In need of a Mentor

[elitensupreme]

So I will have software that can generate a quote? I wont have to actually contact someone at the agency? How does this whole situation work? If I have 5 different carriers will this software show my five quotes?

 

[TimLett]

Hi everyone, I am reaching out for help because I sincerely need it. The best way I know of achieving a goal is to contact people who have already achieved it and absorb their mentality.

Here is my situation. I am currently a car salesman. I work 12 hour days for a man that has basically had everything givin to him through minority grants. He is now going to lose his business because of bad financial decisions. Even though I am the best salesman we have I am actually just barely scratching my way above poverty level. He cannot keep inventory in anymore, there is no profit on our vehicles and he is starting to cut corners to try and save his azz. All of these things are diminishing my oppertunity to make money. Furthermore and more importantly the long days are killing my relationship with my fiance. We see each other for one hour every night and im afraid we are starting to grow apart. This is the woman I want to have kids with and I refuse to jepordise our future any longer.

I am here because I am absolutely determined to open an independant agency. I managed a furniture store for a while and Opened a small car lot once. I know I have the management skills to run my own business again. I am a hell of a sales man and a self starter so this is something I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I can do. I just need a push in the right direction. Insurance appeals to me because there is no product I have to restock and no huge upfront cost to opening an agency out of my home office. As well as the monthly commission pay instead of upfront and all at once. As far as i am concerned insurance is a get rich slow business.

I would be thrilled if someone would be willing to kind of take me under their wing. Or give me any input for that matter. I have learned a lot already but I still have about a million questions. If it comes to this I am willing to give up a percentage of my business for the guidence. I am usally a very private and independant person however I can see my quality of life slipping right now which is why im basically pouring my heart out to a bunch of strangers. I have been on top and been on bottom and one of the most truthfull lines I have ever heard is "when your up it never seems good enough and when your down you dont think you will ever be up again" Well guys I can tell you it sucks to have champagne taste and a beer budget.

Anyone willing to help can PM me or just respond to this. I am willing to give my real contact information if someone needs it. Well im exhausted, stressed and sleppy so goodbye for now...

E&S, I am not claiming to have all the answers.....or that I am the sharpest knife in the drawer......or that I am the brightest light on the front porch.....or that I am ......well, you get the idea.....but feel free to contact if you need some help. As I am sure you will find out, this is a great resource for new and seasoned agents.

 

[TimLett]

I sincerly appreaciate the input.

I am going to try and find a good place online to get my Life & Health license. Do you guys know of a good site?

Elite, www.license2go.com and ExamFX - Interactive Online Training are great places to start with your pre-test study course and simulated exams.

If you need help getting started or navigating through either of them, let me know.

 

[djs]

Thank you very much everyone.

Why would I need to let people come to my home office if I sell P&C insurance? Couldent I just let car dealerships generate my leads?...Give the sales guys ten bucks for everyone they sign up or something?

I am a P&C agent, and heck, I even started working out of my home. Gave it up quickly and rented an office. For some reason, it makes you far more successful.

Clients come to my office frequently. They make payments, want to discuss changes, etc, etc. I'm actually amazed at how often people come in.

The car dealers I work with want to know that you will be there for a while to work with them. An office address helps give them this perception. Again, it's not needed, but it's a nice thing to have.

All that said, you don't need a storefront on main street with glitz and a big sign. Many office buildings have offices you can rent pretty reasonably, and they provide a lobby for your clients as well, and maybe even an answering service.

Also, it's illegal in most (if not all) states to give a kickback for business written. Giving that $10 will eventually get your license yanked. It's easier to work with the finance guy at the car dealer to help him get his deals funded, than it is to give any sort of meaningful token gift. He'll appreciate it more as well.

That said, agents will offer $10, $25, $50, whatever. I know I just said you can't do it, but a few agents will try it anyway. The dealers you work with under this model are only as good as the next guy who offers $5 more than you do. You'll find it hard to succeed if you do this.

Good luck. You'll succeed if you remember that insurance is the 'get rich slow' program. If you try to get rich tomorrow, you'll go back to selling cars pretty quickly.

Dan

 

[TimLett]

So I will have software that can generate a quote? I wont have to actually contact someone at the agency? How does this whole situation work? If I have 5 different carriers will this software show my five quotes?

You should have no need to contact a carrier or agency for a quote because you will have software for your carriers for your own personal use. You should primarily be contacting carriers and speaking with underwriters for preliminary risk assessments and ratings for clients with impairments. This is a very easy process. Over 99% of the time, I simply send an email and get a reply same day...and often within the hour.

Unless you are using a online quote engine, you will simply run the client's info through your individual software applications. The learning curve of most carrier's software is very easy to go through. Also, as you become more familiar your carriers and their products, you will learn to eliminate the less beneficial or poor options right from the start, without consulting the illustration software. For example, you will learn which of your companies look favorably upon female smokers over the age of 50...or male non-smokers with a single impairment over the age of 45. You get the idea.

 

[TimLett]

Also, I am working out of a home office. How do I go about establishing an office suitable for for L&H sales? Im afraid it will be difficult for me to keep my job and still have a strong office presence throughout the day. Will a cell phone be suitable as my business line?

