Is This a Good Agency Agreement

[Guest]

Guy, wasnt the OP new thou, he needs to save as much money as possible and put into marketing....or did i get lost in the thread somewhere?

Post Pics of your office, show that SOB off, be proud buddy! LOL

 

[Insurance-Guy]

Guy, wasnt the OP new thou, he needs to save as much money as possible and put into marketing....or did i get lost in the thread somewhere?

Post Pics of your office, show that SOB off, be proud buddy! LOL

He said he has been doing this for about a year I thought? I am not saying he needs to be paying money for a office...he needs to find a new office to work at! I think he has a horrible deal. Commission fair at best and with all of the expenses on him...and he doesn't own the book he is building anyway so I would start looking around and try to find a IA that is near retirement! There are a load of them out there he could work for one for a few years and then look to buy the book.

And not disagreeing with the marketing. But I just think in the right settings a office can be a huge value. It also can be one of the best forms of advertising as well if it is in the right location. I know mine are a huge value to our business. Its so funny because when I am doing a quote for someone and ask them if they need directions or if they know where we are located 90% of them say "no I ride past your office every day and see your sign" the other 10% must be blind! May post some pics up...I am proud for sure.

 

[toehill]

You are the guy in lane 4.

 

[DecisionMan]

Newer agents typically go through a few rounds of agencies and career-contracts before seeing the light.

Instead of saying "I'm getting this percentage and this stuff" I'd recommend looking at it this way: Is what you're paying out of the gross commission worth the value you're receiving?

Example: Of 100% commission available on a deal, lets say you get 70%. This means you're essentially paying 30% to the agency for whatever you're getting.

Is it worth it?

Because as so many have already pointed out in this thread, if you're producing then usually its better to be on your own or get a better deal.

But newer agents know they need training and hope to get it at the agency, and there are tons of agencies and career-shops that always claim to offer training - but rarely do. Its almost a perpetual disappointment.

And being in a small town makes it worse if limited options. Perhaps you could do a little travelling to where there's a good NYL, NWM, MM office with a reputation for good training and put in a few years (as long as you verify the training), or sign up for some American College courses to really see how to build cases while working on your own.

Then there's the contacts one makes through this forum that are especially valuable (off-line) for case development, sales help, comfort on a bad day, or kicks in the butt when you're lazy.

But the deal you currently have isn't really that good, inspite of the office location

 

[Guest]

He said he has been doing this for about a year I thought? I am not saying he needs to be paying money for a office...he needs to find a new office to work at! I think he has a horrible deal. Commission fair at best and with all of the expenses on him...and he doesn't own the book he is building anyway so I would start looking around and try to find a IA that is near retirement! There are a load of them out there he could work for one for a few years and then look to buy the book.

And not disagreeing with the marketing. But I just think in the right settings a office can be a huge value. It also can be one of the best forms of advertising as well if it is in the right location. I know mine are a huge value to our business. Its so funny because when I am doing a quote for someone and ask them if they need directions or if they know where we are located 90% of them say "no I ride past your office every day and see your sign" the other 10% must be blind! May post some pics up...I am proud for sure.

No Kidding.......if people are accepting this kind of contract, I need to rework mine for producers.....

 

[Cypher1]

Thanks again for all the responses! You guys are great!! To answer a couple of questions. I have been at if for about a year, but our agent agreements recently changed. Before we got 70% regardless of production. The change was to "incentivize us" and become a "producer driven agency". Getting my start it seemed pretty good. 70% of the take, a nice office and staff to help. Also, having all my appointments with companies taken care of. Owning the commission after two years seemed pretty good as well. What that means is that if we leave the agency and stay in the business we can not try and move all the clients over to our new shingle. However, we will continue to receive residual commissions that continue to come in. A few other things I was told when I signed up was that as an agency, the owner has negotiated higher commissions (by representing the volume we sell). That was supposed to minimize that 30% split vs. going out on my own and getting a "street level" contract. Does this jive with your experience?

 

[Chazm]

It's easy, when you sell a final expense policy, how much do you get? Not, 50 or 70% of what your boss gets but what is your portion of the premium?

If the premium is $50/month or $600 a year. How much of that do you get?

 

[Cypher1]

It's easy, when you sell a final expense policy, how much do you get? Not, 50 or 70% of what your boss gets but what is your portion of the premium?

If the premium is $50/month or $600 a year. How much of that do you get?

It always depends on the company. The commish is a 50/50(or whatever your production incentive is) split of whatever the negotiated commish is. For example, most life we get about 100% of the premium 1st year. That can differ depending on company. We also have some support through Marketing organizations we have a contract with (life, DI and LTC). I was under the impression that if I walk up to company x and ask to sell for them they pay y commish to a street level producer(if they will accept you). If the agency I am affiliated with goes to company x and can show they have 10 producers who push volume, they will agee to pay y + z% to have the agency sell their product.

 

[Shalom]

It always depends on the company. The commish is a 50/50(or whatever your production incentive is) split of whatever the negotiated commish is. For example, most life we get about 100% of the premium 1st year. That can differ depending on company. We also have some support through Marketing organizations we have a contract with (life, DI and LTC). I was under the impression that if I walk up to company x and ask to sell for them they pay y commish to a street level producer(if they will accept you). If the agency I am affiliated with goes to company x and can show they have 10 producers who push volume, they will agee to pay y + z% to have the agency sell their product.

Cypher I am a bit slow so please speak in simple terms and not what you were told. I am curious please solve the following problem.

(you pick the FE policy so as not to say it depends)
My monthly premium is $68 and annual would be $816
How much would you get in payment?

Also how many agents in your office are also paying 50-70% to the boss?

 

[Cypher1]

Cypher I am a bit slow so please speak in simple terms and not what you were told. I am curious please solve the following problem.

(you pick the FE policy so as not to say it depends)
My monthly premium is $68 and annual would be $816
How much would you get in payment?

Also how many agents in your office are also paying 50-70% to the boss?

I would have to look at my commish statment. We sell Sentinal, MOO and UCT final expense. I believe on if this was a sentinal policy the commish coming it would be the $816 paid over 10 months. With the 50/50 split I would see $408. That would equal $40.80 per month for 10 months as my commish. Of the 9 agents in the office 7 of us are at the 50/50 split.