Yea I'm not sure who said that was possible but everyone I've asked at either LM or safeco has basically laughed at me for even thinking it was possible: not gonna happen
Liberty Mutual
- Thread starter nyc2phi
- Start date
Yea I'm not sure who said that was possible but everyone I've asked at either LM or safeco has basically laughed at me for even thinking it was possible: not gonna happen
- 111
In South Florida, Liberty Mutual writes autos through Safeco only or do they write under LM also?
I was at Liberty for 14 years, left in Jan 2008 & from what I remember;
Liberty is a great place to start & learn the business,no argument there. For some folks it can be a great career. For others not so much, 1st & foremost if you produce at a high level which is 8 plus p&c products weekly along with 2 or 3 life policies a month for 25K plus a year in life premium, you should for the most part be left alone & not have any problems. (It also helps to be friends with management) If you write 5 or 6 P&C weekly products & 15 to 20 life pols for 15k area, you will have problems, guaranteed! Monday night phone sessions..weekly meetings with your "manager" The Micro manage route.
Liberty has "managers"
There is you…you report to "the 1st report"manager she/he reports to hers/his & so one up.
Some times (like a scene right out or "Office space") you will have to report to two or three managers.
The micro manage thing is alive & well at LM. Even the high producers have to be subjected to it on some level.
There are meetings, Oh they love meetings…there are local trips to boring award conferences that no one cares about, etc.
Their GSP program is great if you open one or are assigned to a group. When LM got PEF (1999-2000 area) we were assigned divisions & that was nice. Payroll deduction is great on retention. MetLife (one of my carriers now) has the same thing, it's an easy sell. Teachers love it!
I think LM still buy leads for new agents to get them started. The rest of us bought our own. We would get 20 to 25 a month & thought that was a lot. Now, I get 25 or more a day!
Remember you are their (Liberty Mutual's) EMPLOYEE! You do not represent your (scratch that)THEIR (so they claim) customer. Your loyalty & obligation is to Liberty Mutual.
They do have their target market. Married Multi-car Homeowner. College degree preferred & no single car youthful operator policies. We use to hear terms like "redlining" which was said secretly with a quick head turn to the left & right.
Walk in business? No Thanks was the motto. Walk in business usually meant a person who;
· Had no prior
· Was being cancelled
· Just had a price hike due to a or several "occurrence's"
They pay all your overhead expenses, (office, phones,support, and license fees)
They offer a 401(k), health ins, group life & aretirement
For what you are giving up in renewals though, it is not worth it if you like, big money control, a say in day to day office operations & procedures, office location, staffing, etc.
The office environment is open! Like a cafeteria. No customer privacy. They may have a small office to bring a client to but it's more like an interrogation room. You don'tcontrol anything. The support staff has their own manager that they have to deal with, so a lot of times it was the csr's against the sales force. & then the underwriting dept was another foe.
You may hear stories from management that "Indy" agencies are a thing of the past & they are dying out due to all the overhead costs. That's not the case.
It was easy getting direct appointments & hooking up with Iroquois gave up a few more.
Iroquois just picked up Safeco. We had previous negotiationsw/ Safeco & will get a direct or an appointment with them through Iroquois
Lm is a "safe" route to go (long term). Independent is the trailblazer's route.
The best thing I got from LM was the feeling/idea that you had to sell each & every day to make a buck, with maybe a little raise, from last year.
When I left LM I went to Allstate. I cleaned up in a bigway. Maxed out their ADP I & II bonus programs. Made all the big trips & made 4 x the money I made at LM. But I'm still hungry & the Indy route has shown me where the real money is.
Liberty is a great place to start & learn the business,no argument there. For some folks it can be a great career. For others not so much, 1st & foremost if you produce at a high level which is 8 plus p&c products weekly along with 2 or 3 life policies a month for 25K plus a year in life premium, you should for the most part be left alone & not have any problems. (It also helps to be friends with management) If you write 5 or 6 P&C weekly products & 15 to 20 life pols for 15k area, you will have problems, guaranteed! Monday night phone sessions..weekly meetings with your "manager" The Micro manage route.
Liberty has "managers"
There is you…you report to "the 1st report"manager she/he reports to hers/his & so one up.
Some times (like a scene right out or "Office space") you will have to report to two or three managers.
The micro manage thing is alive & well at LM. Even the high producers have to be subjected to it on some level.
There are meetings, Oh they love meetings…there are local trips to boring award conferences that no one cares about, etc.
Their GSP program is great if you open one or are assigned to a group. When LM got PEF (1999-2000 area) we were assigned divisions & that was nice. Payroll deduction is great on retention. MetLife (one of my carriers now) has the same thing, it's an easy sell. Teachers love it!
I think LM still buy leads for new agents to get them started. The rest of us bought our own. We would get 20 to 25 a month & thought that was a lot. Now, I get 25 or more a day!
Remember you are their (Liberty Mutual's) EMPLOYEE! You do not represent your (scratch that)THEIR (so they claim) customer. Your loyalty & obligation is to Liberty Mutual.
They do have their target market. Married Multi-car Homeowner. College degree preferred & no single car youthful operator policies. We use to hear terms like "redlining" which was said secretly with a quick head turn to the left & right.
Walk in business? No Thanks was the motto. Walk in business usually meant a person who;
· Had no prior
· Was being cancelled
· Just had a price hike due to a or several "occurrence's"
They pay all your overhead expenses, (office, phones,support, and license fees)
They offer a 401(k), health ins, group life & aretirement
For what you are giving up in renewals though, it is not worth it if you like, big money control, a say in day to day office operations & procedures, office location, staffing, etc.
The office environment is open! Like a cafeteria. No customer privacy. They may have a small office to bring a client to but it's more like an interrogation room. You don'tcontrol anything. The support staff has their own manager that they have to deal with, so a lot of times it was the csr's against the sales force. & then the underwriting dept was another foe.
You may hear stories from management that "Indy" agencies are a thing of the past & they are dying out due to all the overhead costs. That's not the case.
It was easy getting direct appointments & hooking up with Iroquois gave up a few more.
Iroquois just picked up Safeco. We had previous negotiationsw/ Safeco & will get a direct or an appointment with them through Iroquois
Lm is a "safe" route to go (long term). Independent is the trailblazer's route.
The best thing I got from LM was the feeling/idea that you had to sell each & every day to make a buck, with maybe a little raise, from last year.
When I left LM I went to Allstate. I cleaned up in a bigway. Maxed out their ADP I & II bonus programs. Made all the big trips & made 4 x the money I made at LM. But I'm still hungry & the Indy route has shown me where the real money is.
- Thread starter
- #99
Zapp is spot on when it comes to LM.
I just left last week after two years and am now going the Indy route. Great place to start.
I couldn't agree more, I've been here for years and I will also be going Indy route very soon. Good place to start, plenty of reasons not to stay.
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