Choosing an IMO/FMO/MGA

[Frank Stastny]

I think you are trying to read way more into my post (or trying way too hard to find fault with it), than what it was meant for.

Not really, you were very vague about defining "top contracts". Your statement about the "street level" being established by an FMO is incorrect. There is only one true "street level" commission and it is established by each of the companies I represent.

As for being a lazy FMO sitting behind a desk all day and getting rich off the backs of others, that one would get quite a large laugh from the office staff here at our office.

I apologize if it sounded like that comment was directed to you. It was a general statement and I think you will have to agree with me that there are those who offer contracts that never even answer the phone. Those are the one's I was referring to.

Trying to find fault with a simple post that made an offer (the same as you did) I think is being a "bit touchy".

I wasn't trying to find fault when I originally asked for clarification on your comments about offering "top contracts". Your answer was vague and misleading when you said, "The only point that I would want to clarify is that what one FMO considers to be a street level contract could be lower than anothers." It doesn't matter what the FMO considers street, what's significant is the "street level" identified by the company.

It doesn't take a whole lot of "electronic communication" to define "top contract". I'm asking if you consider a "top contract" below, equal to, or above what is the accepted street level of commission as identified by the company.

I try to explain it this way. In MD the street level commission established by United World is a level 5 commission. The percent of commission is 15%. That is what is identified as Street Level Commission. Anything less than that is Below Street, anything above that is Above Street. Street Level commission is established by the company. NOT by some FMO.

Do you offer below 15% commission or above 15% commission when an agent contracts with you to sell United World Med Supps in MD? That should be an easy question to answer. A "Top Level" commission would not be 15% in MD, it must be above that. Fifteen percent is what any agent can get from anyone. I offer Top Level commissions.

You only have to type, "below 15%", "15%" or "above 15%".

I believe that agents are entitled to know what the real established street level commission is, the one established by the company, and what FMO's or IMO's really mean whey they say the offer "top level contracts".

Surely you can't disagree with providing agents with accurate information so they feel like they are making a well-informed, intelligent decision when considering contracting, can you?

An I the only agent who cares about this?

 

[0b1kanobee]

An I the only agent who cares about this?

I think it is great information you provide Frank and to answer your question, I care as well.

 

[Senior Benefit]

Not really, you were very vague about defining "top contracts". Your statement about the "street level" being established by an FMO is incorrect. There is only one true "street level" commission and it is established by each of the companies I represent.

While this is true for most carriers, I have to correct you in the fact that it is not for all carriers. There are several top rated carriers that give their FMOs a range on the life, annuity, and LTC side for what they wish to provide as a "top street" level. Case in point, one carrier prefers brokers to be put on what they deem as a "street level" contract but will allow certain FMOs to appoint brokers that we know will produce good numbers at 50 basis points higher without proof of production.


I apologize if it sounded like that comment was directed to you. It was a general statement and I think you will have to agree with me that there are those who offer contracts that never even answer the phone. Those are the one's I was referring to.

Trust me....my skin is very thick and I was not insulted in the slightest. In fact I didn't want to think that I wasn't going to answer your questions before I left the office this evening. This lazy FMO actually does work typically a 12+ hour day :-)


I wasn't trying to find fault when I originally asked for clarification on your comments about offering "top contracts". Your answer was vague and misleading when you said, "The only point that I would want to clarify is that what one FMO considers to be a street level contract could be lower than anothers." It doesn't matter what the FMO considers street, what's significant is the "street level" identified by the company.

Now in this statement you have gone to accusing me of being vague to now misleading. It's interesting that so far today we have had 3 brokers contact us from this banter that is taking place between you and I. One of them emailed me this evening to let me know that you were now saying that I was misleading, and said he didn't understand that since your original reply to the first poster was that all that really mattered was that you get a good contract. Don't you think that some people could interpret "that as vague". I wouldn't call it misleading...but maybe just as vague as my "top contract" statement. So far I have been completely professional in our banter without making accusations, I think that you could provide the same respect back to others. I never said that it matters what the FMO states is their "street level", since I had said earlier that the "top street" without proof of production is typically set by the carriers. I used that as an example of why we give out the "top contract" allowed by the carrier without proof of production. If that top contract is street level, then that is what it will be. If the carrier gives us a choice of having the discretion to go at a higher than published street level contracts without proof of production, then we will take advantage of that and give that extra commission to the broker.

It doesn't take a whole lot of "electronic communication" to define "top contract". I'm asking if you consider a "top contract" below, equal to, or above what is the accepted street level of commission as identified by the company.

I try to explain it this way. In MD the street level commission established by United World is a level 5 commission. The percent of commission is 15%. That is what is identified as Street Level Commission. Anything less than that is Below Street, anything above that is Above Street. Street Level commission is established by the company. NOT by some FMO.

Do you offer below 15% commission or above 15% commission when an agent contracts with you to sell United World Med Supps in MD? That should be an easy question to answer. A "Top Level" commission would not be 15% in MD, it must be above that. Fifteen percent is what any agent can get from anyone. I offer Top Level commissions.

You only have to type, "below 15%", "15%" or "above 15%".

15% AND Above​

I believe that agents are entitled to know what the real established street level commission is, the one established by the company, and what FMO's or IMO's really mean whey they say the offer "top level contracts".

Frank...not all FMO's sit behind a desk, lighting up cigars with $100 bills. Not all of us who have become successful over the years did so by sucking the life from brokers. While there are many out there who have, we have never had a need or desire to follow down that path.

