motivation in life/gym/home etc will transfer over and make me a great salesmen.

Any books/online resources you would recommend for a newbie? I just started reading Fanatical Prospecting.

thanks for the replies by the way, I am grateful for the input!!
If you are going into it with a back-up plan, you are already in trouble.
 
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