Colonial Life Vs. Allstate

[xrac]

AFLAC has nothing like Colonial's Medical Bridge product to my knowledge. This product sounds like it could be a door opener and competitive advantage in the voluntary market.

 

[NCAgent]

AFLAC has nothing like Colonial's Medical Bridge product to my knowledge. This product sounds like it could be a door opener and competitive advantage in the voluntary market.

It was meant to be a due diligence example, nothing more.

 

[CABenefits]

AFLAC has nothing like Colonial's Medical Bridge product to my knowledge. This product sounds like it could be a door opener and competitive advantage in the voluntary market.

Not sure about Michigan but there are better products that have more flexibility than colonial or the Allstate Workplace Voluntary. Take a look at Humana accident and CI for small groups and Transamerica's Gap plan. Transamerica has accident, CI, vision, life, disability, Ltc, and lifelock. Much better product

Mike

 

[michiganagent]

Colonial is going to be tougher than health insurance.

Could you tell us more about what type of an Allstate opportunity you're looking at. If it's just to go work in an office as a producer it's probably a much better deal than Colonial.

I'm talking with 3 different Allstate Agencies. One offers independent contract status with up to 35% commission. Allows me to continue selling health and life insurance with my current appointments. I would focus on P&C with Allstate.

2nd Allstate agency offers independent contractor status with base and lower commissions. Again I focus on P&C with Allstate and continue selling Life and Health with my own appointments (carriers)

3rd agency offers employee status with Allstate. Base with zero commissions. With this Allstate agency, I'm only able to sell Allstate products. I'm not on my own clock. I accumulate vacation each year (paid time off), etc. Employee restrictions might be tough to get used to. I've been an independent agent for 6 years calling my own shots and hours.

I'm leaning toward option 1 or 2. Anyone have any feedback to share about working in one of the options with Allstate? Thanks in advance.

 

[Josh]

Any of those are a much better deal than Colonial. Option 2 probably borders on a w2 deal and I think the agent offering that is setting themselves up for some friction with you because you might have a hard time letting go of what you've been doing and if you're going to be getting a base that agent should have your full and undivided attention (or at least close to it). I think it's a bad deal from his perspective, but might work for you.

Option 3 might be better for you in the long run. Although employee restrictions can be tough, it's also nice to not be on the hook for running your own shop and having a steady paycheck. I'm sure if you tried that for a while you could end up working out some type of a deal where you get an extra few bucks for selling, but it would be a job.

 

[michiganagent]

If I understand correctly then, one of the negatives about selling products offered by Colonial is that type of insurance (accident, medical bridge, disabilty, cancer, etc) is not "have to purchase" type of insurance. Most have to purchase home, auto, health, maybe Life but not the primary products that Liberty offers.
Am I on the right track here regarding the need for Colonial insurance? Thanks for alll your feedback

 

[NCAgent]

If I understand correctly then, one of the negatives about selling products offered by Colonial is that type of insurance (accident, medical bridge, disabilty, cancer, etc) is not "have to purchase" type of insurance. Most have to purchase home, auto, health, maybe Life but not the primary products that Liberty offers.
Am I on the right track here regarding the need for Colonial insurance? Thanks for alll your feedback

Yes, they are things that are offered to people frequently (but not always) in place of health insurance for jobs or part-timers. They are some of the first things to go if money gets tight and also will be frequently replaced as for workplaces with high turnover. Also, the way Colonial works is a tiering on their commission schedule, so to make any real money then you have to get multiple locations to enroll in benefits and then the commission increases non-retroactively. It can be done but a lot of people who can do well in this field also offer group, at least in my experience. It is hard to make a lot of money solely on these kinds of benefits- offer VPD products in conjunction with VPD life like ANICO to get you better retention with the company and more bang for your buck.

Assurity, Mutual of Omaha, Colonial, AFLAC, SLAICO, and American General offer products for VPD if I recall.

 

[michiganagent]

Yes, they are things that are offered to people frequently (but not always) in place of health insurance for jobs or part-timers. They are some of the first things to go if money gets tight and also will be frequently replaced as for workplaces with high turnover. Also, the way Colonial works is a tiering on their commission schedule, so to make any real money then you have to get multiple locations to enroll in benefits and then the commission increases non-retroactively. It can be done but a lot of people who can do well in this field also offer group, at least in my experience. It is hard to make a lot of money solely on these kinds of benefits- offer VPD products in conjunction with VPD life like ANICO to get you better retention with the company and more bang for your buck.

Assurity, Mutual of Omaha, Colonial, AFLAC, SLAICO, and American General offer products for VPD if I recall.

Thank you for the time you've taken to help me. I appreciate that.

 

[Jess]

I have a question on this. I work for AFLAC, I have been working there for 2 months and everytime I prospect I get a bunch of "I see you agents in here everyday go away" they are saturated with agents and it is so hard to find a place they havent already blown up.

Colonial offered me a job as an enroller with no prospecting. I just enroll companies that have agreed to offer colonial because of their broker.

I am going to talk to the regional manager tomorrow and I was curious as to what people thought about it, and if anyone knows anything about being an enroller at colonial?

 

[Guest]

Unless things have changed, you will get a flat 15% of the premium that you enroll. I don't remember if that is flat or first year or two only. The average employee enrolls for about $50 worth of products. How many people do you have to enroll to make a sustainable living of say $50,000 when you are getting (.15 x $50) = $7.5 x 12 months= $90 yr.? It's a lot and it takes several years.... unless you can get some large groups and have good persistence.

The other issue is that you are at the beck and call of the Openers. The guy/gal who opens the account gets to choose which enroller they want, and it takes a while to get established with these salespeople. True, the account manager can assign you to one of them, but it usually will not happen... unless the Opener is brand new... and most newbies only get mom/pop groups of six or seven (12 used to be the minimum) lives.

The ONLY way I know of to make a full-time living in worksite products is to either open and enroll your own accounts... or be a manager and have hundreds of "little people" slaving away under you and take the override that the worksite carrier gives.

When it comes to comp, both of the leading carriers have a zillion levels of management and they all have to get a cut, and guess out of whose pocket that cut comes from? The lowly agents and enrollers.

You know the old saying "Coffee is for closers?"

I think "Worksite is for suckers!"

There are better ways to make a living in this biz, but if you want to give worksite a shot, you just might be the exception that proves the rule.... go for it.

Hope this helps. I've been there, done it, and still have the scars to prove it (after being screwed by the district manager.) Remember this. When you shake hands with your manager or anyone from any worksite company, when you walk away, you should count all your fingers!