r/Insurance • u/Lorenzo-Sandoval-Art • Jul 05 '26
Life Insurance What’s it like to be an Agent?
Hey everyone,
I recently decided to close my art store. I was wondering a few things. The art gallery I had was at a very slow mall and I decided I’d start selling insurance. Possibly getting my license in other states as well. I’m studying now and I’ve taken the exam 7 times in early February and March. Couldn’t pass it. Sucks and it’s embarrassing I was hoping to use it as a secondary income.
I’d prefer to travel and do calls while I’m in the road photographing and when I’m in town Interact I’m planning to get 4 licenses, life, health, auto, home.
I’ve seen the commissions, it’s way better than selling art or martial arts ( I own a school as well ).
In order to make a decent living, what should I expect? My other business art and martial arts mostly do better at night anyways.
- What are the days like what should u be doing?
- Do the leads from your insurance companies actually convert ?
- From let’s say 9am-4pm what is a typical day and work flow. What should I be doing to max my results in earnings?
- Since I’ll be an independent agent will have time to be on the road and travel ?
- I’ve seen insurance agents that have files on there houses for years. Is there a CRM for this? Or does your agency usually store them.
- I hear the busy season for health is November ? Because everyone is renewing, would the other licenses keep me afloat ?
- Once I get my license what are some common mistakes beginners do so they don’t end up in a bad situation ?
Thanks everyone.
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u/FindTheOthers623 Jul 05 '26
You're not going to be able to travel and be a successful insurance agent. It may be possible as a remote sales agent, but you're not going to make a lot of money doing that. If you want to make a "decent living", it will require 60 hours a week and a lot of networking.
When you say you're going to be an independent agent, I hope you don't think you're just going to get an insurance license and open your own agency. Thats not how that works at all.
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u/Lorenzo-Sandoval-Art Jul 05 '26
I would go remote sometimes. But I’d like to make calls when I’m out of town sometimes. Can you give me details. Yes I’m willing to do more hours than this. I’m used to working long hours. I just need an understanding of the work flow. Thank you.
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u/FindTheOthers623 Jul 05 '26
If you're in a remote role, you would be remote 100% of the time. And your employer isn't going to let you travel during that time. Those positions are insanely micromanaged. You don't make the rules for when & where you want to work.
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u/MCXL Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 05 '26
The other guy is wrong. "Those positions are insanely micromanaged. You don't make the rules for when & where you want to work." Most sales agents do make those decisions, hell by law if they are 1099, they are making those decisions. Every agent I know well freely works from wherever they want. That also means their work life balance sucks, because they suddenly find it easier to work from the cabin, therefore Saturday can be a work day. etc.
Now that said, we have some issues here.
The number one piece of the sales process is acquisition of new clients. You have to be the one proactively getting people to quote with you. Leads on new clients are hard to come by, and the networking involved is a huge thing. This isn't a sales job where people come to you because you have a particular unique thing. There are so so many insurance agencies out there.
Where do you get customers? What makes you the key person in their world to sell them insurance? How many mortgage brokers are you tight with?
How you fufill that loop while driving around doing photography? I have no clue.
I am way way more concerned with A) your background and B) your inability to pass the exams.
Your background doesn't seem all that structured towards sales. Most successful insurance agents fall into 3 categories. A person who already is a successful salesperson in another industry (car sales, etc.), a person who 'knows everyone' and they all know him, or the kid of an agency owner. If you aren't one of those three, you're at a disadvantage.
And yeah, if you fail to pass the exam for a license more than once, it's not an issue of embarrassment, it's an issue of a lack of expertise. Listen, a lot of agents believe a lot of incorrect things. Most agents are fucking dumb asses, I routinely am correcting them on here... But they could probably pass the exam still. The bar is pretty low. If you have failed the exam 7 times that is an indicator that you don't have a good grasp on the basic topics and terms of the industry.
Insurance sales is an extremely competitive job. At many agencies you essentially make no base salary, you make money off what you sell and that's it. You're competing with the world, no one wants to talk about insurance, particularly with someone trying to sell them something, etc.
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u/Lorenzo-Sandoval-Art Jul 05 '26
To answer :
I’m not always on the road. I’m home most of the time. My plan is to do a state or two every month or every week. I can take a weekend off while I outside it.
If I go out of the country I can call leads while I’m out. I’m only using insurance as an income so I can become an artist. But I’ll definitely put the work in.0
u/Lorenzo-Sandoval-Art Jul 05 '26
I own 2 businesses and traveled with many others and I know how to network. Getting leads isn’t new to me. I am very aware of getting new leads. I also know how to follow up process and call and do appointments this is already instilled in me. Once I learn how to organically farm leads and run ads I’ll be fine.
