Let’s take a look at the key figure in the insurance industry – the Agent. Some of you are familiar with what an Agent does, while others may think of Agents only as pushy and annoying salesmen and saleswomen.
“Insurance is something that people buy because they NEED it, and not because they want it.”
The word NEED is the key to the job of an agent.
Let’s explore:
What does an Insurance Agent do?
- Insurance agents never stop learning. They study existing and emerging insurance products on the market, to understand how they can use these tools to help solve their customer’s needs.
- Agents assist the clients in evaluating their insurance needs and proposing CORRECT solutions to address those needs.
- Agents must be great educators. There are a lot of insurance products in the insurance market and the agent must know how to select them and explain the best options to fit the client’s needs.
- Agents work with their clients (usually over a course of several days, and sometimes weeks) to create the most effective and economical packages to solve the client’s identified needs.
- Agents serve as a go-between the client and the insurance company during the whole policy purchase process.
- Agents usually continue servicing the policy throughout its term. They offer the clients guidance on possible money saving options or assist with making any changes to the policy, according to the current needs.
- At the very least, the agent should talk to the client on annual basis, to conduct an annual review of the policy in-force. All of this is done to make sure that the client’s current needs are always taken care of.
- Agents must comply with the laws on privacy and security to protect their client’s personally identifiable information (PII).
Pro Tips:
- Insurance Agent must never pressure a client to buy a policy without a chance to think about it. High pressure sales tactics, where you must sign on the “dotted” line right away are usually indications of sub-par products. Or in worst cases, it can be even signs of fraud.
- If your trusted insurance agent calls you for an annual review – pick up the phone and hear them out. They are familiar with your situation and they constantly learn about new products, so they might be able to save you money in the end. They are interested in retaining you as a client and will help as they can.
What are insurance agent’s responsibilities with Personally Identifiable Information?
Agents and brokers must ensure that consumers’ personally identifiable information (PII) is protected with reasonable safeguards, ensuring three (3) main categories:
- Confidentiality – protecting information from unauthorized disclosure
- Integrity – defending PII from malicious, unauthorized users to ensure accessibility by authorized users
- Availability – assuring the reliability and accuracy of information
Insurance professionals must prevent unauthorized or inappropriate access, use, or disclosure of the PII. Each agent and broker is also responsible for ensuring that members of its workforce who have a need for consumer PII to perform their duties strictly follow these safeguards.
Read more about PII here.