How's This for a Proposal?

[davido53]

I have a relative who has a very successful independent agency on the other side of town with about 6 employees.

I am studying for my insurance license. I am wondering if I were to propose to him to open a branch agency on my side of town and set it up, he could potentially double his income.

Am I totally out of my mind? I myself do not have the capital to set up the office end of it, but I can work cheap since I am on a pension.

Do you think he would consider it?

tks

 

[briko3]

For me it would depend on your track record of selling. There are a lot of people that start out thinking this business is easier than it is. If I were him, I would take you in for a year or so and see if it's feasible after that.

Good Luck on your new career.

 

[Mark]

So you have not even got your lic yet and you think you can do what your family member can do and double his income..

HELL NO... is what he is going to tell you...

If he wanted to open another office,,why pick you?

Business is business.

 

[briko3]

He might actually be offended that you THINK you can do as well as him from the start. I would show an interest in what he does. Work for him and learn the ropes and if you feel the same way in a year or two then ask him.

 

[scagnt83]

I agree with the above posts!

No intelligent experienced agent is going to invest in a separate office (your talking an investment of thousands of dollars) for an agent who has absolutely no experience.
I dont care how close of a relative they are, if they have been in the business for more than 10 minutes they will know what a bad idea that is.


Heres the thing. There is a lot to learn in this business, and none of the things you need to know where on that test that you just passed.
They all have to be learned through experience and through mentoring by a more experienced agent.


Talk to your relative and tell him that you would like to work for them and learn the business from them.
Work out of their existing office, and learn everything you can from them.
5-10 years down the road, if you have become a successful agent, then broach the subject of a branch office.

Asking now shows ignorance/naivety not only about the insurance business, but about the business world in general.
Your relatives agency is not successful because it exists, its successful because your relative is a knowledgeable, hard working, and successful agent.

Have him mentor you. In a few years who knows, maybe he will surprise you and bring the subject up himself...

 

[davido53]

I wasn't proposing that he do it for me, but I was really wondering how an agency like his works. I know nothing about it and just thought that people come to him since he has an office on a fairly busy street, and if that works, why not open another office on the other side of town.

I know it costs thousands to set up a new office, but this fellow has probably spent over $100,000 on his home in the last 2 years.

 

[scagnt83]

I wasn't proposing that he do it for me, but I was really wondering how an agency like his works. I know nothing about it and just thought that people come to him since he has an office on a fairly busy street, and if that works, why not open another office on the other side of town.

I know it costs thousands to set up a new office, but this fellow has probably spent over $100,000 on his home in the last 2 years.

So your in a position to fork out thousands for a new office after passing your exam?? Just curious...

Walk ins really depend on where your at. In small towns you can get walk ins. In larger towns and cities the number of walk ins you get decreases drastically. It also depends on what type of insurance lines you are looking at selling. This can affect things dramatically.
As a general rule though, insurance agencies do not have people beating down the doors to buy from them. They have to prospect to find clients. This means cold calling people, buying leads, sending out mailers, advertising around town, etc. etc. etc.

I would be highly surprised if more than 20% of his business just walked in off of the street. This just does not happen in volume.

Insurance agencies are not the field of dreams... you cant just "build one and the people will come.."
Its a lot of hard work and learned skills to bring in clients to an insurance agency.


And just because this guy has spent $100k on his house in the past few years does not mean that he is willing to risk thousands on an unproven agent. His house has probably proven itself to appreciate and be a good return on investment.
You have not.
And its not just a few thousand up front. Its thousands up front and then at least a thousand (if not 2 or 3) on a monthly basis. So for a 6 month trial, your looking at $20K+....
The failure rate for new agents is over 90%!!! Would you invest $20K if there was a 90% chance of loosing that money??????



Again, I cant emphasize this enough. His agency is not successful because its an insurance agency in a good location. Its successful because of him!!! He is the key to its success.

You need at least half of his knowledge about the business before you could even be close to ready to have your own branch.

 

[djs]

On the other hand....

I agree you will need to spend some time learning the business. Also, there is no way opening a second location relates to doubling income. Does not work that way. If it did, every agent would simply open more locations.

But...

You can still work with your relative. Simply be a producer for him/her. Get a small office on your side of town, rent somewhere around $300 a month, not a flashy store front, but somewhere nice to conduct business. Prove yourself. Learn the ropes. Grow. Gain experience and confidence. Then approach a bigger storefront, perhaps staffed with someone besides yourself.

Of course, you will learn more and faster if you work in his office for a while.

Dan

 

[davido53]

Thanks, I should have taken myself out of the equation from the beginning because everyone seems to jump on the 'you are a maggot, numbnuts!' argument.

I know I have no knowledge, that's why I came here, to ask questions.

Perhaps I did not explain myself very well.

Frankly, I am so sick of looking at insurance terms in my study guide that the whole thing is making me sick to my stomach. I feel like I have an albatross around my neck.

The only reason I am going through with this testing process to just to show that I don't give up. Tomorrow...proctored test.

 

[Post Quartermaster]

Walk ins really depend on where your at. In small towns you can get walk ins. In larger towns and cities the number of walk ins you get decreases drastically. It also depends on what type of insurance lines you are looking at selling. This can affect things dramatically.
As a general rule though, insurance agencies do not have people beating down the doors to buy from them. They have to prospect to find clients. This means cold calling people, buying leads, sending out mailers, advertising around town, etc. etc. etc.

I'd agree with most of what you (and others) have said, with exception to what is quoted above....

I'm probably getting a bit off topic, here, but the "walk in individual insurance sales model" is a topic I find puzzling.....and alot of what I've seen in the past 2 years or so runs contrary to what you have stated.....

BCBS-FL was the first of the Blues to dive into the retail sales model down in Jacksonville, and the have been VERY successful in a highly populated area.....on the other hand, here in SC, the blues tried the same approach in Charleston and from everything I've seen, has flopped......although there are some other factors (primarily location), I believe that the size of the local population is a major factor here.....