Looking for Advice on career path

[Grubbyhog]

After reading several threads on this forum, I have decided to take advantage of the wealth of knowledge here. I think it would be foolish for my not utilize the experience available.

I have 15 years of experience managing groups of 8 to 120 people. These groups did everything from direct sales, recruiting, training and telemarketing in the Bankcard industry. I have a friend that sells insurance and annuities for an IMO. He is doing well, so I thought I would get a CA for Life and Health. After passing that exam, I decided to go ahead and get a CA for P&C. Now I am trying to decide what direction to take. I thought I would just start selling Life and annuities, but then I found this forum....

All that being said, here are some of the things available to me at this time:

- Access to an office that is already set up with a network, furniture and a phone system.
- A certificate of authority for P&C and Life and Health.
- I know some people that work for a local IMO.
- Nothing special, but I have talked with a recruiter from State Farm.

I want to make the best decision I can for me and my family. I appreciate any feedback or advice in advance.

 

[DHK]

*smdh* You've dived "head first" by thinking that "I can make great money" without first researching the following:
1) Who do I envision myself selling to?
2) What problems does this market have and how can I help solve them with my products?
3) How will I get the real training to ensure that I'm actually helping people rather than inadvertently screwing them over.

Merchant card or bankcard services, selling direct to merchants has little to no regulation. No licensing and barely any training needed.

With insurance, you're dealing with protecting people's assets, income, families, etc., and it takes more training to ensure that you don't screw them over.

As soon as you know what market you want to serve and how you can serve them best... then it'll be easier to answer your questions. Until then, you're just throwing darts at a wall without a target.

 

[Grubbyhog]

I’m not sure I was clear with my intentions. I recently resigned my position in Dallas, TX and moved back to Arkansas to be closer to my family. The aren’t as many opportunities in Hot Springs. I decided to get into the Insurance industry as a way to provide for my family. I didn’t do it as you say to make great money. I was looking for advice on the best path to take. Should I start an independent agency, should I just sell for an IMO, would it be better to go through someone like Backnine? The only reason I mentioned my previous industry, was to give a little of my background. I don’t have experience in this industry and was hoping to get a little advice from someone that knows more than I do.

 

[DHK]

I was looking for advice on the best path to take. Should I start an independent agency, should I just sell for an IMO, would it be better to go through someone like Backnine?

You can be an independent agency and sell through an IMO just like BackNine. @Reid Tattersall is a newer poster here too (and I knew him about 10 years ago or so).

 

[Mike007]

The best for you is to run your own agency. Get Life & Annuity contracts from an IMO and P&C contracts from a cluster. But you'll have to ask yourself if you are self motivated and can do things on your own or do you need to be babysit and be told what to do.

If you need guidance, find someone local and contract with them until you can do things on your own without needing hand holding. There should be local IMO are MGA in your area. Do research.

Here are the 2 questions everyone should ask themselves before entering the insurance industry:

1) CAN I FIND CLIENTS?

2) DO I HAVE MONEY TO PAY SOMEONE ELSE TO FIND CLIENTS FOR ME?

If your answers is no to the two above questions. Go work for someone else for a guaranteed income for awhile because you won't make it. Finding clients is the main reason why most fail in this industry. Much easier said than done.

Ask any agency owner in this forum and they will tell you they have met all kinds of amazing salespeople that walked in their office. And many of them died a quick death in this industry. Why? It's all about your ability to find clients. No Clients. No paycheck, no matter how talented one is at convincing a buyer to buy if they have no one to talk to, it doesn't matter.

Selling car and home insurance is easier because it is required by law. But commissions are low. Just because it is easier to sell, it doesn't mean it's easy to find clients. It takes time to build a book of business to earn enough renewals to live off.

Life and Annuity pays more if you have a client base that have money and willing to purchase your products. But finding buyers are even harder than finding clients for car insurance. You'll find lots and lots of "NO". Believe me when I tell you this.

IMHO, if you want to do Life Insurance, I believe Final Expenses is the easiest to learn and easiest way to find clients (reason is: you pay a company to market for you) and this is where I would start first if I was new into the industry.

If you are willing to pound dirt and door knock and reach out and talk to people every single day, P&C may work too. I knew this guy who built his P&C agency by just doing that, knocking on doors and offering a free insurance quote his first 3 years. Every day, he will go out and attempt to get 100 or so "NOs". By the time he reached his goals, he had a few "Yes" in between and those "Yes" made him a very successful man.

 

[goillini52]

After reading several threads on this forum, I have decided to take advantage of the wealth of knowledge here. I think it would be foolish for my not utilize the experience available.

I have 15 years of experience managing groups of 8 to 120 people. These groups did everything from direct sales, recruiting, training and telemarketing in the Bankcard industry. I have a friend that sells insurance and annuities for an IMO. He is doing well, so I thought I would get a CA for Life and Health. After passing that exam, I decided to go ahead and get a CA for P&C. Now I am trying to decide what direction to take. I thought I would just start selling Life and annuities, but then I found this forum....

All that being said, here are some of the things available to me at this time:

- Access to an office that is already set up with a network, furniture and a phone system.
- A certificate of authority for P&C and Life and Health.
- I know some people that work for a local IMO.
- Nothing special, but I have talked with a recruiter from State Farm.

I want to make the best decision I can for me and my family. I appreciate any feedback or advice in advance.

I love your username!!!

Welcome to the Forum.

 

[fun2drum]

If Humana is in your area they may be hiring career agents. Check your licensing requirements for Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplements, and go to their nearest market office or website for career opportunities. Career agents get salary, commissions, renewals, and benefits. It's a sweet deal for someone getting started. Granted, you'd be an employee for a huge corporation so you've got all the BS to go with it, but it's possible to build yourself a very nice situation there.

 

[somarco]

The best for you is to run your own agency.

I doubt he will find quality agents. Won't take them long to figure out he is green and they know more about the industry than he does.

So that leaves rookies.

If he doesn't know how to generate leads, train agents how to generate leads, and how to sell. He also needs to know how to manage money along with recruiting new and replacement agents.

Too many agents, most of them actually, fail in the first 6 months. Just because grubby has experience training and managing sales people who are pushing a COMMODITY doesn't mean he can duplicate that off the bat with insurance.

 

[somarco]

Merchant card or bankcard services, selling direct to merchants has little to no regulation. No licensing and barely any training needed.

I have a friend who has been in and out of that business a number of times over the years. He can sell almost anything . . . and has. Including home improvement, carpet (in home sales), MLM phone services, etc

But he is always looking for a better deal.

He is now 70, 3x divorced, no savings, no retirement and still looking for the golden goose.

 

[MedicareMillionair]

We teach agents a two pronged approach for getting started. First, that they get lots of leads coming in real fast. This can be done through telemarketing. Second, to build an online presence through social media content creation. This approach will serve you now and it will serve you longterm as well. You've got to build both systems.