Surely you can't disagree with providing agents with accurate information so they feel like they are making a well-informed, intelligent decision when considering contracting, can you?

No disagreement at all, but I would say that when you tell someone to give you a call to discuss an opportunity with you and don't lay out the commissions immediately to them on the forum, but are requiring that of others, that is being a bit ridiculous. I would have to think that you would agree that if you are going to provide agents with all necessary acccurate information over the phone when they call you, that other FMOs should be able to do the same thing.

I am hoping that we can put this thread to rest now, because I really don't think that many new agents are going to find this appealing about our industry if we are spending time constantly going back and forth over how one person interprets another person's wording.


An I the only agent who cares about this?

No you are not. Hopefully you and I can be on this forum and provide solid help to brokers in the senior market. Wishing you a great evening!

 

[Frank Stastny]

No you are not. Hopefully you and I can be on this forum and provide solid help to brokers in the senior market. Wishing you a great evening!

Helping agents is why this forum was formed and I have been doing it for several years. There is always room for one more.

I am still working, I also have received several phone calls from agents who have contracted with me last night and today. Read my posts, I don't look for people to argue with.

My intent was not to start a pissing contest as I have earlier stated. All I asked in my original post was for you to provide more information regarding what you considered a "top contract". Nothing complicated or confrontational. You asked if what you originally posted was helpful and I just suggested that a definition of "top contracts" would be helpful.

All you had to do is respond to my original question, I don't know what the big deal was. (See below)

"I think what would really be helpful is if you defined "top" contracts.

Are you talking about less than street level, street level or above street level. I do not consider "Street Level" contracts to be "top" contracts. Any agent can get street level from anyone."

All you would have had to do is say "less than street level", "street level" or "above street level". That would have ended any further discussion. I didn't think that was a terribly difficult question to answer. It would have ended it there, nothing further to discuss.

And I wish you an even greater evening as well.

 

[houcoogster]

 

[AtMyTempo]

Since this is in the "Starting to Sell" forum, I think it's O.K. to ask for a definition of all of the letters people are using.
What do they mean and what's the differencce between
IMO
FMO
MGA
GA
?
Thanks

 

[Senior Benefit]

Since this is in the "Starting to Sell" forum, I think it's O.K. to ask for a definition of all of the letters people are using.
What do they mean and what's the differencce between



?
Thanks

IMO - Independent Marketing Organization
FMO - Field Marketing Organization (basically same as IMO)
MGA - Managing General Agent
GA - GEneral Agent

FMO and IMO are typically top maketing contracts. Usually reserved for marketing companies that can bring large amounts of premium to the table for the carrier.

MGA contracts typically reserved for very high producing brokers or ones with a larger downline.

GA contracts in the Med supp world are typically street level contracts.

David

Senior Benefit Services, Inc.
Senior Benefit Services, Inc.- Insurance Broker - Insurance Marketing "FMO Specializing in the Senior Market"
(800)924-4727

 

[Josh]

IMO - Independent Marketing Organization
FMO - Field Marketing Organization (basically same as IMO)
MGA - Managing General Agent
GA - GEneral Agent

FMO and IMO are typically top maketing contracts. Usually reserved for marketing companies that can bring large amounts of premium to the table for the carrier.

MGA contracts typically reserved for very high producing brokers or ones with a larger downline.

GA contracts in the Med supp world are typically street level contracts.

David

Senior Benefit Services, Inc.
Senior Benefit Services, Inc.- Insurance Broker - Insurance Marketing "FMO Specializing in the Senior Market"
(800)924-4727

All of the above are to some degree true, but there are no industry standards for this.

A true IMO/FMO is licensed in most if not all states and most likely has at least 10k agents. If a group is an IMO/FMO, they don't have to tell you. Senior Market Sales and Integrated Benefits are good examples of this type of an organization. That is about the only string of letters that for the most part has an actual industry standard.

MGA contracts are a little more fishy. Honestly, most folks that tell you "I'm a MGA" or "I'm a GA" like it matters are usually blowing smoke. The key point in any contracting is to look at your contracts and see what levels they're at relative to the rest of the world.

I like to refer to a GA as a Glorified Agent. It's a high enough contract usually that you can contract to it, but most of the time it's a street contract. That said, I have a GA contract with at least one carrier and that is the absolute highest level contract they offer. There is nothing above it. There are organizations I'm with that have much higher contracts with other carriers, but aren't direct with the carrier I'm with so I actually get a higher cut on action than they do. So freakin' what.

If you're a new agent and need support (leads and/or training) odds are you're going to have to give away a chunk of your commissions, how big that chunk is depends on how much you shop.

Frank Stastny is an absolute gentleman. If someone is starting in the med supp world they would be absolutely out of their mind to not buy his software and accept his training. By doing that they'll be buying into their own support AND be able to either contract with him at fantastic levels OR contract with anyone they want and get higher contracts because they won't be held hostage on the support. The other thing about that which makes all the sense in the world is that if you're a new agent Frank believes in cold calling and shows agents how to do it effectively. Between his training, the software, and a marketing list a new agent can be trained and get started for less than $500! If you consider renewals, an agent makes back their investment after their FIRST SALE if it stays on the books for three years. How can an agent go wrong?

 

[Norwayguy]

I second what Medicarreplansolutions is saying about Frank....but in addition to the above by getting Franks software you get his support and a discount on his Goat Porn!