Family First, Symmetry Financial, etc. Sick and tired of the hype? MLM insurance - just say NO!

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There are a lot of negative remarks about MLM (Multi-level Marketing), but it's good for some people. If you're an inexperienced insurance agent, it's not right for you. Why? Insurance agents need to learn this very challenging business so they can develop a successful career. Recruiting and pushing large numbers doesn't allow that.

Feel the pressure? Is your work keeping you up at night? Are you learning to be a professional or are you simply being pushed to get the big money? Is that what you're looking for in your career?

Very few insurance agents really want to be business owners and bosses. Most want to be helpful, successful and enjoy life. Is somebody telling you that you need to build a business before you know how the business works? There's something wrong with this picture . . . That something is greed.

Learn the business. Understand the business. Become an expert in the business. Then, grow the business, if you choose. Be a professional.

Are there alternatives? Absolutely! In the future: Investing in your business - do I really need to spend THAT much? Do I have to buy your leads? Do I really have to attend the expensive meetings? Does it make sense to spend thousands on recruiting, but not on training?

Questions?

 

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Last time, I promised to talk about managing your expenses in the insurance business, especially the costs of doing business with MLM companies like Symmetry, Family First and many others, all coming to you free from the blood, sweat and tears of first-hand experiences of others.

The Big Pitch in this MLM final expense wave starts with the leads program and the pay grid. Insurance marketers earn their income from the difference between your commission and your upline's overrides and bonuses subtracted from the insurance carriers' pay rates to the marketer. If you are currently working with an MLM insurance marketer, you probably went with them because of the huge hype about their pay grid. (If you explore and find their pay rates are not as good as another company, they'll tell you the value is in the company, not the pay, which may justify 5-10%, but not 30-40% or more. If you hear this, run, do not walk, away. Regardless of what business you're in, your pay need not be best, but it must be fair.)

Next, the leads program. Leads are mysterious. They're good, not so good and terrible, depending on the week you're working them. Do your research on the cost of leads in the industry, the conversion rate from lead to income. Be a professional and keep records. Leads are never the secret sauce. They are one of your tools. Has anyone talked to you about what your marketing budget should be? Have they told you how much your income should be to justify the expense? Are you doing the amount of work necessary to justify your leads expense today? Is anyone coaching you weekly in this area? If not, you're definitely in the wrong place. Make a change now. That's why you need a good mentor.

If your plan is to sell insurance until you have enough agents working for you so you can stop selling and be a full-time trainer/coach/leader/guru/rock star/boss, you've fallen for the Big Pitch. If you're not selling insurance, you can't train insurance agents. You're not perfecting your trade and your saw is not sharp. You must grow by helping agents grow. We learn by doing, not by telling. If you are an agent in New Jersey and your mentor lives in California, he's spending a lot of money on airfare or he's not training you. That's why you need a good mentor.

Check your pay grid. Talk to the insurance carriers and find out what you actually get paid when you sell a policy. Does it agree with what your marketer is telling you? That's part of the Big Pitch, exaggerating your future income. Do you know how much to expect to lose on cancellations and chargebacks which are subtracted from your gross earnings? Are you learning how to write better quality business to reduce loss? Do you know about paying income taxes on your earnings? That's why need a good mentor.

Finally, are you spending an unusual amount of money to attend motivational and educational events in distant locations? Is your upline telling you this is necessary for your success? Applying some pressure, and telling you that all the successful people attend these events? That's part of the Big Pitch. If you're being encouraged to exceed your budget rather than helping you achieve your goals by planning your business so you can afford to attend such an event, you're getting poor advice. That's why you need a good mentor.

So much untruth is being perpetuated in these MLM insurance marketing companies, causing great harm to so many agents. When confronted, the response from these marketers is "these are obviously the unsuccessful losers who couldn't make it in our business." This is a poor excuse for the failure to train and connect with hundreds and thousands of agents to help them develop a rewarding career in the insurance business. They are not taking responsibility for their failure to train the many in favor of taking the easy road and promoting the few. They have failed to perfect their systems, support agents, provide up to date technology and teach agents to use all of these amazing tools. This is partly responsible for the decline in numbers of active agents and year over year insurance sales nationally, and for the massive failures of insurance sales careers and the reputation of the insurance sales professional as a career path. Training and development is what the marketers are being paid for, not promotional meetings, renting cruise ships and hosting circus events.

Hope you found some of these items helpful to you in your ongoing career or in your career planning experience. I'll be back with more about the opportunities and setbacks in the life of an agent.

Questions?