Feasability of Going Indy Vs Captive with No Experience

FirstTimer

Expert
21
I recently posted this on an old SF thread I was originally in, but wanted wider visibility:

Hello everyone; it's been a while since I've been on here. I ultimately passed on the SF opportunity and am interested in going indy. Here's the rub; how does someone with no experience get appointments? In my limited exploration, without experience it's extremely difficult to keep appointments even when buying an existing book/agency. Is going indy feasible without experience? Any guidance/recommendations are greatly appreciated.
 
IMHO, you don't get appointments as an Indy with no experience. Sorry!

Go captive......with regrets, or go get ya some experience. Find an Indy agency that will hire you and train you properly either as a CSR or a Producer (Sales) agent.

This business isn't for everyone.

Good Luck!
 
IMHO, you don't get appointments as an Indy with no experience. Sorry!

Go captive......with regrets, or go get ya some experience. Find an Indy agency that will hire you and train you properly either as a CSR or a Producer (Sales) agent.

This business isn't for everyone.

Good Luck!

FirstTimer,
InsureGeek is giving you good advice. Although I am partial to the independent agent side of P&C for several reasons, there is value to being trained in a captive agency environment, if you cannot market yourself to an independent agency where you can be trained. If you choose to work in a captive agency, it doesn't mean that you have to stay captive forever.
With at least a year of P&C experience - hopefully two-plus - you will be much more marketable to other alternatives, especially if you decide to take the plunge and work for yourself. However, you never know - You may like the captive world.
But, above all - Get the experience...
If you want some other thoughts, I can be reached through my website.
Best of all to you.
 
There is nothing wrong with working at a SF or similar captive as a producer and be trained where you can then go INDY.
 
I don't think you can start in P&C as an independent because most carriers will appoint you. However, L&H is different. Life, annuity and disability insurance carriers will give a contract to just about anyone with a license.

So, depending on the line of insurance technically you could start as an independent. But if you do, you will need to get the training from somewhere.

I'm not sure how you would get it without working for someone. You might be able to find a mentor, but the typical person starting out doesn't have the money to pay anyone and successful agents, by almost by definition, don't need the money.

There are a lot of ways to learn about sales and business, but most of stuff unique to the insurance business I learned either from experience or face to face with another insurance agent.

I'm not sure how you learn the other stuff if you will need to know without working under someone for a while. But perhaps I'm not being creative enough.
 
Thanks for the advice, everyone. How do you feel about pay-for-access companies like Smartchoice? Also, does hiring an experience office manager/staff increase the odds of appointment? Thanks again.

----------

I don't think you can start in P&C as an independent because most carriers will appoint you. However, L&H is different. Life, annuity and disability insurance carriers will give a contract to just about anyone with a license.

So, depending on the line of insurance technically you could start as an independent. But if you do, you will need to get the training from somewhere.

I'm not sure how you would get it without working for someone. You might be able to find a mentor, but the typical person starting out doesn't have the money to pay anyone and successful agents, by almost by definition, don't need the money.

There are a lot of ways to learn about sales and business, but most of stuff unique to the insurance business I learned either from experience or face to face with another insurance agent.

I'm not sure how you learn the other stuff if you will need to know without working under someone for a while. But perhaps I'm not being creative enough.

How's the money in life/health compared to P&C? In your experience, will success in life and health potentially create PNC appointment opportunities? Thank you.
 
How's the money in life/health compared to P&C? In your experience, will success in life and health potentially create PNC appointment opportunities? Thank you.

I guess the money can be about the same. Not having done both as an independent I can't say that one is easier than the other. I sold P&C for MetLife in the 1980s and have sold mostly health since then.

If you work at it you can make a good buck with life or P&C or disability income for that matter. A good work ethic, a commitment to becoming more knowledgeable about your products and more skillful as a salesperson / advisor are more important than which direction you choose to go in.

However, I do think that some people are better suited to selling certain products. Selling life insurance requires a very different process than selling P&C or individual health. People won't knock on your door and say that they need a life insurance policy so that they can register their car.

Life is a different animal as far as commissions are concerned as well. You get most of your money up front and the renewals are meager. With health and P&C your FYC and your renewals for most products will be the same or about the same.

I don't mind hitting the occasional home run by selling a big life case, but I don't like ups and downs of selling life primarily or exclusively. Some people like this market for the very reason I don't.

I like having a "base pay" (a.k.a. renewals) that I can live on. That is one of the reasons I gravitated to health insurance and am moving toward P&C.

I don't recommend individual health insurance for anyone right now. The future of the market is unknown. Commissions are being eliminated or reduced. The trend is going in the wrong direction.

(I'm actually moving away from individual health and toward P&C myself. I will be aggressively marketing auto and home starting in January. I've (over) focused on individual health for the last ten years and am paying the price.)

I feel differently about the other types of health insurance. The group market seems to be much less affected by these changes. I like the Medicare Supplement / Medicare Advantage market and am actively involved in it.

I don't believe that having experience or a good book of business in another line of insurance will help you get P&C appointments. (I'm joining a cluster group to get appointments.) However experience selling other products will help you after you get the appointments. Plus you will have existing clients and it is easier to make the second sale in the house than the first.
 
Well you have a decision tree here. I'll lead you down one path, but it is biased.

"Begin with the end in mind"- 7 habits of Highly effective people.

Decision #1:

What end of the Ins Spectrum do you want? if you answered P&C keep reading. If ''Other" wait for the others to respond

Decision #2: Captive or Independent.

Captive:
Pro: They will teach you a lot but inevitably you will go Indy at some point in your career. Another Pro, they will subsidize your life for a time.
Con: The District Manager will push too hard or force life on you or cut your commissions or change your contract, or, ext, ext. Your Captive will take rate increases and kill your production and you will have one price point while others dissect your book one policy at a time.

Independent: :
Pro: Control expenses. Get higher commission. Higher conversion. Higher retention. All of those factors equal more money.
Con: Starting out. Getting knowledge. Your personality type could sink yourself.

Decision #3:

Once you decide Indy is for you, in the next week or 22 yrs from now. The question will be how to do it. Your options include:

Buy an agency.
Join a group.
Become a producer for an agency.
Get direct appointments.
Get an agency that provides the back end service so you can hunt full time.

You decide which one is best for you.


Decision #4: What group should I join?

There are a lot. Consider the following. NOT ALL GROUPS ARE CREATED EQUAL! They range from good, better and best.

Any group claiming to be best of class should provide the following:
1. Transparency
2. Training and support
3. Carrier Alignment
4. and a great Contract
Give me a call, shoot me am IM. Good luck and have fun with your choices.

I have been in Insurance for 13+ years and the great thing in this industry is you can choose to never stop learning. Your learning curve is never ending. Meaning you will never get board.
 
Well you have a decision tree here. I'll lead you down one path, but it is biased.

"Begin with the end in mind"- 7 habits of Highly effective people.

I LOVE that book. My 11-year-old and I are reading a few pages every night from the book his son wrote that is targeted at teens. It is part of our bedtime ritual.

We are going to read the adult version next year, unless we go through the teen version twice.

I can't think of a better contemporary book to read and reread.
 
I've never sold P&C, so can't comment on that...but I guess its probably the same with any line.

Life/health/annuity... I would recommend going captive and learning the business. I did not and I can tell you its a MUCH bigger learning curve than I ever expected. If I had it to do over I would have gotten trained before setting out on my own. Learning what to do and how to do it is much more important to long term success than having a higher contract. Just my .02
 
Back
Top