Best GA/IMO/FMO to use.

[Rich38]

I am wondering if anyone has any tips on how to research the best GA/IMO/FMO to use. I currently sell Life, DI, LTC and starting to get into the group benefits business. I know a lot of people solely focus on compensation payout. However, I look at the bigger picture with things such as access to leads, help with marketing/advertising, ease of processing business, use and/or integration with a CRM, etc.

Therefore:
1. Is there a list of GA's/IMO's/FMO's to look at?
2. What questions would you ask them in order to do your own due diligence?

 

[Jim Wright]

I don't know if there is a list. You might have to dig around for different agencies that do different things. I work for a company that does group benefit GA services and is a Life, DI, LTC BGA (whatever that means). I work on the ACA/Medicare side. If you want to talk to one of my colleagues on either side, shoot me a message and I can connect you

 

[Todd King]

Here is a page that will have many questions you should be asking your potential upline.

 

[AnnuityGuy63]

I am very happy with Advisors Excel

 

[The Brokerage Resource]

@Rich38 we're an FMO located in NC. If you're still researching, we invite you to visit our website and reach out to us with your questions.

800.928.4998
[EXTERNAL LINK] - The Brokerage Resource

 

[Shyla Christensen]

First, beware.

Integrity Marketing Group (based out of TX) has been on an FMO buying spree, trying to gobble up as many FMO's across the country as they can, simply in order to reduce market competition.

FMO's, such as Agent Pipeline, Holland, NAA (Superior Performers), AGA, Premier Marketing, Western Marketing, and many others are included in their portfolio (this list can be verified/expanded via the Integrity website).

Integrity hasn't been able to grow organically, and so have had to take the FMO merger route.

Integrity hasn't been able to grow organically (i.e. gaining more Agents via better support), and so acquisitions have been their key to growth.

As per another post elsewhere:

"Welcome to the world of insurance full of empty promises and recruit anybody with a pulse."

And Integrity owned FMO's are no different, even perhaps amongst the worst offenders.

Burn & churn is the Integrity way.

Integrity has adopted a quantity over quality approach in regards to Agents.

They would rather have 100 low-producing Agents (often via lack of support) that each write only 1 app than 10 better-producing Agents that each write 10 apps.

The net dollar gain is the same for them (100 apps written is 100 apps - regardless of the sources).

Integrity only cares about Integrity.

Again, burn & churn is the m.o. for Integrity (in regards to both Agents & employees).

Perhaps worse, many Medicare carriers could care less about Integrity, and so offer little-to-no dedicated support and/or training, meaning Agents are often left completely in the dark.

Most Integrity employees themselves don't even know the process for onboarding new Agents, and so cannot offer any real help.

Even worse, Integrity has in-house CRM's & databases that are outdated by some 30+ years, but continue to pump out propaganda claiming they are "leaders" in "AI" (ha!).

Let's not ignore the massive data breach that recently occurred at some Integrity companies (a class action suit is pending).

Plus, many of those Integrity owned FMO's all operate on different systems than each other, so any one of their FMO's is largely unaware of what the other(s) are doing, and there is virtually no cohesion amongst those similarly owned FMO's (imagine the nightmare caused when several subsidiaries of the same parent company each have different policies, procedures, processes, computer systems, forms, etc.).

Worse still, many of those Integrity similarly owned FMO's simply don't get along with each other (given the lack of cohesion/cooperation between each other), and so don't even offer support for each other.
I have frequently seen employees from one Integrity owned FMO simply refuse to return calls/emails from employees of another Integrity owned FMO.

And I have never seen as many data processing errors as I have w/Integrity owned FMO's (Integrity hasn't even initiated training programs for their employees, thus many don't even know how to properly submit Agent info to conform with NIPR/licensing info, creating unnecessary delays and/or rejection when trying to onboard.

Integrity has completely ignored sustainable operations and infrastructure, meaning lack of knowledge, low efficiency, low productivity, and low effectiveness.

