Ideal Concepts Inc

[papercutter]

I had vision of talking to 20-30 qualified leads per day. Reality is that when I have been able to get past the first 3 sentences of the script only a fraction have been eligible to do make any changes. They say that they are aware of the leads issue and it is getting corrected however I can't afford to wait for it to get better.

jitendra, thanks for offering an honest account of your experience. Even if you are licensed in 15 states, there are lots of times when you go forever between calls before you actually get to speak to a person for more than 30 seconds. I also found that their "brand new" leads were often several days old. That's an eternity for health insurance. Then, their BSing managers endlessly email you boasting of how everyone else on the platform is writing 10 deals a day and how come you aren't too?

 

[Lourdes2017]

Hey guys! Sorry I've been MIA. Too busy KILLING it. :-P
I notice you all have plenty of time, perhaps that means you're not actually SELLING BUSINESS 10 hours a day like I am?? This is literally the first day I've had a free moment, since they extended the deadline by two days. This is the first day it's been slow enough for me to even take a break.
Yes, 5% commissions is low. I'm missing out on about 2% more, right? Except I'm doing four times the volume you clowns are.
It's very easy math, would you like me to break it down for you?
5% commissions. Average premium- $450. That means $22.50 per month. 12 months, that's $270. Add a dental plan, average cost $30, 25% commission, 12 months, that's another $90. Add an accident plan, average cost $30, 35% commission, 12 months, that's another $126. Are you still with me, idiots? Total yearly commission on ONE client: $486. If I sold one per day the whole year, that'd be $100K. Luckily, during OEP I've been averaging 6 per day while you idiots sit on your butts and talk to strangers on the internet about something you know nothing about.
Anyone with half a brain in the business knows that commissions could be 100% and that wouldn't matter if you can't get in front of a hot lead. If you spend most of your day calling dead numbers and not actually talking to clients, you're not going to sell anything.
SO, for all you non believers- I've attached a copy of my last commission check.
You'll notice my year to date is over $85K. That's not including my residuals, that only includes my New Business! I'm definitely going to go over $130K this year.
You'll also notice my commissions this week were low, but that's because I'm selling a lot of 1-1 business that isn't going to pay out until at least January. What I did get paid on was all my short term and supplemental business.
Yes, United pulled commissions. Guess what? I don't sell United anymore (except short term). We just pulled out of any state that we depended on United and went into other states where our other carriers are strong. Luckily, we work with like 17 carriers. United was barely a bump in the road.
Also, when I last was on here, I don't think our private health exchange was up and running. It is now. I can do ONE full application for health, dental, vision, critical illness, and accident in 5 minutes, on ONE page. No wonder I'm closing 6 deals a day on average (11 yesterday!) while you guys are trolling the internet.

Hi Salesgirl
I have been searching around for this company because It looks a great company to work for.
I really appreciate your input in this company. You said that to be a remote agent you have to have experience. I do not have experience on this field. What do recommend for me to start having experience before I apply for this company?
Thanks in advance,
Lourdes

 

[buffbug]

hello i just got my license a week ago, looking for a job.will i need to get appointed by ideal concepts. anyone know how to apply for ideal concepts. and im licensed in life in health in only one state. so can i sell over the phone nation wide?
also how much should i expect in the first month working 40hrs week with average sale? what is salesradix.com?

 

[salesgirl]

Hi Salesgirl
I have been searching around for this company because It looks a great company to work for.
I really appreciate your input in this company. You said that to be a remote agent you have to have experience. I do not have experience on this field. What do recommend for me to start having experience before I apply for this company?
Thanks in advance,
Lourdes

Hi!

Some of my friends have worked in call centers before coming on board. (The Hartford, Aetna, etc.) Or you can buy leads and sell independently for a while.
I also think they sometimes take people with extensive sales backgrounds. I know at least one agent who wasn't selling insurance before but sold cars for a long time. They might have made an exception for him, I dunno.