I totally agree with what another forum member said about having an "unlimited" plan if you are going to use a cell phone for your primary business line. And just to offer a suggestion - AT&T, Sprint/Nextel, and Verizon have all rolled out their respective unlimited plans within the last few weeks. Although I am a 5-year + AT&T customer and will not change, the Sprint/Nextel plan appears to be the best value because it is unlimited "everything" (voice, text, internet/data, etc) and not just unlimited talk like Verizon and AT&T. So, the deciding factor there should be who has the best coverage and signal strength in the area in which you will be working. With what you are going to be doing, the extras would be nice from Sprint/Nextel, but the talk-time is critical and therefore you need to primarily consider "who has the thickest coverage area". The last thing you want is to be working with a client and have a call drop or hit a dead-spot. So, think about that when making your choice.

 

[indmedins]

Wow, So I get all of this from the IHAA for 20 bucks a month? Any other fees?

No other fees.

 

[elitensupreme]

Thanks a lot guys.

I feel like you guys have educated me a ton and I am still very positive that this is something I can do however I still feel like I am in the dark about a lot of things. Let me see If I have the sales process right.

1) Generate lead. Internet, cold call ETC.

2) Call Lead and try to get them to set an appointment.(How exactly do you go about this)

3) Prepair quote with quote engine or software. (I still feel like there is a lot I dont know about here as well)

4) Meet lead with quote and sell products. (Sell myself my company and then my products?)

I know it would be possible to give them a quote over the phone but wont I have a higher success rate if I can get in front of them? What do I do if they say just give me a quote over the phone?

Overall I am pretty comfortable with the sales process where im really overwelmed is the business side of things. I want to run this through my social security number so does the business have to be called Ty's insurance agency or can I call it what ever I want? With charge backs, advances and residuals how will I keep track of my yearly income for the IRS? The order in which I plan on doing things is below. Please feel free to tell me what I need to do here.

1) Get licensed.

2) Check out IMO's and IHIAA.

3) Get as many contracts as possible.

4) Get business cards and a business line (Probably cell phone)

5) Move to part time at work. I will be off at 4PM.

6) Target family and friends to get some cash flow. (I will be more comfortable with them as well, so I can use them sort of as practice.)

7) Buy leads and sell them like everyone else.

I am sure there is a ton I am leaving out so please educate me!

 

[indmedins]

Ty,

If you decide on health insurance as your primary focus...I urge you to first talk with John at the IHIAA, ask him questions, ask to sit in on a morning chat webinar and read all you can on the IHIAA website. He has put together all you need to fully understand the marketing process and how to advise clients on their next MM health insurance purchase.

You don't need to have your license to be a member and while you are studying for your exam, you can get a jump start on the rewarding business of health sales.

 

[insureagent]

Finally something I can relate to. First of all, that earlier post about being a legal contract and much more complex than health insurance mumbo jumbo, is just that mumbo jumbo. That guy must be old timer Allstater or something to be talking like that, irritates the heck out of me, sorry.

But in any case, P&C appt is tough to get unless you got connections, already have a bob to roll or find a sympathetic accnt rep for one of the carriers whom you can sell a great biz plan on and will be willing to give you an appt. All the above very unlikely otherwise you wouldnt probably even be asking.

Another option; Ind Ins Agents, Insurance Noodle, Networked Agents and one I especially like is SIAA, all these strategic alliances can help get you started, but most except SIAA typically wont go with you unless youve already been writing some P&C. Plus E&O is an absolute must, which my buddy last time I checked is paying 3+k a year, with experience and no claims.

Third opition and most viable, find a local agent who is appointed and wants to grow their volume which almost all do and work something out with him, then you dont have to sweat the carrier appointments, and later if you highly successful you will in a year or two know the AE's and could start talking about an appt or two. OR go captive with Allstate or AmFam etc.

BUT - and this is the most important, having been #1 in my market years ago and primarilly pulling a big chunk of biz from the dealers - DONT share your intent for dealer biz with the AE's, they will run away from you. Loss ratios are incredible and they know it and I know it. Incredibly high as in unacceptable, in fact only the captives will tolerate 100% plus for an upstart for more than a year or two before pulling the plug.

Second of all, yeah you can kickback 10 bucks or so, who cares, what you gotta sell is delivery, availability and willingness to write the business even if the guy only has 100 bucks in his pocket. Because more than anything the dealer, and I always hung out with floor salesman cause they are the ones who are starving like you and I, they want to close the deal and they sure as **** arent going to let a little thing like car insurance stop the deal, and neither can you. Never, ever or your calls will stop instantly! And one final warning, rentention is poor, mine ran about 50% after 6 months. You'd be surprised how many people buy a new car and 30 days later dont pay the insurance bill. But more importantly, if they crack up the car 45 days later and go back to the dealer for a new car to find out their insurance lapsed, you better haul ass down there and make sure EVERYONE knows that you did everything by the book, or all the lot boys will spread rumors about you and your phone will turn dead.

It sucks, but if your young, hungry or just plain desperate and willing to show up weekends and evenings, you can write a lot of business.

I even had other agents in my town filing complaints with the OIC the dealer was steering business, which they werent. I was simply the only one showing up at 7 pm on a saturday to hang out with the boys and write some insurance, all the other agents in town were at home on their asses watching tv.