Becoming a $1 million insurance producer is possible. But it’s going to take a lot of time, hustle, and determination to get there.
Originally published May 8, 2018. Rewritten and republished June 29, 2021.
In 2020, my top two products were annuities and Medicare Supplements. I did $5,675,878 in annuity production and $247,750 in Med Supp production.
I would say the two easiest ways to become a $1 million producer are to cross-sell and to start selling annuities. There are also a few more tips and tricks I'm happy to share.
I don't like focusing on numbers, because I'm passionate about helping people find solutions for their needs. However, they really go hand-in-hand.
So get ready, because I'm sharing everything I know.
Learn more about what high-income producers have in common in our annual report:
There's no shying away from annuities when we're talking about high-volume, high-income agents. When I look at the top 3 producers for all of New Horizons, myself included, we all sell a lot of annuities.
More importantly, we all sell a lot of fixed index annuities. All 3 of us have around $1 million in index annuity premium from the first five months of 2021.
Top 3 New Horizons Producers, Annuity Production, Jan-May 2021
| Fixed annuity | Fixed index annuity (FIA) | |
| Michael S. | $517,513 | $1,281,852 |
| Chase G. | – | $929,250 |
| Gary C. | $235,513 | $948,848 |
Annuities hit such a sweet spot – they're a fantastic solution for senior clients who want more safety than the stock market but better interest rates than the banks offer.
And they have great commissions – especially FIAs.
Statistically speaking, agents who sell annuities are more likely to have a higher income.
In addition, around three-quarters of agents making over $200,000 annually offer annuities (2021 Agent Report).
If you've never sold an annuity before, it can be intimidating, but we have a whole annuity department to get you started.
Just schedule a consultation with Kirk, and he'll help you place your first case.
We also have an annuity training hub that can get you started:
While annuities are definitely important, not all $1 million producers sell them.
In fact, one of our top producers in 2020 was laser-focused on high-volume Medicare Supplement production and ancillary coverage, such as final expense or cancer insurance. He didn't sell a single annuity and was still one of the most successful producers at New Horizons.
Here's a look at the Top 3 producers from 2020, broken down by type of product sold:
| Med Supp | Ancillary | Annuity | Life | |
| Michael S. | $247,750 | $306 | $5,675,878 | $103,398 |
| Russell M. | $762,957 | $53,867 | – | $27,215 |
| Chase G. | $223,256 | $89,276 | $1,824,586 | $35,757 |
Cross-selling, or selling multiple products to a single client, is a great way to meet your client's needs and increase your production.
It's easy to get focused on the numbers, but I'd really caution you against that. When I stopped trying to sell insurance and focused on meeting the needs of my clients, my sales took off. It sounds cliche, but it's true.
Rather than trying to figure out how many policies you can sell each client, I'd recommend focusing on the solutions you're providing.
If you haven't already, try cross-selling with a Client Needs Assessment to uncover your client's risks and concerns.
When you've uncovered their needs, use an education-first approach.
Learn how to use the CNA here: The Ultimate Guide to Cross-Selling Insurance in the Senior Market
From my experience, you can handle up to 250 clients on your own. Some agents can handle more, but from my experience, that's the limit if you want to really service that book of business without ripping your hair out.
Accumulate around 250-300 clients and you start feeling really stressed out.
The simplest way to keep growing your book of business without hating your job is to hire help. It could be seasonal help, a secretary, an intern, or even your spouse!
We know from our 2021 Agent Report that over half of high-income agents have between 1 and 5 employees helping them.
If you don't know where to start or have some questions, check out How to Manage Growth as a One-Person Insurance Agency. There are a lot of tips in there about hiring help, including job descriptions you can copy and paste as well as call scripts.
I don't think I could manage my book of business without a CRM. According to our 2021 Agent Survey, most other high-volume producers feel the same way.
Seven in 10 agents making more than $200,000 annually use a CRM, whereas 3 in 10 agents making less than $25,000 use one.
A CRM makes it a lot simpler to manage your client information. I personally use AgencyBloc, but there are lots of CRMs to choose from.
If you don't have a CRM and don't want to spend the money on one, take a look at MedicareCENTER. It includes a free CRM and it available to any agent who is contracted with us.
And if you want to start really simple – and just get all of your paper records digitized – grab our CRM spreadsheet template. You can put all of your information in that spreadsheet, and then import it into your CRM of choice.
Bottom line: you need a CRM – not paper records – if you want to scale your production and keep things manageable.
Yes, I suppose I fall into the category of a $1 million producer. But it didn't happen overnight. When I first started over a decade ago, I had 40-50 clients and was knocking on doors. Plus, the only products I sold were Medicare Supplements.
In the first 4-5 years, it seemed to be really slow, steady growth. The turning point for me came when I started using a Client Needs Assessment. It uncovered the needs of the client so that I could sell specifically to those needs.
I've said it before, but I'll say it again – when I quit trying to sell insurance and began to meet the need of the client, my sales took off.
After I introduced the Client Needs Assessment, I stopped knocking on doors, because I just didn't need to. It got to the point where I kept growing off of referrals. The longer you're in this business, the less you have to seek out new clients – they come to you.
That's when you really start to see your production rise, and before you know it, you've worked your way up to being a $1 million producer.
For you, maybe the $1 million mark isn’t really what you want. Maybe it’s $80,000. Maybe it’s $500,000.
Whatever your insurance production goal might be, here’s how you can reach it more efficiently: