Advice on career direction

[Txmade99]

Hi guys, I'm new here. Thought I would get some advice. I'm new to insurance. I've been with State Farm for one year doing Auto, Homeowners, and a little of Buildings/Commercial for a SF agent.

It has been good training so far, particularly on the service side but the sales not so much as I've had to learn on my own. The agent I work for depends strictly on Everquote leads and her existing clients for referrals. So I've had to learn how to generate my own leads as well since sales is not her strong point.

My problem is I'm starting to get bored and ready to do something more or something different. I do have my Life and Health license and recently asked her to teach me the health products and financial products. My agent said I would have to give her 2 years if I wanted her to teach me something else. I am very uncomfortable with her rationing out training like that on conditions. I figure it can only help her agency so why be so insecure? However I guess I understand since her employee turnover rate is high.

She was supposed to get me registered with State Farm to start selling Life products but its been almost 2 months and she hasn't done it, she said she's been busy since she hardly has anyone in the office. She said for right now she would like me to continue to focus on Auto and Homeowners, while she focuses on the Life and servicing accounts, but my ADD is kicking in.

I did receive two job offers on the Medicare side making two dollars more than I make at SF but don't know if it's worth it to get fully into health right now. But I would love to get started on learning something new right now, whether Life, health or financial.

I do love P&C but autos and HO are getting boring. Although I would love to do something more on the Commercial side. I had two referrals that were looking for insurance for their business but State Farm didn't service their line of business.

My agent did pay for my Life and Health License and did ask in return that I stick with her for 2 years or pay it back. She is experiencing a shortage of employees and people that are applying so part of me does feel sorry for her agency.

I guess I'm just bored of captive but want to make sure that I'm not jumping the gun too soon. Should I continue to stick out with State Farm or find other opportunities? I just need the training to advance me to the next level and I'm not getting that with her at State Farm. I feel stagnant.

 

[romeroaaron]

Hi guys, I'm new here. Thought I would get some advice. I'm new to insurance. I've been with State Farm for one year doing Auto, Homeowners, and a little of Buildings/Commercial for a SF agent.

It has been good training so far, particularly on the service side but the sales not so much as I've had to learn on my own. The agent I work for depends strictly on Everquote leads and her existing clients for referrals. So I've had to learn how to generate my own leads as well since sales is not her strong point.

My problem is I'm starting to get bored and ready to do something more or something different. I do have my Life and Health license and recently asked her to teach me the health products and financial products. My agent said I would have to give her 2 years if I wanted her to teach me something else. I am very uncomfortable with her rationing out training like that on conditions. I figure it can only help her agency so why be so insecure? However I guess I understand since her employee turnover rate is high.

She was supposed to get me registered with State Farm to start selling Life products but its been almost 2 months and she hasn't done it, she said she's been busy since she hardly has anyone in the office. She said for right now she would like me to continue to focus on Auto and Homeowners, while she focuses on the Life and servicing accounts, but my ADD is kicking in.

I did receive two job offers on the Medicare side making two dollars more than I make at SF but don't know if it's worth it to get fully into health right now. But I would love to get started on learning something new right now, whether Life, health or financial.

I do love P&C but autos and HO are getting boring. Although I would love to do something more on the Commercial side. I had two referrals that were looking for insurance for their business but State Farm didn't service their line of business.

My agent did pay for my Life and Health License and did ask in return that I stick with her for 2 years or pay it back. She is experiencing a shortage of employees and people that are applying so part of me does feel sorry for her agency.

I guess I'm just bored of captive but want to make sure that I'm not jumping the gun too soon. Should I continue to stick out with State Farm or find other opportunities? I just need the training to advance me to the next level and I'm not getting that with her at State Farm. I feel stagnant.

First of all, even with an ultimatum or an agreement that you stay for two years, it is your life. If you feel stagnate and that going independent will be beneficial for you. Do it. State Farm has some really great P&C products, but their commercial P&C eligibility is crap. And don't even get me started on their life insurance. Probably some of the worst policy structures I've ever seen. Their whole life policies scare me with how bad they are. Go find an independent agent and work as a producer under them. Work out a deal where you can start building a small book and take it with you when the time comes. As an independent agent you don't have to worry about which products you carry as you will most likely have a multitude of companies available who can do it for you. You also will be able to write a helluva lot more commercial business. My recommendation is to find one niche and stick with it. I have a buddy who specializes in Cannabis companies and he is doing... A-Ok to say the least. State Farm hinders your ability to learn how to sell and they only keep their agents so that they can give ridiculous premium increases and then agents/team members have to sell the name of the company instead of the product.

 

[Todd King]

Yep, time to move on.

 

[Allen Trent]

I would caution you to look at the entire picture & figure out why you are bored. if you are bored in multiline insurance, that may be a problem. most in multiline have the opposite issue in that there is way too much going on, too many products to sell, learn, offer & all the service that goes along with it. on the flip side, having existing warm lead clients to cross sell can be a great way to get experience.

