Insurancesquared.com

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

Glenn knows his stuff but there's a hidden agenda with many of the postings over there. You're not missing anything by avoiding that site.

 

[Brad Howard]

In fairness I see that in both forums. It takes a while to learn who knows his stuff and who is obviously pressing their personal agenda. I'm still learning here. What I do like is many of you clearly know one and another and so it makes for a more spirited exchange......

 

[Sam]

I have to agree with Brad on this one, everyone has their own agenda, me, Brad, Chumps, John etc... Glenn is pretty clear on what his services are, so I don't think anything is really hidden. The fact is, he is good at what he does, web marketing, promotion, and lead generation etc...

I have learned a few seo tricks from his posts and I think it is valuable to have multiple forums out there.

 

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

OK. I guess I should lay all of my cards on the table. I'm reluctant to do this, but it is lent. Oh...that's right. I'm not Catholic.

Well...anyway...here is my agenda, as offensive as it appears.

I want EVERY PERSON on this forum to give give up their license and move to Ohio. Yes, it is true that I will be writing your policy. And yes, it is true that you will need to find new jobs. But it will benefit ME...and that's a priority that we must all keep in mind.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

I'm currently writing a book:

"NEVER CLOSE AGAIN!"

where I teach people how to make money by:

*Never having to prospect
*Never having to give another presentation
*Never having to meet with another client

I'll expose some of my money-making secrets for people who are tired of trying to close deals:

*Auto mechanic
*Librarian
*Baker

But I don't want to expose too much

 

[moonlightandmargaritas]

I have to agree with Brad on this one, everyone has their own agenda, me, Brad, Chumps, John etc... Glenn is pretty clear on what his services are, so I don't think anything is really hidden. The fact is, he is good at what he does, web marketing, promotion, and lead generation etc...

Excellent point, Sam.

I've found that if the advice/post/agenda has to do with making money off the agent, or selling them something, it may not be objective.

On the other hand, those of us who have no axe to grind, so to speak, can be more objective as we are NOT trying to sell leads, websites, systems, contracts, etc.

I've spoken with about 10 "noobs" (2yrs or less experience) in the last couple of weeks - the amount of crap out there that people try to sell new agents (who don't know what they don't know) is mind-boggling.

Caveat emptor.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

What all noobs need does not exist. They need to join an independent agency giving them a small base pay, office to go to, in-class training and solid leads.

Any new agent would and should be willing to take a significant commission hit just to stay at a place like that making maybe $25K base and a small commission over that.

But what's available is only captive outfits - UGA, NAA, New York Life, Monumental where you're given no leads (or bad ones) lacking training and no independence to sell a variety of products.

At minimum someones needs to start an insurance school which could educate new agents on the ABCs of everything from contracting to marketing.

 

[warrenins]

Very good point Healthagent. It's really a shame that you have all this enthusiasm from the new agents and they don't get the guidance they need. I guess the challenge is trying to figure out what we as an industry can do more to help. The mentality of a lot of these companies seems to be, bring in new agents "train" ( I use that term loosely) them let them solicit family and friends and then when they leave the insurance company has a few policies on the books, all a numbers game. My BBA was in Risk Management and Insurance and how many times do you think the agency side of the business was explained, much less mentioned to us.

I guess the flip side is, you can put money and time into training a new agent and then they decide insurance isn't for them because people seem to think selling insurance would be easy. Moonlight is right. The crap they try to sell new agents, when all they want to do is get into a career and hopefully make a living.

I guess that's what forums like this can try to do. Help the ones fortunate enough to make it here.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

Well the most senior, ethical and established agents wouldn't hire agents on a bet. They know it's an incredible amount of headache for little return.

So who's left to hire and train?

 

[moonlightandmargaritas]

The problem is this;

There are only two types of people in life...those who have the "employee" mentality, and those who have the "owner" mentality.

The people that do well in this business have the "owner" mentality - it's just what's required to be successful.

I've hired many agents. When one of the first questions they'd ask me is about "what kind of benefits do I get?" - I knew it was NOT a good fit.