While experience counts for a lot, failing to seek advice from others is a serious mistake.
Thankfully you don’t need to look far to find it—a plethora of books are available to guide you to insurance success. And in this article, we’ll list out the best titles an insurance agent—or any salesperson—can leverage to upgrade their skills.
Can Reading Books Make You a Better Agent?
Yes, reading books can make you a better insurance agent. Books teach you everything about insurance—from the basics, to advanced learning strategies, to building relationships with clients.
This knowledge gives you a leg up on the competition, enabling you to better understand both the industry and the product you’re selling. So to cut down on your learning curve, I’ve rounded up the ten best books for insurance agents in 2023.
Let’s dive in.
1. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
Napoleon Hill explored the lives of 40 contemporary millionaires during the Great Recession to understand their habits and, ultimately, what factors defined their success. While Hill is undoubtedly a controversial figure, his 1937 still provides readers with timeless wisdom to leverage throughout their professional lives.
How This Book Can Help
Think and Grow Rich centers around the power of visualization to manifest real-life results. If you can visualize success for you and your clients, Think and Grow Rich suggests you can manifest that outcome by aligning your full focus towards that end goal.
A quote from the book:
“Set your mind on a definite goal and observe how quickly the world stands aside to let you pass.”
GOODREADS RATING: 4.18/5.00
2. Atomic Habits by James Clear
Simply put, Atomic Habits provides readers with a framework for building better habits—and breaking bad ones. Clear’s proven strategy to improve your life by making small (or “atomic) habits is nothing short of transformative.
But is notable idea is undoubtedly the four-step rule for building a habit: cue, craving, response, and reward. Also known as the “habit loop,” this four-step process is a framework for making habit-building easy.
How This Book Can Help
As with any other role, building good habits is essential for scaling your skillset. Bad habits, on the other hand, can destroy your progress and stall your productivity.
Either way, Atomic Habits can help with each. It offers realistic, practical advice on how to build productive habits and drop harmful ones.
A quote from the book:
“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.”
GOODREADS RATING: 4.18/5.00
3. To Sell is Human by Daniel Pink
From the author of Drive and A Whole New Mind comes To Sell is Human—a practical guide on how salespeople can leverage a “non-sales” selling approach for maximum success.
By effectively persuading, convincing, and influencing, Pink teaches you to build lasting relationships with clients like a pro. This book also teaches the ABCs of selling (Attunement, Buoyancy, and Clarity) to guide you to unstoppable sales success.
How This Book Can Help
You’ll learn how to pitch, improvise, and serve your clients in a more honest, natural, and sustainable way.
A quote from the book:
“To sell well is to convince someone else to part with resources–not to deprive that person, but to leave him better off in the end.”
GOODREADS RATING: 4.18/5.00
4. The Psychology of Selling by Brian Tracy
The Psychology of Selling shares Brian Tracy’s sales ideology and methodology. He explains how even minor improvements in your sales skills can lead to extraordinary increases in income.
For instance, Tracy spends an entire chapter detailing the importance of mastering sales scripts and rehearsing them in front of a mirror. Through this, he teaches why and how salespeople can supercharge their success with preparation and practice.
How This Book Can Help
Insurance agents selling a product need to deeply understand their scripts and presentation. And while many salespeople neglect the importance of being prepared, The Psychology of Selling teaches readers why and how they can put this into practice.
A quote from the book:
“Approach each customer with the idea of helping him or her to solve a problem or achieve a goal, not of selling the product or service.”
GOODREADS RATING: 4.18/5.00
5. The Wedge by Randy Schwantz
The Wedge is a book about building client relationships and delivering a better customer experience.
Schwantz presents readers with a proven strategy to turn each sales conversation into a meaningful conversation with clients. Success stories, case studies, research, and personal anecdotes back his ideas at every step.
How This Book Can Help
The Wedge highlights how blending trust, empathy, intentionality, and curiosity leads to better conversations with clients, ultimately creating more effective relationships. This means you’ll be able to explain your product or service better and increase the chances of closing a sale.
A quote from the book:
“When the prospect is comfortable with you and is confident that you can help him accomplish his goals, he will want to work with you, and the dynamics will begin to change. Remember, if the prospect wants to work with you, he will find a way to do so.”
GOODREADS RATING: 4.18/5.00
6. Never Split The Difference by Chris Voss
Never Split the Difference is a book all about understanding the power of negotiation and leveraging it to your advantage. Voss, a former hostage negotiator for the FBI, explains the tactics for negotiating in any setting, be it work, family, or personal.
