Inti Owner to Dengudu Part 2

Varied Backgrounds, Common Traits
Successful agency sales reps come from outside the sales arena as well, says Dan Strubberg, director of agency recruiting and development for State Farm Insurance in Bloomington, Illinois. “They’re people who strive for recognition, who are competitive, who like the risk of a business venture where they are thriving on the connection of success and hard work and wanting to help people solve the risks of everyday life,” he says.

Other professionals who often make the transition to insurance sales well include nurses and bank branch managers. Some educators take the job with plans to work as agents for a year to 18 months and then go on to become full-time career-development educators, Jensen says. Bank managers who want a similar executive position in insurance may begin their insurance career as agents and then move up to the management track. At Jensen’s firm, a partner or manager who was an agent can earn between $60,000 and $100,000 a year to start (with the beginning salary equaling the last 12 months of commission).