I was on the chopping block anyway

[LGilmore]

Getting termed isn't necessarily a bad thing. It all depends on what you learn about yourself in the process. I found simply that if I were going to work for an arsehole, it's best to work for one in the mirror.

If it helps you grow, it ain't all bad.

 

[Weedlebug]

I'll be next, just waiting my time for my pink slip.

...but I have an evil plan to take over the world

 

[WinoBlues]

Liberty Who?!?

F'um

 

[goillini52]

Liberty Who?!?

F'um

The company that created Torchmark. Liberty F*ckin' National.

 

[WinoBlues]

Foresters termed me for non production a year or so after I decided not to write them.

Foresters Who?

 

[evanpat]

Very, very long post ahead:

My parents always taught me "The only time that you are a failure is when you don't learn, or try to learn, from your failures."

That stuck with me. I promise you, being fired isn't the end of the world.

Let me tell you a story to tell you why, as someone who is also-sort-of-kind-of-brand-new to insurance sales, you can't give up if you want to work in this industry. These veteran players aren't blowing smoke up your rear, this is a tough, tough industry to start in.


How It Started

In Fall 2017, I was sick and tired of working furniture sales. I was 23 years old. Single. No responsibilities other than myself and my future; and I didn't see this being my career. I pursued options in fields that weren't going away and are growing. I did my homework. I looked online. I found out how many millennials are seeking jobs in insurance; the pay is stellar and a career in insurance is going to be around for a long time, even with technology changing it, sales people and advisers in insurance will always need to exist. I was making $40,000+ in a year, easily. Not bad for my age and situation in Metro Detroit, right?

First Agency

I got offered a job as a service & sales representative in a captive agency because of my prior track record of great sales and customer service skills. I wasn't qualified to sell insurance, but I sure as heck was trainable. I got licensed in P&C, Life, & Health; all paid for by the lady who hired me.

Trained me okay, but I never got to learn how to work on my feet. I was good at quoting, kind of understood the coverage. Didn't know how to upsell insurance, didn't really know how to network or market myself, was working solely internet leads, never learned how to telemarket or cold call. Slightly lower than industry average commisson structure, but hey, I didn't know that. I was brand new to insurance. I'm 23 years old at this time. I struggled, big time. As a result, I asked a ton of questions, got some answers. I'm a very inquisitive person. She ended up losing some of her veteran employees, struggled to have time to train me after that, and I ended up leaving on very good terms to find better training. But, she treated me amazingly well, was a great boss, and I genuinely appreciate her to this day. During my time, I seldom met my P&C goals, never hit life goals, never hit life goals. I barely knew how to do service work. I was awful at it. Quit in March 2018. Made less than $1,900/month post-taxes on avg.


Second Agency

Went to another agency of a similar type but a different company in the same month...with no service work, though. Thank goodness! Horrible training, didn't feel comfortable around my employers at all, but I did "okay", I met my goals for P&C, but did awful in life. Had no further training. Had a coworker harass me viciously. Incredibly awful how I was treated. I felt miserable and sick everyday at work, I quit my job after I was at the ER and the doctor even said "You seem to be under an immense amount of stress, which is how this happened." Quit in July 2018. Made less than $2,400/mo post-taxes on avg.


Third Agency

I went to another agency at the same company that I worked with in the first agency, in July 2018. BIG MISTAKE. Life insurance focused goals like crazy, and I genuinely do not enjoy selling life insurance. Oh, and service work...what the heck? Stupid me knew this going in, should have been a big red flag because I hated both and didn't have proper training. During the interview, she seemed like she was doing me a favor; there wasn't that 2-way excitement. She never trained me. I got put at a desk and was told "Go sell." I want to love life insurance, but I am not in it mentally. When I asked for advice or tips, I was met with "How come you don't know already know this?" -- But, in my time, I revamped her social media pages and workflow for all of that, organized all of her processes, etc. I didn't even finish my first 30 days; fired. Made less than $1,400/month post-taxes during my time there.

Reviewing with Myself: What Was Wrong?

I finally sat down and was like, "What the hell is going on here?" I was very real with myself. What was wrong?

