Is right now an ok time to get into insurance sales P&C?

I am thinking about giving up my ad sales job to go into P&C Insurance sales. I need something more flexible for my family and after talking with some agencies, I believe it is possible to acheive that.

I live in Michigan and am looking to go with a big company agency as none of the independant ones in my area are hiring.
They are all hourly plus commission.

Is it possible that if you work very hard that you can make it selling P&C Ins in MI? I have had nothing but success in my sales career thus far. But, I have 2 babies and I do not want to starve! =)

Thanks in advance. I am very much looking forward to this change if it is doable. I have a degree in insurance and 10 years of sales experience.

Yes, you can but I am afraid to tell you that you will not get to far working as a producer/CSR for an insurance agent.

I recommend that you take the job working under the agent. Get your feet wet plus you will receive a check each month. Then when you fill comfortable go and look at becoming an Agent/Owner. The advantages to this are that you will get some experience on how to run an agency. I see to many new guys coming in as Agent/owners and fail because they didn't know what they are doing. It takes about a year of suffering to finale figure it out. If you start as an Agent/owner expect to work long and hard your first couples of years plus the pay is not the best.

Good Luck!

Who exactly is offering you hourly plus commission? NO ONE does that. It's always straight commissions. Sometimes they'll give you a draw/advance, for the first month or so, while you are training.

Sure, you can make it, but MOST of the time, it takes 3-4 months before any real money starts rolling in. YOu'll need to put in 60 to 80 hour workweeks at first - so you won't be spending much time with the babies. But 95% of people who try it wash out. I personally think it's because they either can't sell, or don't want to work that hard. With sales experience, and willingness to work hard, you shouldn't have a problem.

Hourly plus commission? Will this be a telephone sales position of some kind? If you are going to be a Commercial Producer, you generally do not get any kind of hourly wage with your commission unless you are taking over an existing book or something like that. Right now the insurance industry is in a soft market which means that there is a lot of competition, but that insurance is easier to write.

I would say it is a little easier to get started in a soft market, but take as much education as you can to get and stay ahead of the competition so that when the Hard market hits, you won't be one of the many that just can't sell a darn thing and can't figure out why.

Good luck to you!

I concur with MBRC .. If an agency is willing to pay you an hourly rate, they usually tie that in with you doing clerical duties on their existing book. If you're filing and making policy updates, how are you going to sell? Are you expecting business to walk in the door? Yellow pages? Good luck with that, that's how you get the dregs of the world. To grow business you'll need to get out and pound the street. If you can find a agency that will pay you to do that, you're a step ahead of 95% of all agents.

To eat and get ahead in the P&C world, you'll need to write 5-10 households a week, 50 weeks a year. To get there, you'll need to quote 50-100 households a week. Unless your new boss has a good explanation of how and where this business is coming from, they're looking to rope you into a clerical job.

This is a world where people eat their young; be careful what you get into.

As far as a 'good time'? Not really, the insurance markets are kind of soft right now, not many people looking to transition from their current companies. Good luck.