Conseco or Colonial?

goldrose

New Member
2
I am out here in southern CA and I have a choice of conseco or Colonial Life. I have been with conseco for the past 2 months but no appointments like they said- they said that we will have appts in the state offices but I have not seen them yet. Does conseco have orphan accts that I can work on? I am basically on my own.
Colonial Life what is the training life? What is the article about?
sales rep double new accounts through colonial national sales education program. I can't bring it up.
any thoughts. I can't do leads anymore. I am running out of money.
 
Did you have any opinion on colonial?:err:

I don't know about Conseco, but when I wrote for Colonial they had what I considered a "crap" comp plan. There are too many levels of management all getting a piece of the premium and given the time and work involved in opening and enrolling a new account, it is simply not worth it, in my opinion. YMMV.

Colonial had orphan accounts. I worked a few. But they were orphan accounts for a reason... the owners got terrible service from Colonial (the revolving door of reps... just like Aflac) and didn't want to talk with anyone from Colonial again!

Personally, and I know I will get bombed for saying this, if you really want to do the worksite market FULLTIME (and only an *** or a super-salesperson would!) go with... wait for it... here it comes... AFLAC.

Yeah, their management sucks (in most regions) but they have two things that you need and neither Colonial nor Conseco have or ever will have... name recognition... and name recognition! In fact there is a third advantage... name recognition. :)

The worksite market is a meat-grinder but if you like it... go for it. Some folks do well. Most don't (but you can say that about any sector of this biz.)

Good luck and let us know what you decided to do and how it goes in time.

Al
InsuranceSolutions123 Agency
 
I think for a newby to start in the voluntary market with either Conseco or AFLAC is a tough road to hoe and it is the rare person who makes it a success. AFLAC in some markets has harrassed businesses owner to death. However, if one is in the health or life market and selling to business owners volunatry benefits become a very lucrative and natural cross sell. There are dozens of companies through which voluntary benefits can be offered.
 
However, if one is in the health or life market and selling to business owners volunatry benefits become a very lucrative and natural cross sell. There are dozens of companies through which voluntary benefits can be offered.

That's how I do vols. I call a friend who does Colonial and she does all the work and gives me a split, usually 40 to 50% (not more.)

Why does that work for her? So much of Colonial's comp is based on production bonuses... case counts, avg. yearly prem., etc. So she can give up half the comp and still make it up through the bonus system.

However, if you are going to do this in CA and you wrote a group health plan, you need to make sure the vol. guy/gal you bring in will agree to not sell a "medical bridge" or any plan that is going to indemnify a deductible or else the health carrier is going to cut you off (Anthem CA is a bulldog about this if you believe the emails they send you on it.)

And you kind of want to make sure that the vol agent agrees not to steal your client by getting them to sign a BOR letter which puts you out in the cold for trying to help the client! It has not happened to me but I've heard stories... lots of them. Check the agent's license and see if they have an appointment with a major med carrier. That could be a red flag, but not always.
 
I don't know about Conseco, but when I wrote for Colonial they had what I considered a "crap" comp plan. There are too many levels of management all getting a piece of the premium and given the time and work involved in opening and enrolling a new account, it is simply not worth it, in my opinion. YMMV.

Colonial had orphan accounts. I worked a few. But they were orphan accounts for a reason... the owners got terrible service from Colonial (the revolving door of reps... just like Aflac) and didn't want to talk with anyone from Colonial again!

Personally, and I know I will get bombed for saying this, if you really want to do the worksite market FULLTIME (and only an *** or a super-salesperson would!) go with... wait for it... here it comes... AFLAC.

Yeah, their management sucks (in most regions) but they have two things that you need and neither Colonial nor Conseco have or ever will have... name recognition... and name recognition! In fact there is a third advantage... name recognition. :)

The worksite market is a meat-grinder but if you like it... go for it. Some folks do well. Most don't (but you can say that about any sector of this biz.)

Good luck and let us know what you decided to do and how it goes in time.

Al
InsuranceSolutions123 Agency
I am a struggling new agent and a mentor recommended that Colonial is a great way to get in the door and eventually cross-promote other lines. It seems like solid advice. Agreed ?
 
I am a struggling new agent and a mentor recommended that Colonial is a great way to get in the door and eventually cross-promote other lines. It seems like solid advice. Agreed ?

It's not so much a question of whether or not the advice is sound or the strategy is operative. It will depend on what the economy is like where you are selling, what the competition is with Aflac, how good the training is from your manager, and how hard you are willing to work.

It all may just "click" for you. You can play football on paper all day long but you don't know what you don't know until you get out on the field... and sometimes a Washington can beat a USC... like TODAY! (I loved it!)

There are too many variables. My suggestion is that if this is something that makes sense to you... then go for it. As Henry Ford once said, "If you think you can do something or you think you can't do something, you're right."

I personally found worksite a PITA for way too little comp. However, it might just be YOUR thing.

You can ask advice all day long, but my advice is to believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see in this business.

While the economy and geography and other factors (like weather) will have some influence over your success (or failure) most of it will be all about YOU... how smart you are, how personable you are, how educated you are, how good at marketing and sales (there is a difference) you are, how fast a learner you are, how hard working you are, how presentable you are (looks and clothes) and so on and so on... and there is no way any of us here can quantify any of that.

Follow your gut feeling. That's often the only thing you CAN do in this biz.

Al
InsuranceSolutions123 Agency
 
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I am out here in southern CA and I have a choice of conseco or Colonial Life. I have been with conseco for the past 2 months but no appointments like they said- they said that we will have appts in the state offices but I have not seen them yet. Does conseco have orphan accts that I can work on? I am basically on my own.
Colonial Life what is the training life? What is the article about?
sales rep double new accounts through colonial national sales education program. I can't bring it up.
any thoughts. I can't do leads anymore. I am running out of money.

If you are runnining out of money, Colonial is not the place for you. You need at least 3 months salary in the bank to be successful with them. I am appointed with Colonial now, I have 3 accounts that I opened this year, and they are a pain in the butt. I wrote one restaurant with 10 employees and I did 9000 in premium, most of it was the Colonial health advantage, which doesn't pay squat, and I made 1100.00 dollars. I have received 2 non-payment letters and had to convince them to pay there premium. I wrote one business, a small eye clinic, that I went to 4 times to meet employees, and I made 500 dollars. I can't wait for my for my year to pass so I won't get hit with chargebacks, and I won't chase them again. Until then, I call on them every month to see if they need anything.

I do well with final expense and med supps as I learn this business but I would suggest you go with a captive agency that pays a salary until you get your feet wet. Or you can do what I do, work the phones all day until you sell something. I am fortunate, I have other income coming in which takes some financial pressure off, but this learning curve for an independent is costly.
 
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I do well with final expense and med supps as I learn this business but I would suggest you go with a captive agency that pays a salary until you get your feet wet. Or you can do what I do, work the phones all day until you sell something. I am fortunate, I have other income coming in which takes some financial pressure off, but this learning curve for an independent is costly.

Thanks for the input Dwayne. Have you ever been captive ? I would like to remain indy. And what companies do you rep and like for med supp an FE ?
 
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