101 Things Young Agents Like MOST

The exclusive 2009 Insurance Journal Young Agents Survey asked independent agents under 40 years old: What do you like most about being an independent agent? Here’s what some of the 692 agents who took the survey had to say:

1. Working with clients and helping them to secure their insurance needs. Providing training and development of people. Friendships developed over the years.
2. My relations with clients and colleagues. The security of the industry (people need insurance).
3. It is not the same thing every day. I enjoy a challenge. I am also very honored to be able to work in the field of agriculture.
4. I love interacting with my clients and being there for them when times are tough.
5. Getting to help the people.
6. More to see than at the company level. Working one-on-one with the clients to help them. Form many positive business relationships with clients.
7. The freedom it provides and ability to work hard to determine your own income.
8. The amount of time I have with my family and the flexibility of the business.
9. Diversity of the field and constant change.
10. Taking care of the people.
11. I can make really good money and I control my schedule for the most part.
12. I like the fact that I am always networking and meeting new people as well as learning about all types of business.
13. Ability to make your own income. Helping others protect their business assets. Like working with business owners and independent agents. Like the real world application of the products we provide.
14. The freedom to work my own hours and the fact that income ceiling is only controlled by how much effort I put.
15. Control your destiny.
16. The flexibility to work with many different carriers.
17. The social aspect. I enjoy talking to people and helping them get things done.
18. Different challenge everyday!
19. Relationships, freedom.
20. Opportunity for increased income.
21. Freedom to use a variety of companies.
22. I enjoy writing an account where there is a mutual feeling of respect and willingness of the client to provide information.
23. Flexible schedule and unlimited income potential.
24. Flexible work schedule and the ability to help people understand a piece of their life that is so important.
25. Freedom. Meeting local business owners and developing relationships with business owners/leaders in the community.
26. The ability to write any risk on the planet and not having a home office dictate my life and income level.
27. Own hours, unlimited income potential, exposure to all different types of industries.
28. The pay, the excitement of learning everyday and the outstanding benefit of getting to meet and interact with my various clients around the country.
29. The freedom to try new things.
30. The one-on-one customer relations. I love being able to interact with people.
31. Freedom of choice.
32. Freedom to work when and how you would like to.
33. I enjoy having the ability to direct my own work-flow while helping people protect themselves.
34. Building relationships and educating clients.
35. Networking. Challenges of each account.
36. The clients.
37. Helping companies lower premiums and broaden coverages.
38. The relationships that are developed with my clients.
39. The challenges I face everyday. With insurance no two policies are alike, the job is never monotonous. I enjoy taking on the difficult risks that no one else wants to bother with.
40. Flexibility.
41. The ability to be able to help clients and others truly understand what they have, or are buying. The industry is caught up in pricing, rather than needs assessment.
42. I like the variety – every day there is something different and it doesn’t ever seem to get boring. I deal with a variety of people, coverages and issues everyday and it keeps me on my toes.
43. I have learned that knowledge is my absolute best-selling feature and do everything I can to learn insurance coverages and be able and willing to give many, many examples. I like being an expert and a teacher.
44. The industry is constantly changing. I can come to work every day and learn something new. There is always a new claim or coverage question that I may have to research which only helps me in learning more.
45. The freedom to write business with various companies that fit my clients needs.
46. Income and scheduling freedom.
47. The hunt and the people you meet along the way.
48. I like being independent from captive agencies, and having the ability to shop for the customer. I like that I can realize my own dreams, and the self-direction that I can take.
49. Flexibility of job and hours.
50. The steady industry and working for a great firm.
51. The freedom to control my future while helping others in the process.
52. Enjoy being of service to my clients and making quality products available to them.
53. Putting people back on the map after large losses, claims service is what we are all here for.
54. Control own destiny.
55. The flexibility of hours and the challenge of selling a very expensive and intangible product.
56. I like being able to look at a lot of options for a customer and help find the right policy for them.
57. I like the fact our industry constantly changes. I never really considered a career in insurance prior to my father’s stroke simply because I saw it as ‘same old, same old.’ Once I got into it and saw it wasn’t, I was hooked.
58. The freedom the career offers. I have the ability to meet great people, earn a nice living, help peoples’ businesses, and be in control of my own destiny to a certain extent.
59. Your compensation is based upon your own work, not someone else’s.
60. The ability to talk to people at their best. The ability to talk to and help people through their worst. You have the chance to do both on any given day no matter where you work in our industry.
61. The ability and freedom to think outside the box and not be tied down by corporate rules and regulations.
62. Commission on the business that I write is nice. Applying the coverages and explaining how they work to the insureds is a challenge but keeps me on my toes.
63. Independence.
64. Feels like it has more freedom than other jobs.
65. Still figuring that out …
66. Client relationships and freedom associated with the position.
67. Ability to be as successful as you want to be based on how hard you want to work.
68. I own my agency so the success is on me.
69. Flexibility of career and family.
70. Autonomy, freedom to build a book of business.
71. I enjoy the flexibility of the companies that I write for. I probably enjoy my relationships with each carriers’ representatives more than anything else.
72. The ability to be agile in the market and not bound by company restraints.
73. Freedom.
74. The freedom to go to different markets.
75. My favorite part of being an independent agent is the opportunity to educate people on risk management so that they can properly protect their homes and businesses.
76. Owning the books.
77. Selling. Fixing problems, being creative and inventive.
78. Working for myself.
79. I like the involvement with the community our particular agency has. It has nothing to do with being an independent agent.
80. Uncapped earnings, freedom, flexibility: as years go by and friends climb the corporate ladder and make more money, typically they must put in significant amount of hours per week. In the insurance industry that is not typically true, good field underwriting, writing the policy correctly, and having well trained support staff can bring just the opposite in an agency after years of hard work.
81. I like the flexibility in hours, as I have small children. Additionally, the compensation is good.
82. Independence.
83. Freedom in every way.
84. Meeting new and interesting people.
85. Learning different industries.
86. I love the fact that the industry shifts and changes everyday, I enjoy the challenge of touching so many different fields all within one career, from financial, to legal, to business and risk management areas.
87. The vast knowledge accumulated in many areas of industry and insurance and law.
88. Getting to know different types of business and their story of how they came about. Love the flexibility of job and the ability to have uncapped earnings while at the same time the opportunity to become an owner in the agency.
89. I can control my own accounts.
90. Freedom and open markets. Finding what is best for the client.
91. I enjoy the freedom of setting my own schedule.
92. Freedom and the earning potential. Plus I like running a small business and challenges it presents.
93. Claims are the only interesting thing about insurance, money is decent, insurance is not a luxury so I’m sure employment will always be there in this industry!
94. The challenge of fully evaluating risk and finding solutions.
95. It is a steady year-round job and people will always need insurance.
96. I love that no matter how much experience you have, you never stop learning because it’s changing everyday.
97. You determine how much you make and how much you work.
98. Being my own boss and being able to place insurance through a number of different insurance companies.
99. The fact that insurance is ever changing and never boring.
100. The intellectual challenge. Interviewing a client, finding out what they need and matching that to what I have available. Also setting my own hours and to some extent getting to choose the clients I can work with. The chance for growth is exciting.
101. The freedom is the best thing about being an independent agent.

Topics Agencies Profit Loss