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Insurance Advisor Duties and Responsibilities

The type of organization an insurance advisor works for will determine the exact duties they carry out. Based on job listings we analyzed, these duties typically involve:

Assess Customer Needs Insurance advisors routinely speak to customers to assess their needs and explain insurance policies. This helps advisors customize plans to suit a client’s requirements.

Process Policy Paperwork Once an insurance policy has been accepted by an individual or a business, insurance advisors process the paperwork on their behalf to calculate premiums, enroll the customer onto the plan, and send out any contracts.

Utilize Marketing to Generate More Business Insurance advisors benefit from referrals, newsletters, phone calls, and other forms of marketing that help generate more customers and increase conversion opportunities.

Contact Existing Customers Insurance advisors contact existing policy holders to check that information is up to date and to verify policy renewal if it’s expiring. They may need to resell the product if the customer is not interested in renewing it by reinforcing the benefits and persuading the customer to purchase the insurance plan again.

File Reports Insurance advisors often have targets to meet and are usually required to file reports to outline the number of policies they’ve processed on a weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis.

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Insurance Advisor Skills and Qualifications

Insurance advisors are excellent verbal communicators with strong selling techniques and experience. They’re able to quickly assess a customer’s needs in order to provide them the right product or service. Typically, there are no formal requirements for this job, although employers may prefer applicants with previous sales experience as well as the following abilities:

  • Laws and regulation knowledge – this job requires a good knowledge of policies, regulations, and laws, so insurance advisors need to stay up to date with any changes to these areas
  • Communication skills – insurance advisors talk to clients every day, so they need strong verbal communication skills to assess what they’re looking for and to explain complex insurance concepts simply
  • Analytical mindset – insurance advisors quickly assess a client’s needs and find a product that meets their specifications, so applicants for this job need good analytical skills
  • Customer service – because they spend so much time working with customers and clients, insurance advisors need great customer service skills and the ability to sell products in a professional and persuasive way
  • Interpersonal skills – a main aspect of this job is making customers feel comfortable, so interpersonal skills are vital to establish trust and professionally respond to any questions or concerns that may arise
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Insurance Advisor Education and Training

Insurance advisors don’t need any formal education, although some positions may require special licenses, which some companies will pay new employees to gain. Previous sales experience in a similar industry can be advantageous, particularly for people looking for their first job as an insurance advisor. Applicants with a bachelor’s degree in business, economics, or a similar field may find that they have a competitive edge in the job market.

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Insurance Advisor Salary and Outlook

The median annual salary for insurance advisors is nearly $37,000, according to PayScale. Insurance advisors in the 10th percentile earn around $24,000 annually, while the highest paid earn close to $65,000 a year. The higher salaries can include bonuses of up to $10,000 based on individual or group performances, and profit-sharing opportunities of up to $8,000. Location and past experience impact pay for this role, and around half of employers offer dental plans and medical insurance as part of their benefits package. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that the financial advisory sector will grow 15 percent through 2026.

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Helpful Resources

We’ve collected some of the best resources to help you learn about a career as an insurance advisor:

Shift: Digital Marketing Secrets of Insurance Agents and Financial Advisors – according to Google, someone searches for an insurance product every five seconds. This book explores how to reach this growing market, highlighting unique techniques and tricks to gain more conversions

Getting “Yes” Decisions: What Insurance Agents and Financial Advisors Can Say to Clients – a clear and comprehensive guide to getting more people to say “yes” to questions and converting them into paying customers, this book provides a contemporary look at advertising techniques that really work

The Insurance and Financial Advisor Marketing Group – with over 9,000 members, this LinkedIn group is a great resource for experienced and new insurance advisors alike, with networking and knowledge-sharing opportunities to help develop your skills

Advisor Talk – from sales ideas to tools and in-depth blog posts, this site is a great reference for advisor-related topics and provides some thought-provoking ideas to test in the workplace