In the insurance industry, an insurance sales producer’s job is to make sales. The terms “producer” and “agent” are frequently used interchangeably. It’s important to remember that in the insurance industry, “producing” refers to the process of effectively creating insurance policies for customers.
A common insurance sales producer’s job description is that he or she will often perform the same tasks as an insurance salesperson or a licensed insurance agent, generating sales through successful policy enrollments. Some companies hire insurance sales producers to meet sales targets that are either tied to an individual salesperson or to a group of insurance offices’ benchmarks. That is to say, an insurance sales producer may be more involved in office administration than in directly selling policies to customers, but he or she will almost always be involved in sales on some level.
Insurance salespeople must be able to sell insurance and understand the logistics of doing so. A property and casualty insurance license for homeowners, or similar types of insurance sales, is required many companies. For major medical or other types of sales, other insurance sales producers must have life and health licenses. Other insurance producers will need to be knowledgeable about specialized products like annuities or irregular life insurance policies, as well as long-term care insurance, which is increasingly being used as a supplement to major medical coverage.
Because insurance sales producers are so important to sales goals, some employers may assign quotas to them. An insurance sales producer helps an office stay on track in terms of sales targets meeting quotas or working with other staff to create effective production quotas. Some experts refer to the implementation of sales or production benchmarks as this type of job role, while others refer to the results of an insurance sales producer’s work as reliable sales levels. To be successful, the sales producer must be able to answer difficult questions about the products he or she sells, such as questions about policy restrictions, limitations, and maximum payouts.
Insurance sales producers, like other types of insurance agents, work in a variety of ways. Others will use complex forms of digital media to offer policies, while some will operate through word of mouth in a community. Some salespeople may also work out of a traditional office in the community, with staffers maintaining a location where customers can inquire about customized insurance policies.