The key concept presented in this book is the tactic of “negotiation jujitsu,” a method designed to place you in a position of power through empathy and understanding.
How This Book Can Help
As an insurance agent, you’ll work with many clients. The ability to negotiate effectively is paramount to understanding various types of client needs and desires and bridging the gap between them.
Never Split the Difference helps by offering practical advice and techniques for doing so. As the book title implies, you can often get to the best outcome by understanding where the other party is coming from and engaging in respectful and intelligent dialogue.
Voss also provides conflict resolution techniques, tactics for dealing with difficult people, and ideas for handling disagreements.
A quote from the book:
“Though the intensity may differ from person to person, you can be sure that everyone you meet is driven by two primal urges: the need to feel safe and secure and the need to feel in control. If you satisfy those drives, you’re in the door.”
GOODREADS RATING: 4.18/5.00
7. Think Like a Monk by Jay Shetty
In Think Like a Monk, Jay Shetty shares his wisdom on how to become a mentally strong and happy person. He draws from his time as a monk and his experience in the corporate world to bring readers the book’s key message: you can use mindfulness, mental discipline, and self-awareness to build a better life.
How This Book Can Help
Insurance agents need to have a clear head and a strong sense of mental discipline to stay on top of their day-to-day tasks. Think Like a Monk will teach you how to cultivate a positive mindset, stay more motivated and organized, and deal with the stresses that come with the job.
A quote from the book:
“But when we look for the good in others, we start to see the best in ourselves too.”
GOODREADS RATING: 4.18/5.00
8. The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy
The Compound Effect shows readers how to build their success by taking small daily actions. Hardy breaks down the science of habit formation and explains how the “compound effect” applies to all areas of life, including health, relationships, finances, and more.
His book provides inspiration and practical advice for readers seeking to improve themselves. Through his step-by-step program, readers can create an actionable plan and stick to it, making long-term, meaningful life changes.
How This Book Can Help
As an insurance agent, the success of your business relies heavily on small, daily actions. From making client outreach calls to learning about new products and services, many small tasks are necessary to succeed.
The Compound Effect helps readers learn to create habits and systems that lead to success in the long run. Readers will learn to take small steps each day and eventually see the positive results of their efforts.
A quote from the book:
“It’s not the big things that add up in the end; it’s the hundreds, thousands, or millions of little things that separate the ordinary from the extraordinary.”
GOODREADS RATING: 4.18/5.00
9. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
How to Win Friends and Influence People is a classic self-improvement book by Dale Carnegie. Originally published in 1936, the book has since become a staple of business and personal success literature.
The book covers topics like communication techniques, handling difficult conversations, developing relationships, and more. Carnegie provides a roadmap for readers who want to learn how to improve their interpersonal skills and build relationships.
How This Book Can Help
As an insurance agent, you’ll deal with clients daily. Having a good relationship with your clients is essential to increasing sales, so it’s vital to know how to create meaningful connections.
How to Win Friends and Influence People provides you with the skills to interact effectively with clients and build strong personal relationships with them. With the guidance from this book, you’ll be able to foster better connections with your clients, resulting in more successful sales across the board.
A quote from the book:
“Three-fourths of the people you will meet are hungering for sympathy. Give it to them, and they will love you.”
GOODREADS RATING: 4.18/5.00
10. Content Inc by Joe Pulizzi
Content Inc reveals the secrets to building a successful content marketing business. Written by Content Marketing Institute Founder Joe Pulizzi, the book provides readers with insight into how to create and promote content for maximum reach and engagement.
Pulizzi’s book covers topics like content creation strategies, building an audience, and monetizing content. He also includes case studies from successful content entrepreneurs who have used the strategies outlined in this book.
How This Book Can Help
As an insurance agent, you’ll deal with clients daily. Having a good relationship with your clients is essential to increasing sales, so it’s vital to know how to create meaningful connections.
How to Win Friends and Influence People provides you with the skills to interact effectively with clients and build strong personal relationships with them. With the guidance from this book, you’ll be able to foster better connections with your clients, resulting in more successful sales across the board.
A quote from the book:
“Three-fourths of the people you will meet are hungering for sympathy. Give it to them, and they will love you.”
GOODREADS RATING: 4.18/5.00
Reading Can Take Your Selling Skills Up a Notch
As Dr. Seuss once wrote, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” Books can improve your vocabulary, improve your mental health, teach you life lessons, and expand your horizons—whether they’re fiction or self-help.
And if you’re serious about levelling up your insurance sales skills, sign up for my free 20-day InsuranceBob course. You’ll gain first-hand knowledge of the strategies we use to train outstanding insurance agents.