One of the main reasons why their Agent support is so bad.
And many Integrity Managers are amongst the least knowledgeable of products, carrier processes, etc.
I once had to speak to four different Marketing Managers at an Integrity FMO, and was given four very different answers, each of which was completely wrong (which I discovered after finally speaking to carriers and getting the correct answers).

Integrity is easily one of the worst run companies I have ever seen.

My best recommendation, is stay far away from any Integrity owned FMO.

 

[insuredbyijm]

First, beware.

Integrity Marketing Group (based out of TX) has been on an FMO buying spree, trying to gobble up as many FMO's across the country as they can, simply in order to reduce market competition.

FMO's, such as Agent Pipeline, Holland, NAA (Superior Performers), AGA, Premier Marketing, Western Marketing, and many others are included in their portfolio (this list can be verified/expanded via the Integrity website).

Integrity hasn't been able to grow organically, and so have had to take the FMO merger route.

Integrity hasn't been able to grow organically (i.e. gaining more Agents via better support), and so acquisitions have been their key to growth.

As per another post elsewhere:

"Welcome to the world of insurance full of empty promises and recruit anybody with a pulse."

And Integrity owned FMO's are no different, even perhaps amongst the worst offenders.

Burn & churn is the Integrity way.

Integrity has adopted a quantity over quality approach in regards to Agents.

They would rather have 100 low-producing Agents (often via lack of support) that each write only 1 app than 10 better-producing Agents that each write 10 apps.

The net dollar gain is the same for them (100 apps written is 100 apps - regardless of the sources).

Integrity only cares about Integrity.

Again, burn & churn is the m.o. for Integrity (in regards to both Agents & employees).

Perhaps worse, many Medicare carriers could care less about Integrity, and so offer little-to-no dedicated support and/or training, meaning Agents are often left completely in the dark.

Most Integrity employees themselves don't even know the process for onboarding new Agents, and so cannot offer any real help.

Even worse, Integrity has in-house CRM's & databases that are outdated by some 30+ years, but continue to pump out propaganda claiming they are "leaders" in "AI" (ha!).

Let's not ignore the massive data breach that recently occurred at some Integrity companies (a class action suit is pending).

Plus, many of those Integrity owned FMO's all operate on different systems than each other, so any one of their FMO's is largely unaware of what the other(s) are doing, and there is virtually no cohesion amongst those similarly owned FMO's (imagine the nightmare caused when several subsidiaries of the same parent company each have different policies, procedures, processes, computer systems, forms, etc.).

Worse still, many of those Integrity similarly owned FMO's simply don't get along with each other (given the lack of cohesion/cooperation between each other), and so don't even offer support for each other.
I have frequently seen employees from one Integrity owned FMO simply refuse to return calls/emails from employees of another Integrity owned FMO.

And I have never seen as many data processing errors as I have w/Integrity owned FMO's (Integrity hasn't even initiated training programs for their employees, thus many don't even know how to properly submit Agent info to conform with NIPR/licensing info, creating unnecessary delays and/or rejection when trying to onboard.

Integrity has completely ignored sustainable operations and infrastructure, meaning lack of knowledge, low efficiency, low productivity, and low effectiveness.

One of the main reasons why their Agent support is so bad.
And many Integrity Managers are amongst the least knowledgeable of products, carrier processes, etc.
I once had to speak to four different Marketing Managers at an Integrity FMO, and was given four very different answers, each of which was completely wrong (which I discovered after finally speaking to carriers and getting the correct answers).

Integrity is easily one of the worst run companies I have ever seen.

My best recommendation, is stay far away from any Integrity owned FMO.

They also funnel their agents to the "Integrity Lead Center" which I believe is their biggest source of funds. Unfortunately, these leads they push to their agents to buy are sold multiple times over which bankrupt newer agents before they even have a real chance of success.