Let's talk releases!

[senior-advisor-indiana]

Scott,
You are just mad because youe were on the bottom of the totem pole.

 

[Newby]

Scott,
You are just mad because youe were on the bottom of the totem pole.

I'm used to it.

 

[xrac]

.....I do not see there is a way to keep everyone happy. The blanket statement of "It is simple, releases any time, for any reason", is not always real simple.

Joe,

You are absolutely right. If you don't change the compensation or release Newby he loses. If you do release him or change the compensation everyone else loses. Nobody is happy. However, Newby should either be compensated or released. He is the one that is actually producing the income. The current system is predicated upon the lack of knowledge that a lot of agents especially new agents have about what compensation levels are available.

 

[Mr supplemental]

Wait six months or a year without writing business for that company and you're effectively released. The FMO or GA need never find out who you're selling for as long as you're not getting leads.

 

[GreenSky]

Wait six months or a year without writing business for that company and you're effectively released. The FMO or GA need never find out who you're selling for as long as you're not getting leads.

And if that was in the contract we sign I would be fine with that. By the way, Mutual of Omaha is a 12 month wait.

Rick

 

[Joe Moore]

Joe, I don't see this situation as being an argrument in your favor. What happens in the real world is: If I don't have a good contract with a product, I just sell something else.

I don't feel like I have a good contract on Mutual of Omaha or Americo right now. It's not even worth the effort for me to switch them, I just don't sell them. There are too many other products to choose from.

Newby,

Thanks, but I wasn't trying to make an argument with this in my favor.

I was just trying to pose a "what if" situation, to see if this board could find a fair, logical solution to this problem. I really do not see a real easy solution.

I agree, if an agent doesn't feel they have enough $ from a product, they simply quit selling it.

Joe

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

Joe I really want your take on what protection an agent should have in this situation:

FMO recruits newbie - promises top commission, training and free leads.

Newbie signs on. Comes to find there's no training, no leads and he's 20% lower than other FMOs.

What system would you put in place that would allow that agent to blow out? Under our current system that agent is screwed.

 

[Joe Moore]

Joe I really want your take on what protection an agent should have in this situation:

FMO recruits newbie - promises top commission, training and free leads.

Newbie signs on. Comes to find there's no training, no leads and he's 20% lower than other FMOs.

What system would you put in place that would allow that agent to blow out? Under our current system that agent is screwed.

If there are broken material promises, I agree 100% there should be immediate full releases. He actually would probably be 40-50% under what is competitive if he had been promised training and free leads.

If these broken promises are in writing, it seems there could be legal recourse. If they are not in writing, that is another story. Of course it does put the agent in the situation of how does he/she proves damages even if it is in writing.

I think an honorable IMO should release without any questions if he cannot deliver what he has promised. We do not provide "free leads", I have said this before-we are not smart enough to make this work and still be friends with our agents. If we ever tried this again, it would be locally with in-house agents where we could know what was happening with the leads. The agents for sure would get more than a 20% haircut.

Leads ain't cheap, and many of you know agents can blow through many expensive leads if they are not costing the agent.

We have made some promises we could not deliver on. A year or two ago, we advertised $19 Mortgage Leads and 100% contracts. We could not even provide the leads in some areas, at any price. The agents that had sent us money were refunded what they sent minus the number of leads they received. I knew no other fair way to try to make it right.

We probably took around a $5000 bath on this Mortgage Lead deal. If any agent had asked for a release over this situation, it would have been given.

I for sure do not have all the answers, but I think if you find yourself in a bad situation and you have partially or fully created the situation, try to put the other party back where they were before they dealt with you.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

Well that was a fantastic non-answer.

As you can see, agents have zero protection under the current system. Since we have zero protection we are only recommending that agents sign up with FMOs offering a full upfront unconditional release except in cases of negative balances.

Right now there are three such FMOs that I know of - all offering top contracts to boot.

The question is, since they are offering top contracts, full training and support and upfront release - what do you have to bring to the table?

 

[Guest]

Right now there are three such FMOs that I know of - all offering top contracts to boot.

And they are whom?

I'm not looking for an FMO, but I'm curious.

Al