Here's my assessment of Megastar (having visited their offices AND participated in their lead program):
I'm not pleased with them at all at this point in time, but despite that fact, I'm going to give what I think is a fair assessment of them, and you guys can make your own determinations:
THE GOOD: When it comes to annuities and life products, they definitely have people within that company that know their stuff. Being new to the annuity space and the Federal Market, I learned a lot of things that I'm going to use for a long time going forward that I think will pay off well for me. Plus, their contracting manager is really good. She will make sure your contracts are processed and completed....fast. Very professional and helpful.
WHO COULD BENEFIT FROM MEGASTAR? Inexperienced annuity agents who want to learn the basics of the business,
THE BAD: Unfortunately, I learned, the hard way, that Megastar would rather push their lead program down your throat than to truly build a business relationship with you.
I flew down to Tampa for their sales training, and immediately afterward, expressed interest in their lead program. They told me my territory was $1,000 per month, and based on what they claimed to offer, it was worth the investment, so I agreed to participate once I was contracted. Well, 3 days later, I was ready to sign up and found out the price was $1,500. Despite questioning this fact, I still agreed to move forward because they told me they produced 56 annuity leads in the last month. $1,500 for 56 leads? I'm in!
To be fair, I will acknowledge that they gave me about 200 "B-leads" to start of which, with varying degrees of qualification, and it was great to get my feet wet with those. They were up to a year old, but again, they served as a great training tool.
Due to issues with their lead program, I didn't start until 2 months later, and guess how many leads were there? 56! So 56 in 1 month turned into 56 in THREE months, and, to top it off, out of those 56, 9....NINE....were qualified prospects. Long story short, the best leads I got were the year old leads, and after much going back and forth, and many other issues, I decided to withdraw from their program.
Once I opted out of the lead program, the support stopped, the phone calls stopped, everything stopped. I was then told that I couldn't work the leads that I PAID FOR, and cut me off from the email system I used to follow up with the leads I was already working. So in essence, for $1,500, I was RENTING leads. I didn't even own them. What a joke!
I took this all the way the ladder ( I'd prefer not to use names on here), but despite knowing all of this, they couldn't care less.
In short, if you buy into their severely flawed lead program, they'll work with you. If you don't buy leads from them, 2 things, (1) They don't need you, and (2) you really don't need them either.
I don't regret working with them, because I did gain valuable knowledge from them, but I don't think much about their management team, and I feel like they violated my trust in them. Everyone has their own view, and you just got mine.
Thanks for providing such a detailed and fair assessment. Most lead company/FMO reviews I've seen on here are not nearly this comprehensive and specific. I've been curious about them for awhile now and the guy who is calling me keeps trying to sell me on their seminar program...did you have any experience with that or talk to anyone who did?
Thank you for your interest in our brick and mortar tax program. The 8k that you mentioned is the investment you'd place into your tax and insurance business. If you broke down roughly 8k over a 4 month span you'd invest in the following:
Hope that clarifies. This is just one of our many programs. I'm sure someone on this thread can vouch for how adding taxes to their practice has helped them accumulate assets.
Thanks!
Ryan
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AboveAll610,
If anyone is interested in learning about Megastar's Federal lead program, please visit ww w.megastaradvisors.co m . However, I'd like to respond to the above issue.
When you started in the Federal lead program, you were given free access to Megastar's lead portal for your first month. We didn't charge you.
During this one month, you received 200 aged leads and over 60 fresh leads generated since January 1st, 2017 for free. That is 3 months of free leads given to you. That equated to over 40 million in potential TSP for you. Not many agents would complain about this. Actually 2/3 of the United State lead territories are filled without any complaints, but the above mentioned.
If you break down 1,500/ 60, that equates to 25 per lead that you would have paid. We average 15 leads per month for your particular territory. Most lead companies charge $200 per lead, but we give unlimited leads as long as you service the territory.
You decided to break away from the program half way through your first "paid" month because you didn't want to pay next month. So you took 3 months of leads and decided to quit, how is that exactly fair? We even prorated that month just to make sure you were happy. Sadly, those efforts are shown on this forum.