Hope this helps! (Sorry I'm late.)

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hello i just got my license a week ago, looking for a job.will i need to get appointed by ideal concepts. anyone know how to apply for ideal concepts. and im licensed in life in health in only one state. so can i sell over the phone nation wide?
also how much should i expect in the first month working 40hrs week with average sale? what is salesradix.com?

Hey!

Joe C. is my favorite recruiter and you can probably just email him at [email protected] to apply. You will need to get more state licenses. Like, a ton. The more you have, the better the lead flow. I have all of the states we sell in right now, I think I'm up to 35. But if you start smaller and work your way up, that's good.

I think you p.m.ed me and I just answered so check your messages!

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Sorry if I come across as negative, but honestly, I used to work for Ideal Concepts and, while they do try hard to help their agents succeed, you will be working a market that is just not good.

Their agents are pressured to sell their overpriced supplemental products (with a $50 application fee, non-commissionable). That is the only product that really makes money for you. Their short term med plans pay low commission (like 16%) and are a tough sell since they're not ACA-compliant health plans. Also, while they claim you will have opportunities to cross-sell Life Insurance, their platform really isn't built for that and you won't be selling much of that.

From someone who has been in this business for over a decade, I would recommend you look into some opportunity to sell life insurance over the phone. Its just not nearly as tough to make a living at that.

Papercutter is right about one thing: Health insurance is a tough market right now. Hopefully the new administration figures it out and it gets easier again, but in the meantime, if you want to sell health, Ideal Concepts is probably the best place to do it. Maybe he's right selling life is easier for him, but I personally think its a harder sell. Less people need/want it than health.

Now on to what he's lying about this time: Short term med commissions are 20%!! I have no idea why he flat out lied about that. Call them up directly yourself and just point blank ask them what short term med pays- 610.740.0000. Also, short term is not hard to sell- the people shopping right now don't have an SEP to buy ACA anyway, so what the heck else are you going to sell them but short term?? And during OEP, ACA is a slam dunk.

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Sorry if I come across as negative, but honestly, I used to work for Ideal Concepts and, while they do try hard to help their agents succeed, you will be working a market that is just not good.

Their agents are pressured to sell their overpriced supplemental products (with a $50 application fee, non-commissionable). That is the only product that really makes money for you. Their short term med plans pay low commission (like 16%) and are a tough sell since they're not ACA-compliant health plans. Also, while they claim you will have opportunities to cross-sell Life Insurance, their platform really isn't built for that and you won't be selling much of that.

From someone who has been in this business for over a decade, I would recommend you look into some opportunity to sell life insurance over the phone. Its just not nearly as tough to make a living at that.

Hello salesgirl,

I joined this site for the sole purpose of asking you a few questions about ideal concepts.

I am a captive agent licensed in about 20 states with 10 different carriers. Currently only selling medicare plans. I was researching ideal concepts when came across your thread. You seem honest & informed about ideal concepts so I wanted to ask a couple questions.

Can you tell me a little bit more about what products & what states & carriers ideal concepts has the most success with? What is your bread & butter?? & How does Ideal concepts make it's $$? I know they keep the residuals but I also read something about a $50 application fee or a membership fee? can you elaborate? any other fees or anything one should know about?

You mention you can work from home and set your own hours but you must work at least 40 hours wkly. It also seems like the amount of leads you receive is based on hours worked. Can you explain this a little more? eg. Are x # of leads distributed every hour? Is their set shifts? or can you work whenever you want as long as you work 40 hours? How is time off handled? What if I want to take a couple of days or a week off, how would that be handled?

Any time you spend answering my questions would be greatly appreciated!

I'll p.m. you. Papercutter obsessively stalks me and it honestly worries me. I'd rather talk privately.

 

[Ironmike87]

Sorry if I come across as negative, but honestly, I used to work for Ideal Concepts and, while they do try hard to help their agents succeed, you will be working a market that is just not good.