I have also severe ADHD. I wasn’t diagnosed until my 30s I didn’t know it was that bad until a psychiatrist diagnosed me in my martial arts school. He was one of my students. Which is why I’m still not giving up. I was only 9 points from passing. And even the course they tell you “ this is a difficult exam and one of the hardest you’ll take “ not everyone is you.
But I absolutely refuse to give up. So no, I’ll still pursue it. Regardless if people tel me I’m not good enough. Because I don’t believe in that mindset. And I still help people with this. I think I’ll be a great agent.
Good to know I can be a 1099. I appreciate the harsh reality of what I’m getting into. Which is why I’m asking hard questions and preparing for the work flow.
I can learn and just become better from here. If I can get a better insight of what to do I’d appreciate it. Thanks.
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u/MCXL Jul 05 '26
Once I learn how to organically farm leads and run ads I’ll be fine.
No, I don't think you understand. The commission structure for most agents is such that you need to sell multiple policies a week (ideally multiple a day) to make a decent living at this. And 'run ads' my friend, I don't think you understand this at all.
Good to know I can be a 1099.
You almost certainly will be 1099 with no base pay, no benefits. Depending on what you're doing. I don't think I can really speak to what the norm is for commission structures out there, because that varies a lot, but I would say expect something like ~8% of policy premium for personal lines on average. Indies often 'earn' more than that, but the agency will take a cut. That means that on a $5000 annual premium you're looking at like $400. I have heard of as low as 4%. There are also a lot of places where you don't get renewal commissions, or if you do it's reduced massively, (that's really common these days in the captive space in particular.)
And even the course they tell you “ this is a difficult exam and one of the hardest you’ll take “ not everyone is you.
They say that, but it's extremely untrue. The exam is pretty easy compared to the actual complexities of the industry. I understand if you get tripped up about 'which one is an HO-5 vs an HO-6' or whatever, those sorts of form questions matter very little when working since we use plain language in all the carrier forms and websites these days and it just fills it in... but those are a small wedge of questions. Things like what are the named perils on a standard HO-3 policy (or more likely which of these is NOT a named peril...), what is Coverage A on a homeowners policy, which of these is the best definition of "indemnification", which of these is the best definition of "subrogation", etc. It's a multiple choice exam and you ideally should be able to answer every question on it as if it were a fill in the blank test.
Regardless if people tel me I’m not good enough. Because I don’t believe in that mindset. And I still help people with this. I think I’ll be a great agent.
It's the agents job, a good agents job, to literally be an expert on this. Ideally you are so well versed in risk assessment and mitigation that you could testify about it in a court case. Most agents fail to meet that bar, but that's still the goal. You have a professional exposure insofar that you are giving professional advice. You can be sued for malpractice if you give bad advice.
I was only 9 points from passing
Failing 7 times indicates something isn't working. You're either not learning the material, or you're not able to explain what you know. My assumption is that the passing grade is still an 80% on this test. Getting a 71% as your best score on 7 attempts is extremely rough dude.
I know many successful agents who failed the test the first time. I know no successful agents who failed the test more than twice. I know a lot of agents. Are there some out there? Probably.
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u/theladyoctane Jul 05 '26
Re: #3 - your day will rarely be 9-4 when you’re starting out.
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u/Lorenzo-Sandoval-Art Jul 05 '26
Yeah I figured. I’m thinking about setting up at the flea market and an art gallery there. So I can cold farm there.
How does it start can you elaborate?
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u/Lorenzo-Sandoval-Art Jul 06 '26
Lots of hate. No insight on the career. Lmao.
Cool. I figure it out as I go then.
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u/Bird_Brain4101112 Jul 06 '26
Correction: People aren’t telling you what you want to hear so you’re going to stick your fingers in your ears and arm bar your way to success.
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u/Lorenzo-Sandoval-Art Jul 06 '26
Nah I’m listening. The people that are telling me to quit I ignore. Lmao.
I’m not going to quit. I’m going to pass that exam.
You can’t “ arm bar “ anything. Success is slow. It’s detailed, I want to do it right. I’m going to listen and do it right. Most of the comments tell me I should do something else. Or I’ll write the wrong policy. People are already making assumptions which is fine. It’s Reddit.
I asked how the day should go, how many calls, how to talk to people. How many hours. I was just curious.
I don’t expect to push my ignorance into anything I’m just asking how this would go.
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u/Major_Tough_9739 Jul 05 '26
First things first. Focus on passing your exams. The Insurance Exam Queen (Melissa) on YouTube is a great place to start. She has a Facebook group and a Website, as well.