Megastar discounts leads significantly as we make money on the override, not to make $$ on the lead cost. We take those dollars and invest heavily into the marketing to generate leads nationwide for all agents involved. Each territory price is based on the number of leads generated for that particular territory serviced. Hence, agents that receive the most leads pay their fair share while lesser dense lead territories are paying as low as $250 per month.
When it comes to dealing with Megastar, we stopped communicating with you due to your abrasive phone calls and emails to our employees. We will not tolerate any profanity to any of our employees or management members, especially when they go above and beyond to service you. We aren't the only FMO or company that will protect their employees.
Apparently, you didn't read my post thoroughly, otherwise, you wouldn't say some of the things you did, but that's ok. I addressed those "60 leads". And, if you notice, not everything I said about Megastar was negative. However, I stand by EVERY WORD I said.
You refunded me because I told (manager) that I wanted to opt out at the end of the billing cycle until some of the issues discussed were resolved, and, instead of letting me finish the billing cycle, you cut off access immediately, at which time, I requested a prorate, which you eventually granted. I never said you ripped me off, I said there were issues with that program, and there were.
As far as my profanity, listen, if someone keeps telling me one thing, and doing another, eventually, I'm going to call it what it is, and in this case I used the term "BS".
So again, yes, there are positive things about your organization, and I listed them, but there are things that transpired that were plain wrong, and you know it. End of story. I'm moving on..
Ok, so obviously I didn't know you were being rude and cursing at the company, that will usually result in poor customer service...I'm curious about the quality of these leads though. You said they are garbage, which I'm inclined to believe, but Ryan claims he gave you good prospects worth tens of millions of dollars. Could you tell us what the real story is? Maybe Ryan would like to weigh in?
Thanks for your inquiry. If you'd like to know more about the Federal lead program, please call into the office at 866-917-1040. Please ask for Alex.
If you'd like to speak to an advisor working the program, you can randomly pick any territory taken and ask to speak to that representative. We'd be happy to accommodate.
Ok, so obviously I didn't know you were being rude and cursing at the company, that will usually result in poor customer service...I'm curious about the quality of these leads though. You said they are garbage, which I'm inclined to believe, but Ryan claims he gave you good prospects worth tens of millions of dollars. Could you tell us what the real story is? Maybe Ryan would like to weigh in?
Please read everything I've said in my previous post. I'm not here to get into a war of words with anyone. I've stated very accurately everything, good and bad, that transpired. And the rudeness came in AFTER repeated attempts to resolve issues were unsuccessful.
I had a bad experience for reasons I've stated, but outside of the lead program, I honestly don't think Megastar is a bad company. They know their products and their markets very well, and they are worth investigating. Like anything else, everyone's experiences are going to be different. One thing I will say is, you MUST invest in your business in order to be successful, no matter where you go. There are no shortcuts in that. You just have to make sure that what you are investing in works for you and your goals.
I'd suggest you contact them so that you can form your own opinions, and not rely on my word, or Ryan's, as we both have, and will have, different views of what took place.
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I had the opportunity of having a private conversation with Ryan about some of the issues discussed on this forum. While there are some fundamental issues that he and I still do not agree on, what I believe we do agree on is that this entire situation could have been handled better than it was. I definitely can say that, for my part, I should have dealt with this matter privately, instead of bringing it to this forum.
As I stated in my first post here, there was a lot of value I've gained from working with Megastar. Anyone considering them should contact them directly, do your research, and come up with your own conclusions on if it's the right fit for you. It is my hope that as a result of our dialogue with Ryan, we can resolve the miscommunication that has taken place and move forward with what everyone's focus should be....business.
I pledged to not comment anymore on this thread, but I couldn't contain myself when I read your ignorant remarks.
Do you have a problem with Native Americans? If so, we can have a real discussion about that. This is supposed to be a forum of objective professionals sharing their experience for the benefit of all members, not spewing racially insensitive garbage with no factual information to support it.
Keep your opinions to yourself unless you know what the hell you're talking about.
