New Agent trying to find an Agency that wont lie

[Allen Trent]

That's so weird. I can buy a gun, get married, join the military and vote, but I'm not old enough to decide for myself whether I can by tobacco or alcohol. Hmm.

now I think you are lying about more than the size of your feet & hands. You have talked about having 10 yrs commercial insurance experience, but how can that be if you are not 21 yet? Kind of ironic to catch you lying in a post about dirty secrets & lies in the insurance industry

 

[Markthebroker]

now I think you are lying about more than the size of your feet & hands. You have talked about having 10 yrs commercial insurance experience, but how can that be if you are not 21 yet? Kind of ironic to catch you lying in a post about dirty secrets & lies in the insurance industry

Oh, c'mon man, give me a break. You know how us 19yr olds just love hanging out on these insurance websites. Can you blame me?

 

[Allen Trent]

Oh, c'mon man, give me a break. You know how us 19yr olds just love hanging out on these insurance websites. Can you blame me?

Great place to meet chicks for sure. This industry is known for having like 10 women for every man. Or maybe it was 10 total women agents in the industry

 

[Markthebroker]

Great place to meet chicks for sure. This industry is known for having like 10 women for every man. Or maybe it was 10 total women agents in the industry

I know I look like a superhero from my avatar. I do, however, have a superpower in real life. I can use my commercial insurance superpowers to put any adult to sleep in under 3 minutes. Not too helpful with the ladies, though.

 

[Allen Trent]

. I can use my commercial insurance superpowers to put any adult to sleep in under 3 minutes. Not too helpful with the ladies, though.

Tell the ladies about your Huge BOP, give them some complimentary Tail coverage, newly erected structures

 

[CALTCAgent]

I hope I didn't take this thread of course with my posting of an AC/DC video. On second thought it probably helps the thread get more views, lol.

 

[seeknulfind]

Honest feedback. I hope your writing style in the publications are more succinct. From this statement above, I cant tell if the books will be about consumers & agents revealing their dirty secrets or if “they” is the books that will reveal what you perceived as dirty secrets of agents & dirty secrets of consumers.

Honest question: how long were you in the industry and did you try several positions, carriers, etc? Just a bit concerned that the books will be limited by your own experience, skill, etc.

I am not a personal producer nor am I in recruiting. I work for a single state mostly PC company, so I dont believe I will be in negative light from your book, but just curious.

Good luck with it & you came to the right place for dirty, not sure about secrets as this forum is not able to keep a secret…….LOL

Alan,

Thanks for your feedback. It's always helpful to see where I miss the mark. It is two books - one for agents and one for consumers. It didn't make sense to write one book for both audiences. As far as "secrets" are concerned they are like any other secret - the knowledge is there but you don't know what you don't know and I didn't know a lot when I first got into it.

I've held my life license for eight years, but it would be misleading to suggest I sold insurance all this time. My focus was on final expense products but I expanded my horizons as I came across prospects who didn't fit that mold. I held contracts with three different IMO's.

In addition to my experience in life insurance sales, I've accumulated decades of experience selling everything from shoes to securities (I was Series 7 licensed long ago.). I also have a great deal of experience in small business. As some have pointed out in this thread, life insurance sales is at least as much business as it is sales.

As far as my limited experience goes, well, you can say you got me there. There are many, many agents here and not here who have far more experience than I selling insurance and probably a good number of lesser experienced agents who enjoyed much more success. I'm sure I'm not the only person in the world to draw lessons from the mistakes they've made. This is what I do here.

In contrast to the title, I'd say most of both books are far more positive than negative. However there are some things both agents and consumers should be aware of.

Melissa's post caught me somewhat by surprise. I was considering posting something about the agent's book, at least, at some point but I really wanted to wait until it was actually published. I'm waiting on a couple of details I have no control over. When I saw her post, she sounded desperate and I do know that feeling so well.

Andy

 

[seeknulfind]

If that is your attitude, heaven help anyone that buys your book and takes your advice. I have been in this business since July 5, 1971 and I have met many, many honest folks. As far as embellishing, if they tell you it is possible to make 100K and you don't make it becasue you don't do what it takes, that is on you not them.

rousemark,

I could have worded that better for sure. Neither book is about "lies", and, no, that is not indicative of my attitude at all. I was looking more at employment ads in general. I cannot speak for anyone else but I've seen thousands of ads with questionable promises. My favorite is when "flexible hours" suggest an employee can work when they want when the employer means the employee needs to be available as needed. :-) Per insurance recruitment and advertising, the only one I remember paying much attention to was the first one I answered. It was for a local AIG office. I turned them down because I didn't like their program, not because of the ad. All the choices I made were my own. Whatever successes or failures I've had are a direct result of the choices I made. Nobody held any knives to my throat.

What I would most like new agents to get out of this book is more of a bird's eye perspective. You and I both know there are tons of decisions a newly licensed agent is faced with. Captive or Independent? What kind of insurance should someone focus on? What market? What demographic? What about training? The list is pretty extensive. I doubt if I covered all the bases but I try to hit some important ones.

One of the "dirty secrets" I reveal concerns the high turnover rate of new agents. It is not so much of a "secret" but it is often glossed over. I like to think I somewhat prepare any new agent reading this to face this head on and possibly even beat the odds.

Thank you for your comments, rousemark. I've always held you in the highest respect in this forum.

Andy

 

[Markthebroker]

Tell the ladies about your Huge BOP, give them some complimentary Tail coverage, newly erected structures

You should see when I satisfy their concerns with my extended coverages.

 

[Allen Trent]

You should see when I satisfy their concerns with my extended coverages.

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