Anyone here with Farmers?

[norcalinsurance]

Briankoe really hit the nail on the head. That's pretty much exactly how my commission schedule works, as well as with all the other Farmers Agents I interact with.

Getting the P&C & Life licenses are essential, and attack them. Get them both done as quickly as possible. Don't let them linger.

And like Briankoe said, hit your friends & family for policy's.

But don't have the same state of mind I did. For a bit, I was getting frustrated after about 30 policy's, and thinking the company was out to get me and my family, then kick my a$$ out of the company.

But stick with it, market to strangers, wake up with a few shots of whiskey (j/k, seriously j/k), but you know what I mean, you have to cold call hard, because unless you are a minister or a president over some massive social council or group, your friends & family will only take you so far, you're gonna have to start hitting up strangers to build your BOB (book of business), a Farmers acronym. Good luck.

 

[Emmanuel_Alonzo]

I just recently started with Farmers, I am still waiting for my license to be processed. I read a lot of negativity online about Farmers. However, I didn't let that affect my decision. Biggest complaint was that if you didn't meet your sales goals you had to pay the subsidy money back. Well in the end, you are in the SALES industry and if meeting sales goals is an issue, then you are not in the right industry. Total you end up receiving 60k from Farmers in subsidy income. However, you are only responsible for 30k, your Dm is responsible for the other 30k, this ensures that the Dm has a vested interest in your success aside from overrides. If you meet your sales goals, in my case being 25/4 per month for 3 years, well then you just go 60k in free money.

 

[norcalinsurance]

Emmanuel speaks the truth!

If you don't hit your quota count, and that doesn't mean just hitting it for each quarter, your policy's have to stay on the books for 2 years, it's called 'meeting your running to daylight' numbers.

So if your total policy count after 2 years is below what you have had to meet for your quota each quarter, then you will have to pay back your subsidy. But as Emmanuel says, if you can't meet your quota, you shouldn't be in sales in the first place.

So really, to be on the safe side, think of the Farmers subsidy as an interest free loan, that you will have to pay back unless you can meet & keep your #'s on the books for two years. It's not easy, it's really not, that's why I stress getting some commercial accounts (that pay big commission, but don't count hardly at all for meeting your quota) so that if at the end of 2 years you have had some business drop off the books and you can't meet the 'running-to-daylight numbers, then you have a nest egg built up to pay back the 'loan' that Farmers has been giving you.

But hey, even if you have to pay back the subsidy after two years, I challenge anyone to send the contact information of an institution that will give $1500 / mo. at a 0% interest rate to a new business owner with no track record? Any takers, I didn't think so!

 

[briankoe]

Very true, being paid a subsidy in addition to your commissions is very rare in the p&c insurance industry. Some companies might pay you a salary for the first year or two, but you won't be receiving commissions. If you're not receiving commission, is that really going to motivate and teach you to sell? I believe that the struggle new agents have with being broke in the first year is a good thing. It forces you to bust your butt, by working 12 hour days, picking up the phone(dealing with rejection), and finding new creative ways to market. Currently, I am not making enough income right now, and I am struggling to pay my bills, but that "inspires" me to get out there and sell my ass off. It's not such a bad thing. You know what they say "no pain, no gain".

Again, don't listen to the Farmers bashing websites. They are disgruntled former agents who were not cut out for the insurance industry. They are the kind of people who are not willing to experience the struggle we all go through at starting this business.

When you are first starting out, I would say dedicate 80% of your time towards marketing. The other 20% for various administrative activity(quotes, applications, etc.) Develop a marketing plan that you will dedicate to follow. Like I said earlier, I am still a new agent, so I have actually just started my marketing campaigns. Below are some great marketing ideas when you are starting out. You probably don't have income you can put towards advertising, so finding creative ways to market is a must.

-Compile a "natural market list" in an excel worksheet. List out every single person you could possibly know. List out addresses, phone #s, etc. so you have the possibility of doing a postcard campaign before you follow up.
-Cold Calling(Later on, you can hire telemarketers, but for now, someone has got to do it. It sucks, but it will get you business.)
-After you make a sale, ASK FOR REFERRALS. If they like you, they will refer you.
-Network with mortgage brokers & real estate agents. Build a strong relationship with them. Get them to trust and like you, and they will throw referrals at you all day long. Apartment complexes might be good too, for renters insurance. Build a relationship with the person who shows off the rooms. Maybe he/she will refer you. It is a benefit to the apartment complex for their roomers to carry renters insurance.(You hardly make anything off renters, so get their autos too.)
-If you go with Farmers, market the affinity groups. These are police officers, teachers, fire fighters, accountants, etc. Farmers gives them an 8% discount on auto and a 5% discount on home. This is great daytime activity.