I didn't find the right fit. I didn't have the right training. I didn't even know how to ask for help anymore because every time I did, something bad happened. No one told me what a good close ratio was. I wish someone did! I had a great close ratio, but no one ever told me that! I had an "okay" average premium, too. I didn't know that! I didn't know I understood P&C much less than I thought. I didn't know I was already generating more referrals than most of my coworkers. I didn't know how many calls to make, how many networking events to go, how to interpret what a prospect is saying to upsell and pivot. I didn't know how to introduce myself to someone 25-30 years older than me and have them see as a professional at the age of their children. I didn't know how to quote a life policy properly, or present one. I didn't know how to find the right policy for someone when there's so many life policies to pick from. I didn't know that *it's okay* to not like a certain type of insurance. I didn't know where to find books, podcasts, YouTube channels, forums like this one, etc. for more resources. I didn't know where to go to take more training or classes. I just didn't know nor did I have a mentor.


My Answers To My Own Questions:

Basically, I found out how poor my training was. I realized how I wasn't being honest with myself and what I was good at and bad at. I didn't trust the system because I didn't know what the heck the system was. I didn't know how to do this or look at this the right way at all. I just knew I loved working in insurance and I needed the right place to start and grow.

So, I went interviewing. I interviewed with at least 10 people. I did got offered 6 jobs. I told each person in each interview, "As you can tell, I'm not here to job hop. I'm here to have a career and a home professionally. I need the next one to be the last one for a long time. So I'm going to get back with you by XX/XX/2018 after I review my options to avoid both of us wasting any time or money."

Fourth Agency; A Lightbulb Went On......and then back out.

I received the best training I ever received. I worked for a man who was owning his first agency, it wasn't even the 2nd year of its existence. I applied, by accident, for a customer service role. We interviewed anyway. He offered me a sales role based off of my personality and skills, we hit it off. He warned me that this was still a very fresh agency; so things change a lot within it and he offered me a job *contingent on whether or not he could even afford me* -- so he met with his accountant, and offered me a job. (to be honest, this should have been a red flag, but ignore this part for now)

The Result

My performance soared. I exceeded my goals for the first 90 days by over 300% in property & casualty, 133% in commercial liability, and 102% in life. I had a property & casualty close ratio (between purchased web leads, requests online, social media, networking, friends and family, referrals, etc.) of 38%. In less than 5 months, 80% of my clients sent me at least 1 referral. I was being paid at about industry average in my area. I made no less than $4,500/month if you take a look at how long I was there, how much I made, divided by the month totals. For me, that was great. I'm 24 at this time, with a partner, but still...very little responsibilities.

I was let go due to financial issues with the agency itself, as well as all of his sales staff. He went to just him and a customer service rep.

Next Chapter

Because my boss and I had grown close professionally and see me as someone who he genuinely supported, he found me a job at the agency he used to be a sales manager at, I start there on the 26th. I accepted their offer. They designed a role around what I want. It's almost completely property and casualty based; which I love! and they're funneling thousands of dollars into my further training to teach me commercial insurance outside of my workplace so I can do that when I'm older. I can sell life if I want, no pressure, and get paid on it, with no goals regarding it; they have an entire team of life specialists who focus on that; but I'm allowed to if I want to. They're giving me unlimited flexible scheduling, benefits I never had (or heard of at the age of 24 haha), and the highest pay structure that I've ever seen in a job offer. I've met with the team, it's the largest agency I've ever stepped foot in. Many, many people my age. I got to shadow them as a part of the interview to make sure I'm a good fit in my own opinion for their company culture. I already have coworkers I get along with very well *before I even start working there* and my soon-to-be-managers already provided me with training materials prior to my start-date and have praised me for my willingness to get a headstart. With this job, if I did the same amount of work I did at the fourth agency, I would've made at least $1,800 more per month. So, I look forward to doubling and tripling my sales with this new pay structure and training.

Conclusion

Long story short, there are a ton of horrible trainers in insurance and a ton of bad starts. Learn what you like. Take your time. Find your fit. Try, try, try again. This is my 5th agency and I've been working in insurance for a little under 14 months; and I proved a ton of people wrong. I don't regret how stressful and miserable the experience was, because I worked hard and didn't give up.

 

[Rob Lion]

Jesus, the amount of fails I've had in the last 9 months lol.

 

[somarco]

You only fail when you don't get back in the saddle.

 

[tikibarrister]

I want to hear more about this chesty blonde...

 

[goillini52]

Jesus, the amount of fails I've had in the last 9 months lol.

Now that you're with Dojo, your fails should be over Ron.