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No insurance agent sets out to break the rules — after all, insurance is in place to protect people when rules get broken around them. So why is so much emphasis put on regulation and compliance in the insurance industry? The answer is simply that the insurance industry is complex. Even the best insurance agent can sometimes step over the line if they’re not paying attention, no matter what their intentions.
Navigating every single compliance issue for every form of insurance would take several novels to describe, so instead, we’re here to highlight the five best practices for insurance agent compliance.1. Follow the Regulations and Guidelines
This may sound a bit like remedial kindergarten, but it’s true: one of the most important things you can do as an agent is simply following the rules. Make sure your license is up to date and valid for every state you practice in. If you need additional certification for certain types of insurance, such as specialized medical (see CMS guidelines), ensure that certification is on file with any and all agencies you work with.
When a client brings up legal concerns it doesn’t go to you; it goes to your agency. Organized paperwork and aggressive self-regulation is a must.
2. Keep Your Carriers and Companies Straight
If you’re working with more than one agency or carrier, chances are, you’re also working under more than one set of compliance rules. Different carriers will handle different types of insurance, different geographical demographics, and different customer policies. There’s nothing wrong with working for multiple agencies, but these differences are important, especially when making quotes to clients.
The worst thing you can do is quote a policy or cost from one carrier to a client signing up for a different carrier. Best case scenario, you lose the client. Worst case scenario? You’re facing regulation violations.
3. Listen to the Client
At the end of the day, insurance agents are also salespeople. That means it’s your job to find the product that best helps your client, not to push the most expensive policy.
You want clients to stay with you and your insurance plan(s) long-term, so cultivating an honest relationship from the beginning is essential to building your business.
Additionally, never sign up a client if they don’t want to sign up. It sounds like something you would never do, but you’d be surprised at how many agents violate this compliance requirement. Just listen to what the client wants and respond accordingly.
4. Focus on Care, Not Quotas
Quotas are important to any business, and we’re not here to say you should forget them entirely. But a successful agent will never allow quotas to distract from the core of the work. When you’re focused on signing clients up, you’re likely not very focused on taking care of them, and that’s a surefire way to lose clients down the line.
Only prioritizing fast-paced sales is also an easy way to violate compliance. When you’re moving too quickly, you’re not checking all your boxes, you’re not listening to your client, and you’re likely making mistakes. Not only does this put your practice in legal jeopardy, but it also creates problems for the client. There’s no faster way to lose a sale than to mess up basic paperwork.
When you focus on care, you can focus on getting it right the first time.
5. Stay Organized
We talk about it a lot, but the truth is, there’s very little that can’t be helped by organization in the insurance industry. When you stay organized, everyone wins: your clients get help faster, your agency makes more money, and you avoid unnecessary stress.
Ultimately, compliance is all about making sure that nothing slips through the cracks or gets overlooked — organization is key. And the best way to get organized is with an AMS.
The Best AMS Software for Insurance Agents
When you’re an insurance agent or a small insurance agency, you have enough to worry about without keeping track of piles of paperwork and digital documents. That’s why we worked to develop Eclipse.
Eclipse is a state-of-the-art, affordable insurance agency management system designed with compliance in mind. This AMS organizes and reports your client and financial data, keeps your client communications up to date and succinct, and automates important reminders.
If you’re worried about converting all your paperwork to digital files, we’ve got that covered as well. NASA offers low-cost data conversion services that make switching easy.
Ready to step into the future of insurance? Request a demo of Eclipse today, and make organization and compliance second nature in your insurance business.
