License being processed/IMO Commission rates/Med Sup - FE

[goillini52]

The great thing about this career is that there are plenty of ways to skin the cat.

In my case, when I started at 24 my only experience of sales was trying to get chicks to date me lol. Much less have 2-3k for leads.

I started with zero sales experience, zero money. I did have the good old PHD though (poor hungry and driven). I guess that is what got me through.....

But right out of the gate Indy for me? I would have failed miserably. But that's just me.

If you don't have money for leads, you can do like I was trained as a captive agent...door knock. Or for $50, buy a targeted data list(you can download enough names to keep you busy all year). Then telemarket and door knock those names until you can buy leads. This worked better for me than TM leads.

Like you said, there's more than one way to skin a cat.

P.S. I started at 20. Rob Lion on the Forum started captive and while still 19, he went independent.

 

[boomshack]

Thanks for everyone's input.

I turned down the original IMO in my first post because I never received a clear answer on the specifics of the leads, because of the lower commission levels, and because of no mention of release (which I didn't want to bring up because of being almost freshly licensed and showing that I was interested in leaving before even starting) .

I asked them to email me the commission schedule, which they never did, but I did see it when they gave me agent access while in the process of starting to contract with them after my licenses were approved (that's how I got the numbers in the first post).

The commission levels were low according to the information I could find here (and as others have said the leads should be direct mail or specific to you, etc.) On the leads I got something about "our best agents work on referrals," no concrete answers in that regard.

Another company I just interviewed with (captive, W-2 employee, so no mileage deduction on taxes) mentioned Project 200 as being a requirement and the first 6 applications should be written from it. They sure as hell aren't getting a hold of names next to phone numbers. If that knocks me out of being in this business, then so be it. That is not going to be the spear of my marketing efforts.

I'm not going captive with life and health licenses. It doesn't seem to make sense, unless I see something concrete that makes sense.

 

[UKTX]

There are multiple opportunities available.

The key is to find out what you need from the opportunity to be successful.

Do you need sales training?
Do you have experience in prospecting?
Do you have experience in "kitchen table" sales?
Do you need to be taken/assisted in the field by your online? (Taken on appointments)
Do you have experience in the markets you are looking to enter?
Do you have a cash slush fund to assist you in getting started? (Enough to pay your regular bills for at least 2 months?)
Do you have enough cash to commit to 20-30 quality leads per week?

When I started I didnt have that sort of cash for leads and I needed all the help I could get.

I was captive for about 3 years. 12 years independent.

 

[Travis Price]

I was fully captive with one place, Monumental Life. They were a debit route industrial life insurance company.

I was paid $850 every two weeks to go out and get sales and collect premiums in the sketchiest part of town. Imagine carrying 750 dollars in cash on you where there was a high probability you'd get robbed.

That did not last very long. FE just wasn't for me in that setup.

There are a lot of great IMO's that will offer support, but you should really think strategically about what YOU want before you try to figure out how you're going to solve other peoples problems.