I've been offered a job at Physicians Mutual as a sales agent. I am completely green to this entire industry. I've been a salaried claims investigator/servicer for 4 years since I graduated college, but I'd like to move on to something sales related. However, to say I'm nervous about accepting a mostly all-commission position would be an understatement. I'm intrigued by PM since they seem to be friendly, helpful, and most of all b/c they seem to offer solid training & support. That said, I really need to know what I can realistically expect to make my first year, and whether I'd be working mostly from home/office or going door-to-door cold calling. I'm motivated and expect to do well, but I'm neither prepared nor able to have a $30k or $35k year, nor is door-to-door BS appealing to me. Their promotional materials suggest I can make up to $50k in my first year, which would amount to a good raise for me. I also understand they have a kind-of 90-day draw period to help get me started building a client base. However, I don't know how realistic these figures are. Please help! Love this forum, by the way!
1st Post / Physicians Mutual Agent Job Offer
- Thread starter mojo1633
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I know some people that worked at PM, First, no "draw" system existed when they worked with PM. Secondly, all they did was cold call via phone or d2d. Thirdly, unless you know a lot of people that you can sell to asap expect 15-25K first year. Third year maybe 50K. Pm is extremely overpriced on med supps in most areas which is what they are mainly pushing now.
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- 11,997
I would just add that when we did telemarketing for a physicians mutual agent we would get shut down pretty hard if we used their name vs generic med supp info.
- 2,103
I went there precisely because I am a door to door guy. The smaller final expense life plans are OK, but they really were pushing the med supps. I am not a fan of med supps, and not a fan of long term care, so I did not do well. Just sold a few life plans. The med supps were not competitive in my state, Mutual of Omaha blew us away. The long term care was good, but not my market. To make 50K you have to hit their bonuses, which are not too hard to hit, but not many hit them. At least in my state. I dunno what state you are in, certain states the med supps were more competitive. Back when I was doing it... we had this underage medical surgical thingy that was sort of alright-just slightly better than UA... they quit selling it though.
The Hospital-indemity surgical plan was the best thing PM had going for them, but they dropped it after reform was passed. LTC is very good, but very pricey and they decline 80% of them.
I do know a manager in Texas with them and he said if it wasn't for the 100K salary and big overrides he gets he would be gone today. They have annuities in certain states, PM does have term life insurance but it isn't very competitive and they only do non med upto 80K, so that won't be competitive in any market.
They supposedly have a good dental plan, but that won't make you anything but chump change. The only way I see someone making 50K your first year is if you have a huge book of medicare supplement clients that just got huge increases, or if have a lot of people ready to buy other products today.
If PM still had their hospital/surgical plan then you could probaly make 40-50K in your first year.. Otherwise, forget about it..
I do know a manager in Texas with them and he said if it wasn't for the 100K salary and big overrides he gets he would be gone today. They have annuities in certain states, PM does have term life insurance but it isn't very competitive and they only do non med upto 80K, so that won't be competitive in any market.
They supposedly have a good dental plan, but that won't make you anything but chump change. The only way I see someone making 50K your first year is if you have a huge book of medicare supplement clients that just got huge increases, or if have a lot of people ready to buy other products today.
If PM still had their hospital/surgical plan then you could probaly make 40-50K in your first year.. Otherwise, forget about it..
- 7,066
If you hope to have a good portion of your income come from Med Supps then it is going to imperative that you be an independent agent. You will have to have the ability to represent different companies to be competitive with the rates you have.
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- #8
Very good info. guys, I appreciate it. As I said, I'm still completely new to this industry and I'm trying to learn fast. I'm still mulling the offer but this sort of verifies what I was afraid of - the 50k number sounds a little pie-in-the-sky and realistically I could expect to make more like 35k-40k working hard. I also heard some of their products aren't as competitive as they make them out to be. I don't mind working hard, being my own boss and all that stuff, and I don't even mind doing a little cold calling either, but I really don't like the idea of going d2d and if I'm working that hard, I'd really like to make a little more. Going independent sounds intriguing but I imagine I'd need training, which is what PM at least gives. However, 35k-40k would be a significant step down for me, especially when it's 100% commission (i.e. no safety net) and I'm trying to pay for my own wedding! I want to make the transition to sales from where I am now, which is servicing and light management, but it sounds like I need to find something that's more predictable base + commission.
Speaking of, I'm open to any suggestions! I'm continually impressed by the wealth of knowledge in this forum!
Speaking of, I'm open to any suggestions! I'm continually impressed by the wealth of knowledge in this forum!
- 15,319
I only spoke with on PM rep and this was about Med Supps. A complete kool-aid drinker.
They have (had?) 2 plans in CA, one was attained age so that the price would go up each year based upon the person's age, and the other was community rated so that the rates did not change by age but did change by "inflation."
The former started off higher than any other carrier and kept that way. The latter was their big seller because they were able to convince their clients that by paying a bit more early, they would save a ton later.
The problem was they compared their community rated plan against their very high priced other plan so as to set up a false sense of value.
There was no time when either plan was even close to competitive. I would love to get a list of their clients. I would replace most of them.
Rick
They have (had?) 2 plans in CA, one was attained age so that the price would go up each year based upon the person's age, and the other was community rated so that the rates did not change by age but did change by "inflation."
The former started off higher than any other carrier and kept that way. The latter was their big seller because they were able to convince their clients that by paying a bit more early, they would save a ton later.
The problem was they compared their community rated plan against their very high priced other plan so as to set up a false sense of value.
There was no time when either plan was even close to competitive. I would love to get a list of their clients. I would replace most of them.
Rick
- 2,103
You could use them as your training company- to get your feet wet. There are several companies that will hire you as a newbie, mutual of omaha, agla, western southern... so on. All of which are good to train and get your feet wet, then break off later and be independent. It's up to you. Some people go indy right off the bat. I dunno what state you are in.
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