How to work from home for insurance companies? The COVID-19 pandemic happening from 2020 to 2021 may change the perspectives of many people.
Being supported by the rapid development of technology, they don’t need to go out just for working and earning money.
Yes, only by making sure your internet connection is good, you can do this thing; work from home.
With health and safety as the main reasons, almost all companies in various sectors decided to employ their workers from home.
Sending data and works is no longer difficult nowadays since there are emails and other social media platforms.
Interestingly, many people find this way effective. Aside from preventing virus transmissions as the main cause of the disease, there are some other benefits to get.
For the company, it effectively reduces spending, and employees don’t need to work under pressure.
One of the sectors that conduct work-from-home methods is the insurance company.
Even now, some insurance companies still apply this method to improve productivity.
Well, you may wonder how those insurance agents work from home without problems and whether you can be a part of them. So, read the information below.
Work from Home for Insurance Agents
Some years ago, you might see insurance agents come door to door to promote their products.
They may cooperate with related businesses like hospitals and clinics for health insurance and workshops for auto insurance.
But if they think those efforts are not enough, they will come to your house to offer what they sell.
Then, in the mid 2000s, the internet developed and people started to know about social media.
In the beginning, social media like Friendster or Facebook were only used personally to meet new friends and communicate at a distance.
Even the users were mostly teenagers and young adults.
Then, here we were in the years above 2010 when social media were used more than for personal purposes but also for professional ones.
Companies started to use social media popular in those times such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to promote their products.
Of course, this phenomenon is also utilized by insurance agents to achieve their targets.
While they are still visiting customers’ houses they are also gaining more customers online.
They created social media accounts for promotions and took advantage of all features available.
To approach customers and get closer to them, insurance agents go to more personal social media such as email or Whatsapp.
As long as their ways of promotions and communications are good, gaining new customers as well as keeping the old ones is not a big deal.
You can say that the role of social media in the world of the insurance company doesn’t come overnight.
It was not used during the pandemic only but far after that.
Indeed, online promotions were getting more and more rapid in the pandemics.
Even companies facilitate agents more so that they can do their jobs well. What were the facilities?
They included tools for better internet connections, promotion videos to share on YouTube, and also training to attract customers without meeting.
How about the results? Based on some surveys, many insurance agents found that working from home in promotion is more effective to gain customers because they felt more relaxed and not pressured.
Sure, there are also other factors for their success including the increase in people’s needs in insurance particularly health insurance.
Some other agents don’t experience any differences between one and door-to-door promotions.
Meanwhile, only a few of them prefer door-to-door promotions.
Mostly, they just felt bored of being at home all the time and they found it more interesting in the work field.
Work from Home for Administrators and Staff
Generally, the jobs of administrators and staff in an insurance agency are easier than the agents or marketers.
Administrators and customer services are indeed working on serving customers.
But as you must have known, they don’t deal with the number of product sales.
All they need to do is answer customers’ questions politely and give the information they need.
That’s why they are still responsible for the image of the company anyway.
The staff, on the other hand, may divide into some areas.
Some of them are working in terms of accounting, some others are marketing, and the others are working in the area of human resources.
Interestingly, all of them can work from home as long as the facilities are available.
Administrators, their jobs have been in communication with devices like live phones and chats.
Sure, they can technically do them anywhere, not always in the office.
That’s why it should not be a big problem if they must do those things at home based on the schedule that has been determined.
For staff who manage to account, there should not be a problem also to do their jobs at home.
Nowadays, almost all accounting jobs are done digitally using computers or even smartphones.
There is no need for a manual big book just like many people did in the past.
The data made can be shared with their peers or with the boss to evaluate. Even the process of check and evaluation can be done online also.
The same thing is when you must work from home for other job areas in the insurance company.
If you are a part of the marketing division, you may need to brainstorm with fellows in your team about how to promote your insurance agency and the products online.
Some apps can be used if the marketing team needs to conduct a meeting. Well, Zoom is the most popular among them.
Lastly, the insurance company must have a division of human resources.
This division is commonly led by a person on the managerial board.
The main job desk of the team is to control the employees to make sure they do their jobs well and their well-being is guaranteed.
Managing all employees when they are working from home is not an easy thing but there are many tools to help the division do it.