If you go into medicare or final expense, you could find yourself even more bored with less offerings & an entirely different lead in to get appointments.

Just evaluate it fully & figure out if you really mean you are bored in the agency you are in or some other reason

 

[Travis Price]

If you go into medicare or final expense, you could find yourself even more bored with less offerings & an entirely different lead in to get appointments.

It's this.. the thing about insurance is figuring out your why.

I hate life and P&C sales. When I needed life insurance, I farmed it out because I don't know that market as well. I love Medicare because you actually form a bond and relationship with people.. That's what I enjoy. (Not saying you can't do that with other lines, it's just easier for me in Medicare.)

Figure out your why and if the offer doesn't match, bail.

 

[Txmade99]

State Farm hinders your ability to learn how to sell and they only keep their agents so that they can give ridiculous premium increases and then agents/team members have to sell the name of the company instead of the product.

Thank you for putting that in prospective. Now that you mention it, I guess my agent probably feels it would be a waste of time to train me on health, since she hasn't sold any health products this year. The one prospect that came in to inquire about health, only came because of a notary ad I placed on google. So it might just be a waste of time at this point with SF.

As far as the Life products, State Farm requires one Life policy a week and my agent is lucky if she gets 1 or 2 a month, which is why she wanted me to help her out in the first place. She has another employee that handles most of the servicing of her accounts and she is supposed to help produce Life sales as well, but she refuses to work on leads unless an existing client specifically asks for it, otherwise I think she feels SF Life policies are a waste of time selling. They both also feel doing Auto is beneath them. So that leaves me to do most of the Auto and HO.

When she gets ready to train me I will be helping her do Life as well, she is already asking if I can get my family members, friends or any leads to sign up for a Life policy, which I have. However I'm not so sure it's worth it to stick around and sale. I want to make sure it will be lucrative for me and beneficial to whomever I refer.

My agent said she would hope I would give her a chance and stick around to realize how great and reputable the company is since it's the only one she trusts. She said in the future she could help me get my own SF agency, but in my opinion I feel that would be working harder not smarter.

 

[Txmade99]

If you go into medicare or final expense, you could find yourself even more bored with less offerings & an entirely different lead in to get appointments.
Just evaluate it fully & figure out if you really mean you are bored in the agency you are in or some other reason

Thought about that. When I looked on the health insurance forums here, there is quite a bit of agents that said they were bored or having a hard time selling. So I definitely don't want to jump the gun too soon. But I would like the training and however my agent hasn't sold any health policies this year, so it would be a waste of time at this point, as she needs me to continue to focus on the Autos and HO's.

I'm think I'm bored of the limitations with the agency. From the limited policies, marketing, pricing and etc. And since State Farm has raised customer prices due to inflation we've definitely had to hammer the phones due to complaints from customers about this which takes time away from the sales. I think I've hit a ceiling wall to see if there is potential for more but I don't see it. Don't know if it's the agent I work for or if it's State Farm in general.

 

[Txmade99]

Yep, time to move on.

True, I was trying to figure out if I was dipping out too fast or if I should give it a little bit more time but not sure what else to learn. I would definitely love to start getting into health. My agent hasn't sold any health policies this year so she probably feels it would be a waste of time to train and sell heath products for SF. So she wants me to strictly focus on the Auto and HO. I know some people say find a niche, but my overall goal is to have a variety of products I can sell to help families.

A couple of agencies for United Healthcare and Cigna called me to start training and sell medicare products for $18 an hour for enrollment. Wondering if I should start that way just to train, or find an independent agent that could train?
My State Farm agent said she would hope that I will continue to give her a chance to teach me as much as she can and realize the reputation of the company. In the future she said she could help get me a SF agency if that's what I desired. But I don't think so. I do still like P&C by the way..it's just the limitations at SF. I just want a situation where I can learn and sell multiple lines and products.

 

[Txmade99]

I hate life and P&C sales. When I needed life insurance, I farmed it out because I don't know that market as well. I love Medicare because you actually form a bond and relationship with people.. That's what I enjoy. (Not saying you can't do that with other lines, it's just easier for me in Medicare.)Figure out your why and if the offer doesn't match, bail.

Thanks Travis. I like to here why people do it. I like helping family and seniors as well and previously worked in the Healthcare industry before doing insurance. Now just trying to figure out how to get the training I need. A couple of agencies called me to train and sell Medicare. Figuring if I should go ahead and take the job for training and experience purposes or keep my day job at SF. They both pay about the same hourly, although not sure of the commission potential with the health.

 

[Travis Price]

Figuring if I should go ahead and take the job for training and experience purposes or keep my day job at SF.

SF has a Medigap plan. They'll likely not let that happen.

Commission possibilities are usually higher and stickier than personal auto when you work for someone else.. but who knows.

Training isn't too difficult. You need to read and understand Medicare and You. Some people skip that step, and those are the people that don't understand the benefits of Medigap vs MAPD