Their agents are pressured to sell their overpriced supplemental products (with a $50 application fee, non-commissionable). That is the only product that really makes money for you. Their short term med plans pay low commission (like 16%) and are a tough sell since they're not ACA-compliant health plans. Also, while they claim you will have opportunities to cross-sell Life Insurance, their platform really isn't built for that and you won't be selling much of that.

From someone who has been in this business for over a decade, I would recommend you look into some opportunity to sell life insurance over the phone. Its just not nearly as tough to make a living at that.

Hey PaperCutter,

Have you successfully sold life insurance by phone at home? If so, which company did you sell for?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[dbrown]

Still working for IC?

 

[lgron]

The commission levels are actually right at street or directly below. For instance, I know with UnitedHealthcare I was getting 5% writing direct. Or at least, that's what their street level went down to, I think I left before the 2014-2015 commissions went into effect. Right now, I make 5% with United. I have friends in Arizona that were making 4% with United and they actually got a bump up in commissions with my company! I think Humana and Aetna are right around the same.

The commission cut is peanuts compared to the leads. I mean, I was spending maybe $1500 a month on buying leads- and they were crappy leads. Ideal Concepts spends on average $3-$4K a month per agent on leads. That's over $40K in leads per year- well above the commission cut.

Where you do lose money is on renewals. (They do the full first year of residuals, no second year.) But if you actually took a look at your second year renewals, I bet they are considerably lower than they were before healthcare reform- clients just don't keep their plans as long as they used to. My renewals before I switched were maybe $20K if I was lucky and worked my butt off to keep them on plans. So with some simple math, you can do what I did, add my marketing costs to my renewals costs and you'd see it's still substantially lower than the $40K they give me in free leads. In addition to that, I am closing literally 3 TIMES THE AMOUNT of business I was closing before. Seriously. Because they have a predictive dialer, because of sheer amount of leads they provide, because I'm not keeping track of clients or anything, I'm just selling. No more driving to appointments, no more 2 hour meetings, just sell sell sell on the phone. My last year as an indepedent agent I brought home just over $50K. I've now been here over a year and I tracked over $100K my first year- I totally expect to make $130,000 this year. (And this is ASTOUNDING to me. I'm not college educated, I was happy to be making $50K before, and now I make more than my friend who is a physical therapist and went to school for like 7 years!)

Obviously, you don't own your book, you're not getting renewals. But I remember spending so much time trying to keep old clients for a measly 2% and now I can just spend that time selling a brand new client at 5%. Plus, the supplementary products are where you make all your money. TONS of short term outside of OEP, dental, accident, critical illness, etc.

This type of captive position is not for everyone. You have the freedom to set your own hours, but you have to be working full time. You get free leads, free technology, (dialer and CRM) and fair commissions, but you can't sell any none approved health or life products. I'm not sure why people are so skeptical or talk badly about companies they know nothing about. Again, it may not be the right choice for everyone, but I am extremely happy here. I was never good at lead generation, or networking or cold calling or door knocking. But I excel at sales, and that's all I'm doing now.

Keep talking negatively but I suggest you do your research first. I don't benefit from bringing new agents on (no typical FMO structure of recruitment) and in fact, why would I want more competition? But I hate hearing people talk badly about a company that has been such a blessing to me, especially when they have no idea what they're talking about!

P.S. To the guy who said they cut commissions? EVERYONE is cutting commissions. Every single year carriers cut their commissions. So does Ideal Concepts, once a year, in line with the industry. Duh. And there is only two sales managers- who have nothing to do with you after training. It's not like they're doling out leads- if my sales manager doesn't like me, there is nothing he can do to me. How could he "play favorites"?? He doesn't set commissions or bonus programs or trip rewards.

sounds promising, i think i'll look into it.

 

[LarryF]

Still sounds like a pretty positive company to work for and with!

 

[Chazm]

Sounds horrible to me

 

[lgron]

why are you still there then after 6 months??