In Hong Kong, when you tell people you work as an insurance agent, their first reaction is sudden awkwardness followed by: “Don’t sell me an insurance plan”, or “I’ve bought one already.”
Even if you change your title to “financial planner”, the result is the same. What generates this fear? After all, if you say you sell coffee or lemonade on the streets, people are more than happy to drop by and give you business.
My personal view after working in the industry is that people are afraid of planning for intangible and unforeseen events.
But insurance is a must-have product. Health care and benefits all come under the sector. And don’t forget the building you are living in or the car that you recently purchased. Are these products really that annoying?
Underwriters and actuaries work hard to calculate products that are suitable for every occupation. Insurance is the one financial product that everyone needs, regardless of age, gender or ethnicity.
Then why don’t most people give agents any respect, as if they don’t know what they are selling? Part of the problem, admittedly, has to do with the agents themselves. If salespeople constantly deliver a message of “please help me make my quota”, no one will show much sympathy for them.
Instead insurance agents should be intermediaries. They are there to tell you to help yourself. The service they provide is professional knowledge. They should know a bit about everything, including complex disease and different career paths, in order to service a broad range of clients.
In terms of education funds, savings plans or investment-linked vehicles, customers come to you thinking you are an expert in the field. Yet there are not that many true experts out there, which leads to the issue of talent. Unfortunately, the smartest people don’t always want to go into this sector.
But even if agents are not the most qualified or well educated individuals, showing your temper and despising them is just like getting angry with your maid. It benefits nobody.
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