Diving in

[hopeful_insguy]

Guys/Gals,

This is obviously my first post here (hopefully not my last), nice to meet you all. I've been reading a good amount of posts over the last couple weeks and have taken a lot in. I apologize in advance if I sound like I don't know much of what I'm talking about. I've never sold insurance, so I obviously don't know what I'm talking about in most respects. My introduction...

I'm planning on starting the process of obtaining my health license sometime soon. It's something that I'm extremely interested in and have been wanting to do for quite some time, as I currently work with agents on a daily basis in one form or another (I won't get into my current occupation, as I'd like to remain as anonymous as possible). I love helping people, and I want to branch out and start helping consumers get insured.

First thing I'd like to sort of put out there are my short term plans. I'm wanting to obtain my license and get appointed with a few carriers and sell part-time. Part-time meaning- all the time it takes to start off with 1-2 deals a month, ramping that up to 2-4 deals a month (if I'm doing well) after a few months. If I end up doing as well as I think I can, I'll consider turning this into a full-time career. The thing is, I want to do this on my own terms. I don't want to work under or answer to anyone. I think this rules out working with a GA, if I'm wrong, correct me. From what I understand, it's next to impossible to start off in this business without a GA or IMO. I'll be glad to go the IMO route as long as it works as I understand- I pay my dues, they help me get appointed, I go to them for help if and when I need it, and they stay out of my way. Again, I don't want to "work for" anybody, that's the entire reason I want to get into this business. Like I said, I deal with agents on a daily basis, I know some do very well, and others don't. I find myself relating mostly to the agents that do.

As far as selling goes, I don't think I'll have much as a problem once I learn the ins and outs of the products I'm selling and the underwriting guidelines/processes. I can cold call and market with the best of them, I love talking to and dealing with people, even the unhappy ones. I'll cold call all day long until my socks fall off. I also have a number of other marketing ideas in mind that I hope to put to good use on a local level and on the internet. I know there's a ton of other aspects to this, but I'm just hitting on a few since this is my first post, I know there will be time for more later.

Point is- I'm very young, I'm a fast learner, I'm driven to succeed, I'm interested in the industry, and I'm looking for advice. I'll post more questions as I have them, but a couple right off the top of my head are- is my "short term" plan above feasible? I know I can find some input on the board, but can anyone lay out a quick GA vs. IMO and what would fit best for my situation? Is it possible to proceed without either? Also, as far as commissions go, are there any downsides to advanced comish apart from if you don't manage it well, you'll get screwed on chargebacks? Again, nice to meet you all, and thanks in advance for any input you can provide.

 

[Todd King]

Hi and welcome to the forum.
To answer you questions...Usually an IMO would have better contracts to give you and is designed more to "stay out of your way". To give you an example...I teach all my agents to deal direct with the companies, ie; send in paperwork, ask underwriting questions, etc. As it stands with that, yes I do get an overwrite, but it is very little...after all, the only thing I've done is to set you up on very good contracts and get you going. As for a GA, most want as much of an overwrite as they can get from you, some want you to be captive, some want you to send all your apps through them, they usually tell you how hard they are going to work for you, some do, some don't. I see a lot of GA's getting up to 40% overwrites and telling the agents they have a good deal! That's absurd! Of course, I think getting an overwrite of even 15% is ridiculous. Then again, it really is dependent on how much support you need, and it doesn't sound like you need much.
Advances....Most agents start out getting advances because they don't have a renewal base built up and need the income. Your goal should always be to work toward going on an "as earned" basis, that is, once you build a renewal base. There are a few agents out there that have started on as earned fromt he get go...I applaud them. The ones that survived this and remained in the industry you will usually find are some of the hardest workers you'll meet.
I hope this has helped you.

 

[hopeful_insguy]

Thanks, Todd. I appreciate your input.

After looking at the title I made this thread, I realize it doesn't quite fit my plans. "Diving in" would entail me putting 40-50 hours a week into this from the get-go. I guess I really need to check how warm the water is prior to cannonballing into anything. That being said, I'm still looking for as much advice from you masters on this board as I can, so keep it coming. Thanks guys, and I hope to be joining your ranks sooner rather than later.

 

[haugman]

You have to look at numbers i think before you go any further. Depending on what kind of insurance you are selling prospects takes the most time. And if your going to cold call it takes a lot of time. Then of the ones who have interest you have to figure out who is a serious buyer and who isnt. Then you have to have a presentation, see them, get them to buy, then qualify them for underwriting and all of that per case. That seems like a full time job rather than something part time to me! I know i do it every week lol

 

[VaDwayne]

Thanks, Todd. I appreciate your input.

After looking at the title I made this thread, I realize it doesn't quite fit my plans. "Diving in" would entail me putting 40-50 hours a week into this from the get-go. I guess I really need to check how warm the water is prior to cannonballing into anything. That being said, I'm still looking for as much advice from you masters on this board as I can, so keep it coming. Thanks guys, and I hope to be joining your ranks sooner rather than later.

I am new as well, but I have found that working 40-50 hours per week for yourself is completely different than doing it for someone else. I have probably put in 60 hours a week trying to do business to business prospecting, individual sales, and learning the boxes of product that flows into the house about every other day. Medicare has been the toughest for me so far. We've got to see what works best for us, but more importantly, what we enjoy doing the most.

But I love it, however, I am trying to find my way too.

1.Do I buy leads? I have and sold 1 out of 4 so far
2.Do I do direct mail? Giving it a shot now
3.How do I plan my day? Should I spend 4 hours doing Business-to-business and 5 looking for individual prospects?
4.If I do business-to-business, where do I go that day, or the next?
5. Will I do just as well by going door to door, or should I just buy leads.

I deal with these questions daily but I hope one day to figure out the things that work best for me. You will probably go through this too, we just need to keep plugging away.

 

[haugman]

The company i work for is Motorists and Chesapeake Life insurance company. They send out direct mail and give you what people send back in and they ration them out starting at 20 leads a week and you work up. I know direct mail give you a result of about 1 to 2 percent. So doing some simple math. Buy a direct mail list of people who you are prospecting. If you send a thousand people a direct mail piece that will net you 10-20 people that are of good quality. Then you can drop by their door without warning and sell them! DONT CALL THEM! Just simply drop by their door and sell them! I think a combo of all the things you mentioned is a good way to go. I think you should split your day doing half and half and its important to keep up on paperwork as well. Door to door is good but its a very low rate of return. And its usually better to do it at night when people are home. As far as business to business i have no clue i dont sell products for businesses lol