Advice on Virtual Agency

[ims01]

eFinancial has a great system, but I prefer Agent Work From Home.

 

[mclark72]

Is anyone else with efinancial. I would love to know more about them

I recently started with Efinancial. The good side is using the ALISS CRM through them is only $60 a month. No set up fees. If you terminate it early I think it's around $175 if under one year. Leads are leads. Ask about any lead company and you'll get some people saying their great and some saying they suck. Then ask a few months later and some of those same people will switch their opinion. Efinancial's leads normally run $28 a piece for exclusive but only $20 if you contract through them. I'd recommend having a few different lead companies though.

To answer the "Virtual Agent" question it's an efinancial term. They have what they call wholesale agents and virtual agents. The virtual agent program reduces your commission by about 10% on the companies that require a medical exam. But the good thing is all you do is sell. You have an assistant at Efinancial who will scrub your apps going into new business, follow up with underwriting, paramed exams, the client, outstanding delivery requirements etc. It's a nice smooth service and you also have the ability to schedule next day parameds online through ALISS as a virtual agent. They call it virtual agent because you have the same set up as one of their agents in the call center. Good is they also have top companies. Bad is you get a reduced commission. If all you want to do is sell and have someone handle all of your other admin stuff I think it's a good deal. If you don't mind handling these on your own then you may want to look elsewhere and get a higher commission. I can't speak for any of the other companies you mentioned.

I'd recommend checking out all of your options. It sounds like you already have an idea of what you want. Now it's just finding the right place to do business with. Ask a lot of questions. I knew when I was looking I wanted someone to handle the back end admin stuff. I like selling but I get bogged down in all the other things. So to me it was worth the trade off in commission. I also knew I didn't want to drive out on appointments anymore. Everything I did had to work to where I could work out of our office on the same property our house is on. I didn't want more than that 30 yard commute in the morning. I also wanted high tech. The good thing about going independent is you may be able to find it all in one company or by going through a couple different companies.

 

[LifeHealthinMN]

I'm a new agent (in fact, I just got my license today) but I started researching my options before I even took my pre-licensing courses.

I sat in on an ALISS webinar a few weeks ago with Efinancial and today I went to the Virtual Agent webinar and I have to say I'm impressed. True, the commission split is a bit severe at the outset, and you don't get renewals, but the system and the backoffice help is worth it to me. As a new agent, I'm getting my feet wet in term only (maybe some UL) and this seems like a great way to get the experience I need while letting someone else get bogged down in the minutia.

You own your own book of business, no contract, can release yourself at any time and the monthly fee is only $60 for ALISS and of course the commission split and no renewals. As soon as my E & O comes through, I'm on board. I'll report back my experience for anyone else interested.

But take my opinion with a grain of salt as I haven't even had my license for 24 hours yet!

 

[redsquash]

Someone on the forum said, with EF - you dont get any commission on the renewal. Is that true?

also, when they say commission is 50%, does it mean 50% of annual premium or 50% of the total commission that carrier pays to EF.

whose name is on the policy, as agent?

I recently started with Efinancial. The good side is using the ALISS CRM through them is only $60 a month. No set up fees. If you terminate it early I think it's around $175 if under one year. Leads are leads. Ask about any lead company and you'll get some people saying their great and some saying they suck. Then ask a few months later and some of those same people will switch their opinion. Efinancial's leads normally run $28 a piece for exclusive but only $20 if you contract through them. I'd recommend having a few different lead companies though.

To answer the "Virtual Agent" question it's an efinancial term. They have what they call wholesale agents and virtual agents. The virtual agent program reduces your commission by about 10% on the companies that require a medical exam. But the good thing is all you do is sell. You have an assistant at Efinancial who will scrub your apps going into new business, follow up with underwriting, paramed exams, the client, outstanding delivery requirements etc. It's a nice smooth service and you also have the ability to schedule next day parameds online through ALISS as a virtual agent. They call it virtual agent because you have the same set up as one of their agents in the call center. Good is they also have top companies. Bad is you get a reduced commission. If all you want to do is sell and have someone handle all of your other admin stuff I think it's a good deal. If you don't mind handling these on your own then you may want to look elsewhere and get a higher commission. I can't speak for any of the other companies you mentioned.

I'd recommend checking out all of your options. It sounds like you already have an idea of what you want. Now it's just finding the right place to do business with. Ask a lot of questions. I knew when I was looking I wanted someone to handle the back end admin stuff. I like selling but I get bogged down in all the other things. So to me it was worth the trade off in commission. I also knew I didn't want to drive out on appointments anymore. Everything I did had to work to where I could work out of our office on the same property our house is on. I didn't want more than that 30 yard commute in the morning. I also wanted high tech. The good thing about going independent is you may be able to find it all in one company or by going through a couple different companies.

 

[arnguy]

Someone on the forum said, with EF - you dont get any commission on the renewal. Is that true?

also, when they say commission is 50%, does it mean 50% of annual premium or 50% of the total commission that carrier pays to EF.

whose name is on the policy, as agent?

Thanks for bumping an old thread!:bump:

 

[Norwayguy]

Someone on the forum said, with EF - you dont get any commission on the renewal. Is that true?

also, when they say commission is 50%, does it mean 50% of annual premium or 50% of the total commission that carrier pays to EF.

whose name is on the policy, as agent?

The vast majority of fully underwritten term products on the market do not pay renewal commissions...There are companies that pay renewals be it on simplified products or just some of the the carriers that don't shoot to the top of the quote lists...

Also look at total comp...Most people that complain of renewals normally come from the captive side..I believe when I was with NYL (This is from Memory and 10 years old) the schedule was 50% year 1 5% years 2-10 and 2% years 11+ in service fees... Now there are many companies you can go out and sell without renewal for 100%+ in FYC...

 

[Daytona_Guy]

eFinancial has a great system, but I prefer Agent Work From Home.

What an amazing coincidence! I prefer my own agency, too...