During the COVID-19 outbreak, many non-essential companies, if able, are requiring their employees to work from home. Working from home can be challenging since it can be harder to communicate and easy to get distracted. As an insurance broker, it’s important to stay focused during this time and keep your connections with your clients and colleagues strong. This is a great time to continue your education and pick up a few new skills that can improve your routine when you return to the office. Here are a few ways you can build on your skills from your own home:

Read a Book

Part of being an insurance broker means making time and putting in effort to excel in multiple roles and provide exceptional customer service to your clients. Now with working from home, you may have that extra time to read, or, if you prefer audiobooks, listen to one of the recommended books below to better yourself as a professional.

• The Trusted Advisor Fieldbook by Charles H. Green & Andrea P. Howe
  This workbook is a great read for health insurance brokers and consultants who want insightful, practical tips for building and strengthening relationships with clients. It takes a deep dive into the how-to’s of business relationship-building, providing specific tips for earning trust in each chapter along with to-do lists, exercises, tools, and other resources. It is available for purchase and is free as an audiobook on Amazon. Link here.
• Agents of Change: Rethinking Insurance Agency Marketing by John M. Tate, Jay Adkins, and Natalia Tate
  What makes this book so great is that the authors introduce topics and related tips in each chapter by telling readers the story of fictional insurance agency owner, Jim Wakefield. The approach makes the book easy to read and relatable for any small or midsize agency owners or decision-makers.  At the beginning of every chapter Jim shares stories as he discovers how to find and retain more customers through marketing initiatives, then the writers from Agency Marketing Machine step in to summarize the marketing lessons learned from the chapter along with actionable tips and resources. It is available for purchase and free as an audiobook on Amazon. Link here. 
• Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World by Adam Grant
  This #1 New York Times bestseller isn’t just focused on helping people improve their professional lives. The book casts a much larger social science approach, aiming to help readers improve their creativity, innovation, management, and even parenting. A few topics Grant goes over are:
  • Generating and recognizing your original ideas.
  • When and how to voice, defend, and act on those ideas.
  • Dealing with the barriers and limitations of originality.
  • Managing anxiety, anger, and other emotions.
  It is available for purchase and free as an audiobook on Amazon. Link here. 

Follow These Podcasts

Podcasts are a big trend! You can find a podcast on just about any topic, such as fashion, music, sports, and even insurance. Podcasts are a great use of time because they allow you to become more deeply involved in areas you are interested in. You can learn from people who have been in the insurance business for years and they often have guests come on their show to share their expertise and stories. Below is a list of the top insurance podcasts to check out:

• The Business of Insurance
  This podcast has many insurance conversations about what it is like to work in the industry. Experienced insurance brokers talk with other professionals who work in all aspects of insurance from direct writers to excess and surplus lines brokers and everyone in between. If you want to learn more about the insurance industry, The Business of Insurance is the place to start. You can listen to their latest episodes on their website here.
• Agency Revolution: Connected Insurance
  Agency Revolution has delivered training and technology to independent insurance agencies and brokerages. Learn to grow your insurance leads through the lessons they cover on their podcast for insurance brokers. They cover a variety of topics from, measuring customer loyalty to managing your business through trying times. You can listen to their latest episodes on their website here.
• Life Insurance Academy Podcast
  The LIA Podcast is an insurance sales show brought to you by some professional insurance agents who are great at what they do. Not only is their focus just on agent development, sales training, performance, and success, but they also place an extremely high value on client care and always doing the right thing. The Life Insurance Academy podcast takes you out of the classroom and into the conversations of these top-producing agents and their guests. You can listen to their latest episodes on their website here.

Take a CE Course Online

This is a good opportunity to knock out a few CE courses and earn your required credits. Below is our top pick for where you can earn your CE credits:

• WebCE

  WebCE has created a one-stop shop for you to start a new career, learn something new within your field, and advance your career along the way. They offer education at every phase, including exam prep courses, continuing education for license renewal, career development certification courses, and corporate training solutions. Visit their website here for more information.

• BetterCE

  Much like WebCe, BetterCE provides the most helpful services to assist Insurance Professionals in easily meeting their licensing compliance requirements, learning something new within their field, and advancing their career along the way. They offer state-specific course catalogs that allow you to view all the courses that BetterCE offers and would align with your state requirements and any interests you may have, from the newest broker in the business to the most experienced. Visit their website here for more information. You can get FREE CE credits from us to use on WebCE by clicking the image below!