You are the beginning stages of an amazing career in insurance.  You have studied, passed a test, and gotten your insurance license.   This is an important moment in the life of an insurance agent, but the journey does not stop there.  You may have landed here unintentionally and you may not be sure exactly what you are doing just yet, but rest assured you have come to the right place.  Insurance is a big world with a lot to offer.

As your career develops you will need to make sure you spend time focusing on insurance continuing education.   Insurance is a massive industry and even if you focus on a specific niche, there is still an endless amount of information you can consume.  There will be a lot of on-the-job learning as you work with co-workers, companies and clients, but structured insurance education is a critical piece of your ongoing learning and development in your role as an insurance agent.  

Why should agents invest in insurance education?

Not only is continuing insurance education a requirement to maintain your insurance license, it also is a great way to continue building your expertise.  A career in insurance can be an extremely rewarding one, but agents must be continuously learning in order to optimize their opportunity at success.    

• Developing a deep understanding of insurance concepts allows insurance professionals to properly assess the exposures their clients face and act as an advisor in providing the right insurance solutions.  
• Insurance is continuously evolving.  Remaining apprised of changes in policy forms or insurance trends that may impact clients is of utmost importance to being able to properly serve those clients who have entrusted you to protect their most important assets.
• Investing resources into insurance continuing education not only helps you become a more educated practitioner, it also shows your agency, colleagues and clients that you are committed to bettering yourself.
• Becoming a more knowledgeable insurance agent will help you build credibility within the industry as well as with clients and future clients.
• Insurance education also provides an opportunity for you to earn a professional insurance designation.  A professional designation is recognized throughout the industry as a symbol of hard work and a dedication to continuous learning and development.

As you begin the process of looking for insurance continuing education resources, you will quickly realize there is a wide variety of options.  It is important to take time to research and evaluate the options.  Not all insurance education is going to be applicable to your role.  Without a closer look, you could find yourself in a class that does not provide any information that will benefit you or your clients.  It is much better to spend time and money on quality insurance education courses which provide valuable information you can use every day.   The right insurance training will cover topics like coverage forms, endorsements, risk management techniques, agency operations, sales management and ethics.

You’ll also want to keep in mind that insurance education is offered in a variety of settings including traditional classrooms, instructor led online and self-paced online courses.   Choose the option that works best for your learning style and schedule.  If you prefer the convenience of self-paced online insurance education, you will want to check out Total CSR.

Insurance education is the foundation to any insurance professional’s career.  Choosing the right courses will allow you to continue building expertise making you an asset to your agency and your clients. Committing to your continued learning and development through quality insurance courses will provide you with the tools you need to find long-term success in insurance.  

About the Author

Justin Goodman has spent the past 20 years in insurance. He is the co-founder and CEO of Total CSR and co-founder and Managing Director of Project 55. By the age of 29, he was recognized as one of the top five construction insurance experts nationwide by Risk and Insurance Magazine. He also was named to Insurance Business Magazine’s Hot 100 and most recently the 2024 Insurance Journal Agent of the Year. Justin has trained over 50,000 CSR’s, account managers and producers through his work at Total CSR. He has a passion for developing the next generation of insurance professionals. When not with his family, he devotes his free time to speaking engagements and advising agency owners across the country.