The key point about controlling them is by making sure that their jobs are submitted on time. This is how the company finally runs well.
Work from Home for Freelancers
In this digital era, the term freelancers and work from home may be 2 things that cannot be separated.
Yes, in any company, freelancers are not bound too tightly to the places they are working.
They just do their jobs anywhere, send the result, and get the money they deserve.
Sure, the same thing is for freelancers in insurance companies.
Most freelancers in insurance companies are agents. Generally, their job desks are not different from permanent employees but the targets to reach tend to be fewer.
They can work freely without tight commitment with the company but sure, the salary is also less than the permanent one.
The requirements to be accepted are also fewer than permanent agents. There are no specific educational backgrounds.
The company may only require you to have skills in marketing and promoting to gain more customers.
The schedule is more flexible as well so that you can do this job while doing others.
Every insurance company commonly has its own regulations for freelance agents.
Of course, the agents must still follow regulations given as long as they work under the company.
The commission given is based on the agreement that has been made before.
Don’t worry if you can gain many customers at a particular time, the incentive can be big, even bigger than permanent agents.
And here is the point, freelance agents, even before pandemics, do work from home more than the permanent ones.
In some companies, those freelancers also don’t need to come to the office.
All the jobs are delivered online, via emails or social media. In gaining customers, it is their choice whether to meet them directly or via emails also.
How to Work from Home for Insurance Companies
Well, the pandemic has been over currently and no one expects the same thing to happen in the future.
This way, permanent insurance agents start to work from the office.
In some companies, there are indeed schedules that enable them to work from home anyway.
On the other hand, it seems that freelance agents are still in their nature.
They can still work from home or work from anywhere they want.
Rules given to them are also not changed, they work with more flexibility although their salary is not as big as the permanent agents.
That’s why, if you are interested in working from home for insurance companies, it seems that being a freelance agent is what to choose.
So, how to be a freelancer in an insurance agency that enables you to work at home?
Of course, every insurance agency or company has its own rule or requirement related to this matter. But there are some general points almost all of them have.
First of all, they commonly require applicants to have at least a high school diploma.
Some big companies even require you to have a Bachelor’s degree.
Meanwhile, it opens to all majors, meaning you don’t need to have a business or marketing educational background.
Second, applicants with relevant experience are prioritized.
If you already have experience in selling and marketing, the company may consider you more than others with no experience at all.
Well, but in case you are a fresh graduate or something with no working experience, don’t worry.
Some companies don’t mention this requirement so you can just feel free to apply. Make sure to highlight other excellence you have to be above others.
Third, many companies also require their insurance agents to be good-looking.
Okay, it doesn’t mean you must be pretty or super handsome to be accepted.
Such things are relative, aren’t they? But you must put effort into the way you are dressing.
You must wear proper outfits when applying for the job. Make sure your make up and hairstyle are appropriate also with the job as the insurance agent.
Fourth, if you are interested in applying for a job in a credible and famous company, they also require you to pass a background check.
It is commonly done through interviews. Some companies even conduct fingerprint and urine checks.
So, make sure you are free from felony background and drug abuse experience.
If you have consumed drugs before, go to the clinic to know if the drug is still found in your urine.
Fifth, of course, you must have the skills and ability to persuade customers to buy your products.
Maybe, before applying, you can join a marketing workshop and training.
This way, you can learn about methods to attract people. Well, there must be a test where this skill is measured. So, do your best at this.
Lastly, some companies may require you to be in a certain range of ages. However, some others are not.
The older you are, you are considered to have more experience in approaching others.
Therefore, you may make a survey by listing insurance companies and choose one of them the best for you.
Last Words
Technology brings much ease to us including in terms of communicating with others.
Not only you can utilize it for personal purposes but also for professional ones. One of them is to enable you to work from home.
One of the jobs that can be done from home is the insurance agent.
Traditionally, you must directly meet people to make them your customers.
Nowadays, approaching them is possible via emails and social media.
If you are interested in fully doing the insurance agent job at home, you can choose to be a freelancer.
Requirements are considered easier, just make sure you are good enough in marketing skills.
Sure, in terms of salary, freelance agents must get lower than the permanent ones. But by considering your job desks are lighter, it is fair enough.