 

[norcalinsurance]

Wow, everything Briankoe is exactly right!

Follow his plan, you'll be OK, and take the Farmers bashing with a grain of salt. Just work your ass off, and things such as cold calling that are hard to do is what pays off, because many in the industry do not do it enough, and it is a very inexpensive way to generate and maintain leads.

But follow Briankoe's plan, it's perfecto!


AND GO AFTER COMMERCIAL, WHO CARES IF YOU ARE NERVOUS ABOUT DOING IT, JUST DO IT. AFTER 1 DEAL, YOU'LL FEEL AND BE AN EXPERT. I PROMISE!!!

 

[briankoe]

Hey Norcal, I am starting to get curious about commercial. I had heard from one of the agents in my office that I have to wait until I career before I am able to write any commercial. Do you know if this is true? If not, that is definitely something I should try to go after. I know of a church building I could possibly write and a workers comp. policy to write for a dentist office.

 

[norcalinsurance]

Hey Norcal, I am starting to get curious about commercial. I had heard from one of the agents in my office that I have to wait until I career before I am able to write any commercial. Do you know if this is true? If not, that is definitely something I should try to go after. I know of a church building I could possibly write and a workers comp. policy to write for a dentist office.

I wish I knew the answer to your question.

I'm not 100% sure if being a reserve agent makes you ineligible for obtaining commercial business. Definitely ask your D.M. about this.

Here's my suggestion, let your D.M. know that your staying focused on your 40 & 4, but say that this Church commercial Liability Policy and the Dentist's Worker's comp. policy have 'fallen into your lap' and you don't want to let them go, your afraid that if you don't act immediately, you may lose the possibility to bid for their business (if this is in fact true).

Then, if you can write commercial as a reserve, your D.M. will probably still be reluctant to have you do it, because he may think it will take your focus off of your 40 & 4, but deep down, he doesn't want to lose any commercial deals for his territory, commercial's profitable, he doesn't want to lose that premium.

If you cannot write commercial as a Reserve, and don't feel that you can wait to until you convert to write the business by yourself, suggest to your D.M. that one of the other Agents in the office that are Career (if there are any) could write the business, split the commission with you (again, if it's allowed as reserve), that way, you can still focus on your 40 & 4, but learn a little bit about the commercial.

Since it sounds like you have a few commercial policy's up your sleeve, perhaps you can implement the above suggestion with just one of the commercial policy's, and save the bigger ones for when you can get all of the commission!

In either case, your on the right track. Just convert ASAP, then write those commercials, don't be afraid of them, just act like you are the commercial expert, even though it's your first one!!!

After a few commercial, you'll think, why the he!! am I going after personal lines, when commercial can be a huge windfall of cash, and you don't have to service a whole bunch of clients.

 

[briankoe]

Thanks for the advice. I did ask my DM today as to whether I could go ahead and start writing commercial, and he said that I had to wait until I went career. I know the church won't be finishing construction for a while, so I think it will be able to hold off until I career. I might try what you said with splitting commissions on the dentist workers comp., though. Might as well make a little bit off of it, and keep it in the company.

 

[norcalinsurance]

Thanks for the advice. I did ask my DM today as to whether I could go ahead and start writing commercial, and he said that I had to wait until I went career. I know the church won't be finishing construction for a while, so I think it will be able to hold off until I career. I might try what you said with splitting commissions on the dentist workers comp., though. Might as well make a little bit off of it, and keep it in the company.

And you'll make a friend for life. Pick an Agent in or around your area that's in your district, so your DM will remain happy, hell, even ask your DM to recommend the best commercial Agent in the territory, and then go & work with that Agent on the commercial deal. You will learn more in just a few days working on that commercial deal than you'll learn at the Farmers Career school, insurance testing classes, etc...

And after you have that commercial deal under your belt, your swagger will be a bit different around the office!

Best of luck.

I love it. I feel like this is the Farmers Corner. It's great, since so much of this forum is strictly Health related, not P&C, it's nice to talk P&C.

 

[briankoe]

Haha, yeah I love it too. It's refreshing to hear other Farmers/other p&c agents that are doing well for themselves. It's also great to share different ideas agents are particularly successful with.

I have to admit, the commercial does intimidate me a little, but going about it this way will definitely make me feel more comfortable before I can begin hitting it full force. Thanks for the advice.