Focus on what matters to avoid burnout
Insurance sales is not an easy career path. It’s highly competitive and demanding, but also incredibly rewarding. The pandemic brought many challenges and struggles for insurance brokers accustomed to face-to-face meetings, client lunches, and travel.
Now that the world has opened again, there’s been an adjustment period of getting back to face-to-face insurance sales. And it seems like top insurance brokers, agents, carriers, and CEOs for these companies have more on our plates than ever before.
How Bad Is Insurance Industry Burnout?
Working in the industry and looking at those around me, I suspected that the burnout rate has been high since the pandemic. I turned to Google to confirm those suspicions and realized it’s worse than I thought. Finance site Investopedia reported that 90% of new life insurance agents quit within a year, while another 5% don’t make it five years in the industry.
That’s not counting other insurance agents who don’t stay the course, or keep working but experience burnout that leads to reduced performance. Canada-based InsuranceBusinessMag said that 40% of employees in the finance and insurance sectors reported burnout.
Prevent Insurance Industry Burnout
While employers, obviously, can take steps to help employees feel appreciated and help prevent burnout, it’s up to each individual to create a manageable work-life balance.
After several years of all work and very little play, and COVID forcing me to take a rest, I realized I had to create a better work-life balance to avoid burn out. Not only does it help me give my all every day in the office, to my growing team and to our brokers, but it models a company culture that puts family first.
Here are some tips I’ve found to help.
Plan Ahead
Today’s insurance sales were made in the last quarter of 2022. Right now, you should plan ahead for the third quarter and even into Q1 2024. By setting the stage with a solid broker’s playbook and action steps to increase sales, upsell ancillary benefits, and help clients privatize required benefits, you can also plan ahead to take much-needed time off.
Combine Work and Play
Everybody needs a vacation. But it’s also true that if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. What does that mean exactly?
For me, it means that when your sense of purpose is fulfilled in your work, when you know you’re on the right path, you can avoid feeling burnt out because every day is an adventure.
For me, combining work and play by taking business-focused trips that also include my family, keeps me aligned with those I love and makes business feel less like work, too. Earlier this year I went to Denver and Vail, Colorado, with my wife. The state is rolling out its Paid Family and Medical Leave coverage so I had the opportunity to speak to brokers and carriers in the region.
When New York first introduced its Paid Family Leave programs, The DBL Center was on the cutting edge. This makes us uniquely positioned to help other states roll out similar programs.
It wasn’t all business, though. We also enjoyed skiing, hiking, and beautiful views in the mountains.
Focus on What Matters
As we headed into the spring holidays of Easter and Passover, I realized how much getaways like our Colorado trip inspire and revitalize me.
I decided to go back to my old stomping grounds of Boston and I brought my two boys. They got to see Boston University, meet some of my oldest friends and have dinner with my colleagues. I even got to chat with an incoming BU student and answer some of their questions about my experience there years ago.
These times of unplugging are so important if you’re going to return to the office and show up at your best.
Stay In Your Lane
To be your most productive, focus on what you do best. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t always be learning and improving. It means we should leverage our strengths for success.
My father David Cohen, DBL Center founder, used to say, “Stick to sewing.” Sometimes, it takes a vacation or stepping back from the mayhem of the grind to remember your skills that brought you to the insurance industry in the first place. That’s what happened during my recent trip to Boston. I remembered that it’s the personal connections in this industry, meeting people and helping brokers meet the needs of their clients, that I love.
I was never the best at work-life balance or unplugging. Since the pandemic, I’ve realized the importance and it’s helping me to serve our brokers and their clients even better.
Leverage Technology to Make It Easy to Stay in Touch
Fortunately, DBL Center insurance brokers can maintain work-life balance and never miss a step in the office. Tools like our Broker Dashboard: Net Revenue tracker make it easy to track renewals, cancellations and commissions from anywhere with internet access.
Plus, brokers receive emailed alerts and reports on the status of policies.
Final Note
Having a strong support system and learning that it’s okay to take breaks can help you build a better work-life balance and avoid insurance industry burn-out.
The DBL Center helps brokers manage it all, providing the back-office support, white-glove service, and technology tools you need.
Not using Broker Dashboard yet? Reach out to find out how to set up your account and get started.