Insurance Industry: A Salesman’s Nightmare?

I recently came across an article from Harvard Business Review that covered the evolution of the insurance industry. Like most of you, I’ve long been aware of the negative stereotypes that come along with the typical insurance salesman (agent). And in fairness, many of these stereotypes can be tracked back to uniquely egregious incidents of malpractice/manipulation. The lifestyle of an insurance agent can be extremely stressful. Most are on purely commission, so there is high pressure to sell, sell, sell. I’ve heard horror stories from friends who have interned with companies like Mutual of Omaha and Northwestern Mutual, describing their various, difficult sales situations. I also have a distant friend from high school who opted to forgo his college education and pursue a career in insurance instead. Overall, things have worked out well for him. This is due primarily to his personality.

These anecdotes seem to be corroborated by hard data collected for the past 35 years. Experts have long wondered why the turnover rate is so high for insurance agents. The estimates were (35 years ago) that nearly 50% of agents left the industry after the first year. Following the first three years, over 80% of agents had left insurance. These statistics remain the same today. The costs many insurance companies incur training new agents, providing them with company resources/support, travel expenses, and occasionally a small base salary are astronomical.

What is the cause of this? Some experts say quite simply: most people can’t sell. Or at least they can’t sell insurance. Other experts, those I would tend to agree with, argue that the problem is really two fold. First, many of these “salespeople” don’t truly believe in the value of the product they are selling. They themselves share the same skepticism as their prospective customers. When people don’t truly believe in what they’re selling, they will never be truly effective salespeople. Second, the issue lies with the policy makers and not the policy sellers. Only when disaster strikes do people find out that they are not in fact covered (note the image above). Unfortunately, there is little most salespeople can do about it this. It must changed at the top level.

In summary, insurance is an extremely important industry and serves a vital role in the economy. With that said, reform must take place in order for many of the negative stereotypes associated with it, and its messengers, to be removed. Transparency on all fronts is the best way to achieve this goal.