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First, let me state that I'm coming from the life insurance and annuity side of the insurance business. I think you're in the health insurance side? So my perspective might not fit what you're doing.
My own criteria changes over time, because I rely less and less on others for my success. At this point in my career, does the insurance company pick up the phone? Do they answer my emails? Do they help me get my stuff approved by compliance in a timely manner? How well are they rated by the rating agencies? Can I understand their products?
Or are they obstructing my sales? Do they undermine their agents by selling direct to consumers? (And I don't mean underwriting because we can know through the underwriting guide what products are meant for what markets.)
That depends on who is giving the award and for what criteria. Let's paint a picture here: Let's suppose that your agency "hired" 500 agents in a year... and only 5 survived (1%) and thrived by bringing in $200,000 of new commission business each... but 495 people failed and quit. And let's assume that THAT was a new agency record.
That would be a really inefficient way of bringing in new revenues to the company. But does the parent company offering the award care? He brought in new sales and got 5 "super-stars", right? He might be "agency of the year", but that doesn't mean that it's a friendly place for new agents.
Yes, a company can be liked by consumers and hated by agents. We recently had a company-bashing thread by a disgruntled agent because of the hiring practices and employment conditions. He called the company a "scam", but yet, the company paid claims. Can't be a scam if the company is doing what it's supposed to - even if the employment or agent conditions aren't optimal.
Not the reputation I was talking about. You're still looking to the company and the agency for your reputation.
I'm looking to the end consumer and my reputation with them. For what I do, the companies I represent are NOTHING compared to what I bring to the relationship. I don't use a company name (other than my own) in my marketing. When people meet with me, they're meeting with ME for what *I* bring to the table, not because of some pre-conceived idea of what one of my companies can do for them.
In fact, I am quite convinced that the reason for so many failures in the life insurance and annuity business is because new agents are relying on the PUBLIC to understand their value proposition, and the public simply doesn't know.
If I introduce myself and say "Hi, my name is DHK with New York Life" - and if that's all I say, then I am relying on YOU to understand my value proposition with New York Life. And based on what YOU believe NYL is and does, that can be positive or negative.
If I say "Hi, my name is DHK and I'm a CFP" - and if that's all I say, then I'm still relying on you to understand the value proposition of what being a CFP means. (And it doesn't mean much without clarifying one's value proposition in clear terms.)
So I don't do that. I market myself and the problems I help people to solve. Company name is immaterial... until I'm ready to present a product that helps solve the problems that the prospective client has.
It's my job to DEFINE my value proposition in terms that people understand and for their best interest.
