The ROI of Insurance CE

Did you know some home insurance policies cover damage from meteors? Insurance professionals can encounter a lot out in the field. One of the best ways to prepare is by mindfully selecting insurance continuing education courses each renewal period.

Choosing the right courses can do more than just meet requirements. The true value of insurance CE comes from increasing the level of service, professionalism, and expertise offered to clients. Flipping the script on CE begins by focusing on the positive return on investment, or ROI. This subtle change in perception can have a big impact on professional development and career growth. Below, we offer tips on how to get the most out of insurance continuing education.

Insurance continuing education establishes and maintains industry standards that give clients confidence and peace of mind whenever they work with an insurance professional. As the industry changes and regulations follow, insurance CE ensures all professionals have the same up-to-date information and are following the same regulations.

While state regulators outline the requirements, industry experts are often the ones creating the courses. WebCE’s insurance CE catalog, for example, is designed and built by our own in-house experts who have decades of experience. Once built, each course goes through a rigorous approval process to ensure it meets state expectations for achieving the learning objectives.

Ethics is often the only constant requirement in the pool of hours required for insurance renewal. Outside of that, insurance professionals have freedom to select their own batch of courses, creating ample opportunity to branch out into a variety of new and different topics to expand their expertise and grow their career.

Getting the most out of insurance CE relies on an insurance professional’s active engagement in selecting courses based on their own needs and experience. Weighing which approach is best often involves considering current expertise, client knowledge, and their best assessment of where things are headed in the future.

Every renewal period, insurance professionals must meet their ethics requirement, but even ethics courses can offer new approaches to an age-old topic. For example, ethics courses can range from the role of trust to detecting insurance fraud to communicating with seniors. Each course offers deep dives into unique scenarios to highlight key takeaways and best practices to improve the level of service across the industry.

Even more opportunities for career growth arise when selecting which courses will fill out the remaining hours beyond ethics. A course like Flood Insurance Fundamentals that goes beyond minimum requirements can sharpen one's expertise on the National Flood Insurance Program. Understanding the ever-changing requirements for Medicare, for example, will only increase in importance as more baby boomers retire. To decide which direction is best, tap into trends and past experience.

When considering courses, reflect on the time since the last renewal and ask some of the following questions:

1. 1. Are there any new requirements I need to fulfill?
2. 2. What new or different topics can help expand my expertise to better serve my clients?
3. 3. When does the industry anticipate changes—and how can CE help me prepare?
4. 4. Where can I improve my skillset?
5. 5. Do I want to expand the products I sell and are there special training requirements to sell those products?
6. 6. Why is it important I deepen my knowledge in this area?
7. 7. How do I see the industry changing between now and my next renewal?

This is far from a comprehensive list, but the practice of using the journalist’s 5 Ws and 1 H—Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How—can be immensely helpful in assessing which path to take in any venture.

The key to turning insurance CE into a competitive advantage is perception. Improving the renewal process begins by asking the questions above, or using a similar approach, can ensure the hours spent meeting requirements echo throughout the entire renewal period. A more engaged and mindful approach can turn the seemingly mundane into something charged with purpose.

WebCE’s insurance CE catalog offers an array of topics crafted by seasoned experts to help insurance professionals offer world class service with a competitive edge. For assistance getting the most out of a renewal, reach out to our award-winning Support Services team today at 877-488-9308.