I've read some postings about people interested or looking at buying into a State Farm franchise and becoming an agent, so I figured I'd post something slightly recent.
I started my P&C journey at State Farm under an agent. The goal from day one was to fast track into the agent aspirant program and get my own office, which I very quickly rethought once I got in there.
I hope this may give a little insight to someone before they get locked in one of those contracts:
1) Their marketing plan sucks
SF wants to be on every street corner it seems. I worked 20 minutes from my house and would pass 3 -4 offices before I got to my own. They are following the early Starbucks plan of having a storefront everywhere which canabalizes the market. In our area there were over 26 State Farm agents and agents were actually competing with each other, making the whole experience a nightmare.
My office was in the less than ideal part of town (... there was a shooting in the parking lot during business hours, I had to call the cops because there were people shooting up and ODing in the parking lot, storefronts being kicked in at night, etc...)and our job was to capture the business in our little area. Problem is... SF is a little stuck up on UW and they only want the best of the best for customers. Considering that our area was probably 85% welfare/ low income/ bad credit, these weren't the prospects we could do much with without access to SR22.
2)You don't "own" your book, you "manage" their book
Was not a fan of this at all. I didn't realize this is how it worked going into P&C, but never really thought about it. Why would I invest MY time to build YOUR business with little in return?
3)Financial investment
Again... why would I invest MY money into YOUR business? Why not take that money and start my own agency, creating a revenue stream indefinitely?
4)Less focused on service, consumed with sales
You can sell your heart out all day long, but if your service sucks... you won't keep them around. The agent had no real interest in perfecting his customer service process internally, which was odd since most of my sales actually came from in book cross sells. Besides that, we had customers asking to NOT talk to the agent because they didn't like him or his level of service. SF doesn't make service a priority, they just beat you down over numbers.
5)Morale is similar to a cancer ward
When it is good, it is tolerable. When it is bad, it is hell. UW and internal service are not overly helpful except for a handful. As far as local office staff, attrition often has little to do with sales numbers as much as the negativity of the managing agent. After I left, the agent became abusive to one of the other producers and another agent just recently fired her entire staff. I know each office is different, but overall it seems the only people who are excited about the company or product are new or they are the perpetually happy kind of person.
6)Corporate America is still there
After spending 6 years inside UHC corporate offices, I realized that I have a general distaste for the pomp and ceremony of corporate america. SF... corporate america. I don't roll over or kiss posteriors for VPs or even EVPs, nor do I think they are better than I am and deserve anything more than the respect you give anyone else.
7)Independent agent isn't really independent
I really think the independent "captive" agent is a paradox. You are an nonsalaried employee of sorts. Do as you are told, or lose your contract... which is fine overall, but there needs to be a removal of the micromanaging to make the "opportunity" more palatable.
8)Short sighted on what the customer wants
This can be said for most of the big names. Geico seems to be more in tune with their customers, but that's because you have Buffet at the helm. Pushing IFRs and cold calling you in book business to push banking products is annoying to the average customer, especially those who you don't have an active relationship with. With SF, it is a turn and burn mentality... take the money and hope they stay. They say "build relationships", but they don't put much of a priority on it like they did 20 years ago... but then again, does the customer want a relationship?
Before you sign the contract, I would shadow an office and also talk to the office staff. Maybe even just work as a producer for a little to get a feel of the system.
I started my P&C journey at State Farm under an agent. The goal from day one was to fast track into the agent aspirant program and get my own office, which I very quickly rethought once I got in there.
I hope this may give a little insight to someone before they get locked in one of those contracts:
1) Their marketing plan sucks
SF wants to be on every street corner it seems. I worked 20 minutes from my house and would pass 3 -4 offices before I got to my own. They are following the early Starbucks plan of having a storefront everywhere which canabalizes the market. In our area there were over 26 State Farm agents and agents were actually competing with each other, making the whole experience a nightmare.
My office was in the less than ideal part of town (... there was a shooting in the parking lot during business hours, I had to call the cops because there were people shooting up and ODing in the parking lot, storefronts being kicked in at night, etc...)and our job was to capture the business in our little area. Problem is... SF is a little stuck up on UW and they only want the best of the best for customers. Considering that our area was probably 85% welfare/ low income/ bad credit, these weren't the prospects we could do much with without access to SR22.
2)You don't "own" your book, you "manage" their book
Was not a fan of this at all. I didn't realize this is how it worked going into P&C, but never really thought about it. Why would I invest MY time to build YOUR business with little in return?
3)Financial investment
Again... why would I invest MY money into YOUR business? Why not take that money and start my own agency, creating a revenue stream indefinitely?
4)Less focused on service, consumed with sales
You can sell your heart out all day long, but if your service sucks... you won't keep them around. The agent had no real interest in perfecting his customer service process internally, which was odd since most of my sales actually came from in book cross sells. Besides that, we had customers asking to NOT talk to the agent because they didn't like him or his level of service. SF doesn't make service a priority, they just beat you down over numbers.
5)Morale is similar to a cancer ward
When it is good, it is tolerable. When it is bad, it is hell. UW and internal service are not overly helpful except for a handful. As far as local office staff, attrition often has little to do with sales numbers as much as the negativity of the managing agent. After I left, the agent became abusive to one of the other producers and another agent just recently fired her entire staff. I know each office is different, but overall it seems the only people who are excited about the company or product are new or they are the perpetually happy kind of person.
6)Corporate America is still there
After spending 6 years inside UHC corporate offices, I realized that I have a general distaste for the pomp and ceremony of corporate america. SF... corporate america. I don't roll over or kiss posteriors for VPs or even EVPs, nor do I think they are better than I am and deserve anything more than the respect you give anyone else.
7)Independent agent isn't really independent
I really think the independent "captive" agent is a paradox. You are an nonsalaried employee of sorts. Do as you are told, or lose your contract... which is fine overall, but there needs to be a removal of the micromanaging to make the "opportunity" more palatable.
8)Short sighted on what the customer wants
This can be said for most of the big names. Geico seems to be more in tune with their customers, but that's because you have Buffet at the helm. Pushing IFRs and cold calling you in book business to push banking products is annoying to the average customer, especially those who you don't have an active relationship with. With SF, it is a turn and burn mentality... take the money and hope they stay. They say "build relationships", but they don't put much of a priority on it like they did 20 years ago... but then again, does the customer want a relationship?
Before you sign the contract, I would shadow an office and also talk to the office staff. Maybe even just work as a producer for a little to get a feel of the system.
Makes me think you're Satan.
