Even the world's top insurance salespeople make mistakes. What differentiates the best from the rest, though, is that rather than beat themselves up and wring their hands in despair over their mistakes, the best make an effort to learn from those mistakes and go on to become better salespeople. Here are some common mistakes that insurance salespeople make—especially when they are new to the industry:
1. Acting on leads too slowly. The scenario: A fairly new insurance salesperson has taken the advice of some more experienced peers and made an investment in some qualified insurance leads from a reputable company that comes highly recommended. The leads are even exclusive for a certain period of time, so really all the salesperson has to do is follow up on them and do what he really got into the business to do: sell insurance. However, knowing that the competition will not be sold the same leads right away, he ties up some other loose ends first, intending to call the leads soon.
A few days go by. The leads, perhaps under some pressure to find a good policy and find one quickly have begun making serious inquiries themselves. By the time the salesperson remembers to call his qualified leads, the leads have already been sold on proposals they got from other agents, ones they contacted themselves because they had a job to do quickly.
Rather than reflect for days on the stupidity of the move, an insurance salesperson can learn from the mistake and make time each day to ensure he contacts any new leads he gets—whether they are qualified insurance leads he has purchased or referrals from a satisfied client—as soon as they cross his desk. It may still take weeks to close a deal, but at least now the insurance salesperson has his "foot in the door" from day one.
2. Being too aggressive with an undecided lead. Every salesperson knows that she does need to be 
3. Assuming everything is OK. Another big mistake that insurance salespeople make is assuming that a client who was delighted with his coverage when he purchased it will still be feeling the same way when it comes time for him to renew. Many an insurance salesperson has been 
