Are agents allowed to pay/gift for referrals?

[jdeasy]

I give a restaurant gift card, $20-25, for every referral.

I can't remember the last time a referral wasn't a sale. But I give the gift card regardless of sale.

 

[Newby]

I've always given $1000 when an agent refers another good agent to me. I don't give it until the new agent is signed up and starts making sales though.

I always assumed this is fine. Never really checked though.

 

[Markthebroker]

I've always given $1000 when an agent refers another good agent to me. I don't give it until the new agent is signed up and starts making sales though.

I always assumed this is fine. Never really checked though.

$1k for a good agent... just imagine if he could fly?

 

[marindependent]

I've always given $1000 when an agent refers another good agent to me. I don't give it until the new agent is signed up and starts making sales though.

I always assumed this is fine. Never really checked though.

Maybe Ill refer myself! LOL! $1000 wow.

 

[Newby]

$1k for a good agent... just imagine if he could fly?

If he can fly then $2500. But I have get to drop him off a tall building to check it.

 

[Tahoe Ray]

If he can fly then $2500. But I have get to drop him off a tall building to check it.

This guy walks into a bar on the top of a very tall building. He sits down, orders a huge beer, chugs it, walks over to the window, and jumps out.

Five minutes later, the guy walks into the bar again, orders another huge beer, chugs it, walks over to the window, and jumps out again.

Five minutes later, he re-appears and repeats the whole thing.

About half an hour later, another guy at the bar stops the first guy and says, "hey, how the hell are you doing that?!"

The first guy responds, "oh, it's really simple physics. When you chug the beer, it makes you all warm inside and since warm air rises, if you just hold your breath you become lighter than air and float down to the sidewalk."

"WOW!" exclaims the second man, "I gotta try that!" So he orders a huge beer, chugs it, goes over to the window, jumps out, and splats on the sidewalk below.

The bartender looks over to the first man and says, "Superman, you're an asshole when you're drunk."

 

[DHK]

 

[jadynshay]

I've seen this come up a lot, and from what I understand, cash or gift cards can be a problem in many states, but non-cash items with low value might be fine. I've personally given small gifts like a frame from nixplay.com, which wasn't an issue because it wasn't seen as compensation. Of course, always double-check with your state laws since some are stricter than others.

 

[PrivClientSG]

There are a couple of other things to consider too.

1- In addition to the DOI, do any of the carriers, clusters or other entities you deal with have any rules on this?

2- If someone thinks you can do a good job to help their client/friend/family member etc. should you give them a gift? If they are giving a referral for the "right" reason, should you give them a gift? Will giving a relatively small gift for the referral somehow cheapen the process or make them rethink if they and you are helping the person, why would you give a gift? I read an article about Google, who many years ago found that their best hires were from referrals. They then started offering substantial cash incentives for employees offering referrals. Guess what? Their referrals didn't increase, despite the incentive, because people would refer their friends and family because they genuinely wanted to help their friends and loved ones, the cash bonus had no effect! Furthermore, and this may be a bad example, but my understanding was that when Bernie Madoff was running his scam, he would pretend that he was too busy to take new clients and referrals, which made people want to do business with him even more. Just food for thought.

Yes, they do.

 

[myinsurebiz]

When I was selling alarm systems I'd offer a $50 gift card t anyone who connected me with someone who became a customer. Is this allowed in the highly regulated insurance industry?

Within Insurance - your issue is " if they became a customer ".