Im a New to the Industry (Farmers Insurance)

[agentinsiderdan]

Hello everyone I am new to the industry and ready to learn. I have read many post and I know all the negative about Farmers. But now I would really just like some advice as to what I should do. I have a full time job and no money but I want to break into the industry. I have been with them for two mounths and I have learned much. Doing this part time I have 14 PIF. I now have a PT telemarketer and I average 10 leads a week (SHE JUST STARTED), also I send 500 mailers a week.(Keep in mind that I only fund farmers with cash from farmers)All though I am the tope reserve in my office I want to quit my job and BLOW this THING UP! So please help me with marketing advice, scripts websites, and any other knowledge. PLEASE oh PLEASE dont't beat me up for chooseing farmers cause even with all the bad I have heard they have been good to me. Im just tryin to mmake a good life for my family.

 

[STIBROKER]

Re: Im a New to the Industry. (Farmers Insurance)

So please help me with marketing advice, scripts websites, and any other knowledge. .....Im just tryin to mmake a good life for my family.

hummmm....sell a product that you would sell to yourself and your family.......

 

[agentinsiderdan]

Re: Im a New to the Industry. (Farmers Insurance)

Well do have farmers policies for myself and family I jus was pointing out that the 14 I have is from people outside my "natrual market"

 

[Guest]

Re: Im a New to the Industry. (Farmers Insurance)

learn all you can, so when you go IA in 3-5 years, you are ready.

Dont get yourself in debt thou, Farmers will suck you in to where you cant get out.

 

[agentinsiderdan]

Re: Im a New to the Industry. (Farmers Insurance)

Thanks for the advice. I do wonder though how do you get in debt with them as of now I don't see how that happens and about how much startup cost is it to go independent?

 

[VolAgent]

Re: Im a New to the Industry. (Farmers Insurance)

Thanks for the advice. I do wonder though how do you get in debt with them as of now I don't see how that happens and about how much startup cost is it to go independent?

That subsidy for career agent? Its a loan. You fail to hit goals and you have to repay it.

 

[kman]

Re: Im a New to the Industry. (Farmers Insurance)

Unfortunately you are very naive, just what Farmers wants. Your office expenses will easily eat up more than what you earn in commissions. That is why Farmers offers you a subsidy, which IS a loan and must be repaid unless you "run to daylight" after year 4 or 5. You will also be pressured to purchase AMP leads, which are overpriced. You will be competing against 21 Century, which is suspected to be getting your leads that YOU input into ECMS. Your new business auto rate is much lower than your in-force auto renewals if they have been on the books for a few years. You signed a 1 sided contract that won't allow you to broker ANY business and won't allow you to say anything disparaging about Farmers, effectively killing your bashing of Farmers while you are an agent, which I think will be a very short time. Nothing against you personally, but asking about marketing techniques while trying to sell for Farmers right now is a recipe for disaster. True PIF of Farmers has been dropping for the last 4 years at an alarming rate, but has been hidden by Zurich's appetite for purchasing other insurance companies. All the bashing that you read about on the internet is from current and former agent's who started out with your enthusiasm, grew a large agency just to have Farmers piss away thousands of long-term policyholders (your residual income). Good luck in your future as it probably won't be with Farmers, BELIEVE ME, that's a good ting!

 

[Bertolinoins]

Re: Im a New to the Industry. (Farmers Insurance)

learn all you can, so when you go IA in 3-5 years, you are ready.

Dont get yourself in debt thou, Farmers will suck you in to where you cant get out.

This is probably the best advice you can get. I would also suggest you market and X Date extremely hard so that you have a database of 1500-2000 commercial prospects that you can hit the ground running with as an IA in 2/3 years after you have learned the business. Keep all contact and prospect info on a separate ACT database that belongs to you and is not FIG's property.

 

[peewee]

Re: Im a New to the Industry. (Farmers Insurance)

Hello everyone I am new to the industry and ready to learn. I have read many post and I know all the negative about Farmers. But now I would really just like some advice as to what I should do. I have a full time job and no money but I want to break into the industry. I have been with them for two mounths and I have learned much. Doing this part time I have 14 PIF. I now have a PT telemarketer and I average 10 leads a week (SHE JUST STARTED), also I send 500 mailers a week.(Keep in mind that I only fund farmers with cash from farmers)All though I am the tope reserve in my office I want to quit my job and BLOW this THING UP! So please help me with marketing advice, scripts websites, and any other knowledge. PLEASE oh PLEASE dont't beat me up for chooseing farmers cause even with all the bad I have heard they have been good to me. Im just tryin to mmake a good life for my family.

Yep, they will be "good" to you until you have written all your friends and family and make it to the career status, then you're just another piece of meat to them. Bend over, get your heels and hang on. They will rip you a new one, sorry but true. The best advice I can give you is RUN, tell them you've heard from seasoned agents just how the deal goes down and you're not going to get screwed over like they do all of us eventually. Been here 16 years and they can run off more customers with half _ _ _ service than you can imagine. Their billing is horrific, they put people in u/w jobs without training, they do training on what to write but not how to write it correctly then slap your E&O carrier with a claim if you pee on the lid wrong. The company has absolutely no ethics, no sense, no morals, no value for their agents. Your just new meat in the case, when you get what you can written and sucked in far enough you can't get out, your done. How's that DM??? Have you met your DMM yet? No doubt both will be an A-Hole, it's a job requirement.

 

[DSInsurance]

Re: Im a New to the Industry. (Farmers Insurance)

The way to get around the subsidy is any money they give you. Don't spend a dime of it, put it into savings or Money market account. Most likely you will be paying it back as the failure rate is 90% or higher for new agents with Farmers. I know since I used to be a recruiter for them a few years ago. I only did it for 8 months as I had to quit because I did not agree ethically what I was doing. I interviewed people, but the interview was trying to make them think they were interviewing while I was secretly hyping them up saying that it is easy and you will make a ton. When the DM says you need to bring on 4 new agents a month or I lose my job, it makes you think wow what did I get myself into.

You may very well succeed, but do expect that your own money will have to eventually get put back into your agency whether you are captive or not. I am captive, and I have nice perks with my company, and I put about 5K last year into my business with my own money. Keep in mind my office is based in my home too. Indy's will spend much more than that.

Anyways, get experience with Famers, don't spend the subsidy. Stay as long as you can without having to open an office. Get experience and go from there. There is an older website that helps too.

www.farmersinsurancegroupsucks.com

It really paints a clear picture even though some of the posts are several years old. Good luck!!!

DS