Why Becoming An Insurance Broker May Change Your Life (And Tips To Succeed)

Filip Ambroziak is a senior insurance broker with Ambroziak & Rao Insurance Brokers. He joined the company in 2014 and after successfully attaining his RIBO license, was given a producer position on full commission. Since then, he has been generating his own leads, building relationships with clients and closing deals. He was nominated as one of the top insurance brokers in Canada and is now building a team of future success stories.

Insurance is an industry that most people fall into, it’s not a path kids see on TV and make it their goal. Most people see a relative or friend doing well and that’s when the sparks light up. As an insurance broker, this is fantastic to hear. This keeps competition low for future producers and only those who are serious join.

So why would becoming an insurance broker change you life? Well today, we will discuss the two biggest reasons, and I will also give you a few pointers to look for if you are looking at joining a brokerage. Let’s start with the obvious: Income.

Income

In any sales role, you will always hear that the sky is the limit. I’d like to correct this; your time and energy are the true limit, and although you may be young and ambitious, those limitations will impact you at some point. Lucky for you, I’m here to help you overcome them from the start.

In the early stages of your career as an insurance broker, you will have a lot of time. Your goal is to find leads and close deals. One of the questions you must ask a potential brokerage is whether they provide some leads or are you responsible for 100% of lead generation. Don’t expect to make too much money at the start. Insurance sales is like building a house. First you must create the base, do not take shortcuts. Once the house is built, you can reap the benefits.

As you approach your second and third year, you may start having organic leads from the book of business you developed. If you created strong relationships with your clients and proved to them that you are good at what you do, they will naturally refer you to their friends or family. Once this starts happening, you can give yourself a pat on the back. This means people like you and your service, and its when you start seeing the benefits of your hard work. At this phase, you may have less time to hunt new leads as your current book is supplying you with enough. You now need to be available for your clients and their requests.

If you make it past year three, congratulations, you are amongst the 10-20% of producers who made it. Most do not make it this far and quit. This is when you start to notice your life changing. You go from a lead hunter with little money, to a mini business owner with incoming leads, a good reputation and better pay cheques.

Here is where I want to provide you with a personal tip. I want to see brokers succeed and since many new producers just want a job, they may not know which deal is best for their future. It’s ideal to find a brokerage that offers customer service support from the start. This ensures that you are correctly binding policies, but most importantly, once you get to a point of organic referrals, you have the time to continue bringing in new business instead of being bogged down by administrative work. A brokerage offering a slightly lower commission split but full customer service support is the right choice compared to higher commission split alone. Initially you may make a couple extra dollars, but if you are successful, this will limit your income drastically.

Secondly, look for a brokerage where the successful producers have a future beyond being a solo broker. You want a brokerage that respects your success and will help you get to the next level. Once you have a base of clients, you may have what many sales people call “golden handcuffs” and if your current brokerage doesn’t have a plan to move you up, you will be limited.

This brings us to the second way becoming an insurance broker may change your life. Flexibility.

Flexibility

If you are a young and ambitious future producer, you may not care about this as much. You are looking at the dollar signs and the cool cars. I understand as I was there over a decade ago. Now as a father of (almost) 2 kids, I can tell you that flexibility is just as important as a good income. The ability to come in a little later to the office when my son has an appointment, or work from home on a Friday because we are leaving for a trip that evening is extremely valuable.

There is no job out there that I am aware of that offers that same flexibility. Once you have a strong book of business (client base), and you have renewals coming in, you have a steady income. And that one day off or morning away will do very little in reducing your pay cheque especially if you have a good customer service team behind you.

Conclusion

The insurance industry has been life changing for me. It wasn’t easy in the beginning. There were many late nights, some fear of the unknown and a couple rough pay cheques. But once you break through the “three year” trenches, you see what your life can look like with all the knowledge you built. You create an income, you create stability and you create opportunity to continue growing. Its a career that has changed many lives for the better.

If you are currently looking at a career path in the industry and are nervous or scared, reach out to me personally. I’ve been through the trenches and I had some fantastic mentors to help me out. Schedule a confidential call with Filip Ambroziak by reaching out to filipa@pbnet.ca.