A good goalie can almost sense where the puck will come from and stop it. A good auto mechanic can tell by the sound of the engine where the problem might lie. And a good cop knows when a suspect is lying in the interrogation room. These qualities make them good at their respective jobs. All pursuits require certain qualities, and being an insurance agent is no different. While many good qualities are required to be an insurance agent, there are 5 that no agent can be without. Let’s look at them to see if you have what it takes to make it as a “good” insurance agent.

A Good Agent Cares About His Clients

A good insurance agent has to put the needs of his clients first. Good insurance agents could care less about their commissions. All they want is to help people have a better future, a more secure financial situation, and a more stable plan for dealing with those disastrous moments when life goes all wrong. Good agents listen to what their clients have to say, and deliver just the products the client needs, rather than the size of the commissions attached. A good agent also knows when a client may need more than they are asking for, or more than they are willing to realize. Compassion and emotional intelligence – caring for and about people – are essential to being a good insurance agent.

A Good Agent Cares For His Clients

Customer service – good customer service, anyway – is sometimes difficult to find in today’s business world. Customers who receive quality customer service are contented and happy and stick with the companies that give them the best customer service they can offer. A good insurance agent is always available to his clients. He returns calls and messages in a very timely manner. He answers questions, or finds the answers if he doesn’t know them, until the client is satisfied. He cares for his clients’ needs and concerns as if they were his own. Good customer service is another hallmark quality of a good insurance agent.

A Good Agent Has a Winning Personality

The children’s character Eeyore is the only one around who is appealing and loveable when droopy and depressed. No one likes to do business with someone who is negative or unpredictable. A good insurance agent should be human, sure, with real emotions and reactions, but he should also be genuinely positive and upbeat as much as possible. People naturally are drawn toward others who are enthusiastic, energetic, excited, and exciting. Insurance agents with that sort of “peppy” personality will make a lot of clients, and a lot of sales.

A Good Agent Has Business Sense

It takes smarts to make it in any field, but insurance agents need certain types of smarts, and they need to be good at using them. They have to understand financial and legal aspects of their products, as well as the financial aspects of their clients’ situations. Insurance agents must also keep up with the changes in both his industry and in the economic issues that may affect his clients and his business. Not to mention, every aspect of business these days requires technology and team work. Good agents know how to keep up with the changes in the way today’s business world does business, and in how to choose, and work, with the best people.

A Good Agent Has Tenacity and Integrity

It takes a strong person to face rejection day after day and not give up or succumb to a defeatist attitude. It also takes a strong person to remain honest in the face of every incentive not to. Clients trust and respect agents who tell them the truth up front, and will quickly leave one agent for another if that integrity and honesty isn’t present. Good agents know that stubbornness and a strong sense of morals are necessary to long-term success in the business.

Good Agents Have a Host of Good Qualities

We’ve listed 5 qualities that are essential to a successful career in the insurance industry. There, are however, a whole host of other qualities that make a good insurance agent. Insurance agents come in all shapes and sizes, from all walks of life. Any one of them has the potential to be a “good” agent, especially if they have the 5 essential qualities that all their fellow “good” agents have in common.