Licensing Process for Insurance Agents & Building Your Portfolio

We have an Annual Training series for Life & Health Insurance Agents to help you get prepared for an amazing year! This is a recap of Part 2: The Licensing Process & Building Your Portfolio.

Watch the full training and get the resources here.

Licensing Requirements

Here are the most common terms when getting started with selling Insurance:

• Resident Agent: Reside in the state where you are licensed.
• Non-resident Agent: Licensed in one state (resident license), but sell in another.
• Agency License: see state-specific requirements on NIPR.com.
• NIPR.com: Use this to see state specific requirements.
• LIMRA.com: for Anti-Money Laundering training.
• AHIP.org: for Medicare + Fraud, Waste, and Abuse training.
• AHIP.org/FFM: for Federally-facilitated Marketplace training.
• Errors & Omissions Insurance: 360coveragepros.com/eldercare/errors-and-omissions

Data Analysis

Around 70 - 80% of clients who purchase multiple products tend to be "stickier" customers. They are more likely to remain loyal and continue purchasing over time, compared to customers who only buy a single product.

Cross-selling can help you make sure that your client's needs are better taken care of. You can discuss new products as their life and needs change.

Independent vs Captive Agents

Independent Agents have flexibility when contracting and can contract with multiple insurance carriers. This would be a GA (general agency) contract.

Captive agents represent only allowed carriers or a single carrier. This would be an LOA (licensed only agent) contract.

Benefits of Partnering with Eldercare

We are an FMO that is as hands-on or as hands-off as you like. Eldercare offers over 100 carriers and has many different insurance products, like Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement, Final Expense, Ancillary products, and more. Some of those products are exclusive, Integrity proprietary carriers.

Eldercare also has weekly trainings for our agents over health and life products, technology, and more to help you grow your business and be successful. Additionally, we have tools and technology to help you write more and save time!

Want to learn more about what Eldercare has to offer an agent like you? Schedule a meeting with a marketer here!

Preparing Your Briefcase

The Essentials

Here are the essentials for your briefcase:

• Carrier Contracts (more on that below!)
• Supplies & Underwriting Guides: especially if you are doing paper apps.
• Marketing Materials
• Technology & Tools
• Quoting engines
• CRM Systems

Carrier Contracts

The #1 essential for your briefcase is carrier contracts. We suggest starting with the top 3-5 carriers for your area for each product. It's also good to have some carriers with strong brand name recognition.

You want to make sure that you have the client's immediate needs take care of, as well as some out of pocket protection.

Immediate needs include Medicare Advantage Insurance plans, Medicare Supplement Insurance plans, ACA Marketplace plans, and Part D Prescription Drug Plans. Out of pocket protection includes products like Hospital Indemnity, Cancer Heart Attack & Stroke, Dental Vision Hearing, Final Expense, and Annuities.

You can download our Carrier List and the rest of the resources here.

Resources to Prepare

We have some resources to help you apply this knowledge, including our carrier list, proprietary Medigap carriers, ready to sell checklist, and more! You can download the materials and watch the full training here!