How to Get a Job in Final Expense Insurance (and Be Successful At It)

According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, insurance agents earn a median annual wage of $51,180.

However, stats from Zip Recruiter suggest that final expense agents earn much more than this. Their earning stats are based on current figures and focus on final expense agents’ earnings specifically. According to their estimates, Final Expense agents earn an average of $106,428 per year or $51 per hour.

These findings make sense, given that final expense agents are paid commission renewals. Over time, these can grow into a healthy source of passive income.

However, life insurance isn’t all that easy to sell. Many people don’t want to acknowledge their mortality, and life insurance doesn’t yield instant gratification that triggers impulse purchases.

So how do you tap into the lucrative final expense insurance market and successfully make sales?

Fortunately, getting started is simple, and once you know how to set yourself apart in the industry, you’ll be almost guaranteed to start seeing rising insurance sales numbers.

Ready to find out what it takes to get a job in final expense insurance and generate sales? Keep reading to find out!

Get Licensed

If you want to begin a career in final expense insurance sales, the first thing you’ll need to do is get licensed as a life insurance agent.

This generally involves completing any required education, undergoing a licensing exam, and having a background check done on you.

Different states have varying requirements for life insurance agent licenses. Depending on where you live, you may have to take different courses, so make sure you check your state’s requirements.

Decide Whether You Want to Be an Independent Agent

If you are looking to break into the final expense job market, the next thing you’ll need to consider is whether you want to be an independent agent or whether you want to work for a broker or carrier.

Working for another broker or carrier can have some advantages. Typically, insurance agents do not earn salaries and work purely on a commission basis. However, there are some insurance companies that offer certain agents a small retainer salary.

Also, carriers and agents can sometimes provide you with a support network, training, and tools.

However, many insurance agents find they can make more money working independently. Working as an independent agent is more like being a business owner, whereas working with a captive organization makes it a job with a supervisor to report to and your responsibilities laid out for you.

One of the great things about insurance sales is it allows you to work how you want when you want. You don’t need to have a boss hanging over your shoulder or specific times you need to be in the office.

Instead, you can feel free to incorporate insurance sales into your existing schedule. This is why many agents start off part-time as independent agents and then transition to full-time selling once they have built up their commission streams. 

If you want to work for an insurance company or broker, the next step is to look for insurance jobs involving final expense sales. If you wish to independently sell final expense insurance, you can skip this step and instead focus on training and lead generation efforts. 

Invest In Training

If you want to be successful at insurance sales, your training shouldn’t stop at getting your insurance license.

Selling insurance requires a lot of finesse and soft skills, as well as insurance know-how and product knowledge. What’s more, like we said above, life insurance can be a tough sell if you don’t pitch it right.

Fortunately, with the right training, you can prime yourself for success.

That is why here at InsuranceSales101, we take our training far beyond pre-qualification courses. We offer ongoing step-by-step agent training and support.

Not only do we teach you a proven sales system, but we also provide real-life scenarios that allow you to get up to speed fast.

Because our training is meant to be ongoing, we have structured our material to be self-paced. This means you can hone your skills in tandem with selling insurance. If you have problem areas, you can also access on-demand consulting sessions.

Having ongoing support and training can be pivotal in insurance sales success, making it a key area to invest in when getting started.

What’s more, training can be invaluable at any point in your career in final expense insurance. If you have been selling insurance for a while and just not seeing the sales you need, enrolling in a program like ours can be game-changing.

Define Your Target Market

Another important step to carry out when looking to sell final expense insurance is to define your target market. The nature of final expense sales makes this relatively simple.

Most people who are good candidates for final expense insurance are over 50 and make less than $50,000 per year.

However, depending on where and how you wish to market your services, you might want to target either people in your area, or you could target a wider geographical area. 

Take Out E&O Coverage

Besides investing in training, you will also need to take out E&O coverage. E&O (short for Errors and Omissions) insurance covers you and your carriers if you make a critical error when selling insurance to a client.

Mistakes happen, and should you accidentally do something like missing a waiver of coverage—this could result in some grave consequences. If you take out E&O insurance, you will be covered against this.

Errors and omissions are easy to make, even through no fault of your own. Something as simple as client communication can easily cause an issue. This is why most carriers require agents to hold E&O insurance.

Start Generating Leads

Once you are trained, licensed, and insured, it’s time to start generating those insurance sales leads. There are various ways you can do this.

For one, you can begin structuring an online marketing campaign by setting up a website, landing page, and paid ads. You can invest in content marketing and social media marketing.

Besides generating your own leads, you can also purchase leads. Purchasing leads is a common and effective strategy and can be particularly useful in the beginning.

Building your own sales funnel for final expense insurance takes time. Purchasing leads, on the other hand, is instant.

If you are wondering where to buy leads, there are a plethora of sources. However, you will need to exercise caution, as not all vendors sell high-quality leads. Low-quality leads that haven’t been qualified can be a complete waste of money, so make sure you go with a trusted field marketing organization or vendor.

We do not directly sell leads; however, if you sign up with us, you will get access to an array of discounts from vetted lead sellers. 

Work Your Leads

Once you have generated or purchased a list of leads, it’s time to get to work and put your sales hat on.

Follow up on your leads, preferably through the same channel you got them through. Following up on leads should be a major component of your week, and you should aim to contact at least 30 leads each week to generate consistent insurance sales.

Have a system in place for following up on leads, and make sure you don’t let leads fall through the cracks by forgetting to contact them.

Tips for Success When Selling Final Expense Insurance

Wondering how to succeed at final expense insurance sales and whether you have what it takes?

Here are a few tips for ongoing success and increased insurance sales.

Selling insurance isn’t easy, but if you hone the right skills, you can become a top-performing insurance agent. Here are some of the skills to cultivate that will net you growing sales numbers.

Hone Your Listening Skills

One of the most important skills for becoming a successful insurance agent is listening. And by this, we mean really listening.

Clients who feel like you’re genuinely listening to their problems are more likely to feel that you are actively trying to find the best solutions/product for their needs.

Be Compassionate

Besides listening, good agents also display compassion. They let the client know that they understand their issues and their needs.

Always Do What’s Right for Your Client

When selling any kind of insurance, it’s key to do what’s right for the client, not just for your commissions. However, this is particularly so for final expense insurance.

Doing what’s right for the client will get you better recommendations and more referrals. It’ll also reduce the chance of policy lapses, which aren’t good for your ongoing commission streams.

Practice Perseverance

Most sales positions, whether it’s telesales jobs or face-to-face sales, require a lot of persistence. Without resorting to hounding, don’t take no for an answer. Do your utmost to serve each client, and don’t get discouraged when you get turned down. 

Also, don’t forget that insurance sales can be a slow build. Many new agents quit in their first year because they don’t know this. However, if you’re one of the smart ones that stick it out, you can build your final expense insurance sales into a very profitable revenue stream. 

Are You Thinking About Selling Final Expense Insurance?

Selling final expense can be a lucrative career path—especially now. Recent survey results show that increasing numbers of people are placing higher importance on taking out life insurance thanks to the pandemic.

Are you ready to kickstart your final expense insurance sales career? If so, we highly recommend you check out our training program.

To get started, you can check it out here.