New Commercial P&C agent - could use some help

[Web320]

My suggestion would be to focus solely on a commercial niche you are passionate about (you likely understand some of the inherent risks faced by those business owners already).

Some of our most successful agency partners have producers that came from an industry they understand and genuinely care about. If you liked the tech industry, targeting tech consultants or the likes may be a great starting point since you can already talk the talk and relate.

Next step is to align with the correct carriers or brokers for that niche, work to develop a relationships with the underwriter(s), join industry association groups, ask for referrals from clients you write, etc.

 

[raxx]

My suggestion would be to focus solely on a commercial niche you are passionate about (you likely understand some of the inherent risks faced by those business owners already).

Some of our most successful agency partners have producers that came from an industry they understand and genuinely care about. If you liked the tech industry, targeting tech consultants or the likes may be a great starting point since you can already talk the talk and relate.

Next step is to align with the correct carriers or brokers for that niche, work to develop a relationships with the underwriter(s), join industry association groups, ask for referrals from clients you write, etc.

Good advice but, I don't genuinely care about the tech industry and tend not to get along with people in it. I'm a little too conservative for most of their tastes. Get along better with blue collar people and have a background in that too, so that's what i'm doing. Dealing a lot with contractors.

All in all, I’m trying to convey a unique approach for professionals like yourself in the insurance business to engage business owners more effectively.

I really don't understand what you're offering. Feel free to PM me

 

[producer1]

How about we have a conversation on the phone sometime next week? If you’re ok with that, I’ll provide my number.

 

[shawnmwalker]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz8a8pANrfs

 

[shawnmwalker]

Go Deep in one Vertical.

Real life example. Met and Agent sick of Personal Lines. (Making a ton but sick of it.)

Dude goes down to Vegas for a week and meets Veterinarians at a convention while gambling and drinking. Everyone becomes buddies. He attends convention parties and..... what happens in vegas stay in vegas…….Learns the Lingo and......

He goes back to his agency and walks away from Personal lines. Gets his office manager to focus on Personal Lines as he becomes the states Vet agency.

The following year he goes back to the convention, gets a booth, now ready to hit the national stage. End of Story.

Kills it. I know another guy, only writes 7-11's. All day every day. Kills it!

This is a relationship business. Cold calling and x dating is crap. crap. crap. Coffee with someone every morning. Lunch with someone every day. Golf with Friends that are also clients.....Be a hunter. Be personable, be a winner. And write more than 5k of WP! Geeze! ​

 

[Markthebroker]

Hey all,

Been licensed for 4 months and lurking here for about 3. I've read just about every thread in the P&C section about commercial lines and new agent goals and commission splits. For the past 3 months I've been eating breathing and sleeping insurance (commercial lines mostly), and well. I could use some help.

About 6 months ago a long time client (i worked as a freelance I.T. person/tech consultant) approached me the 2nd time in about 3 years. Convinced me to get licensed. sold me the dream, and said he would support me while I got on my feet. He knows he's training a commercial P&C agent from scratch, and I know I'm going to be in over my head for quite a while. IA by the way, not captive.

Split is like this
50% new business (after exceeding 2k in commission split)
50% renewals (after exceeding 2k in commission split)
2-3 person service staff to service my book (none of which I'm paying for)
2k a month in stipend until profitable or I get fired or quit

It's my understanding that is one hell of a good deal and it's basically unheard of for a lot of reasons. 1. Training a commercial P&C agent from zero insurance knowledge is crazy, it's a much more complicated side of the business especially in a newbies eyes. 2. I'm getting service staff for free. 3 I'm getting a stipend as a cushion while I figure things out. So that's a blessing and I'm very grateful.

Here's my numbers

5.5k in gross premium on commercial accounts the whole time I've been here for 3 months.

Terrible, right?

So let's get to the part where I could use help and additional mentoring. My upline(boss) is running a family business. He's definitely an A-type person. Really aggressive and even though he's spending a bunch of money and time training me I feel I'm not getting proper mentoring, at least timewise. I often contact my boss before and after work to try and talk about strategy or where I'm failing or where I'm need help and he just doesn't/can't/won't make the time. Seriously I call this guy on the weekends while I'm working from home to try and figure out what the *** to do and get some guidance and he just doesn't have the time. I mean I'm trying to make him and I money I don't see why he wouldn't take 15-20 minutes to walk me through something. He does listen sometimes thankfully to what I have to say but he spends a lot of time talking over me. I don't have a huge issue with it and i'm not complaining because he has 35 years experience and runs a successful business and I should be listening(and do) but I really could use more mentoring, there's just a ton I don't understand. From the micro to the macro level I'm basically clueless.

Here's how I spend time day

Arrive 8:30AM, from the second I get to work until 10-10:30 I cold call contractors or follow up on previous days leads. Mostly cold call contractors because in my state their insurance renewal dates are public. I get 1-4 quotes during the time on average.

10:30-12:00 I X date manufacturers, retailers, what have you. I call down a huge list of businesses that are industrial or industrial adjacent. There are so many I basically will never run out. I get about 2 X dates an hour sometimes less sometimes more but that's an average

From 12:15 I eat my lunch at my desk and quote the contractors and enter data into our data management system to help future Raxx in remember what the hell we talked about when I x dated, quoted, or followed up.

12:15 to 1-130 finish up the rest of my quotes. Follw up. If I'm out of stuff to do I X date

1:30-4:30 I X date

Then obviously when I get home I'm calling people that wanted call backs after work, writing e-mails etc.

So here lies the problem. I'm getting a really decent amount of "appointments" or as I call them quoting opportunities. Contractors in my state have been beat up. 75% of these guys are already with our best carriers for what they're doing. The other 25% I mess up, I miss a detail and place them incorrectly then have to go back. The underwriters chew my a** up because I told them too much. They're hard to place and I don't have the carriers to write them. I mean it's a real minefield. I know there's a percentage of that 25% I should be selling. And I know there's a percentage of that 75% I should be talking into switching through service. But I'm not. And I'm trying to figure out the issue.

The other opportunities that happen through cold call X dating I'm doing a lot better with in terms of building a relationship but I'm just not closing them. I either don't know the markets well enough, don't have the markets, or am not inspiring a lot of confidence because of my inexperience.

I'm kind of lost, and I'm a little confused and looking for direction. I am willing to put in the work, I would cold call all day (and do sometimes) if it meant even getting 1 sale a week. At my current atrocious numbers Im starting to get discouraged. Can anyone with experience in commercial lines please advise me?

Ok, there's a lot to tackle here, so here we go.

First off, the advice you got about creating a niche is correct. You want to also think about the type of people you are going to connect with. Based on your post, your conversations with underwriters, and the conversations you have with your boss, you seem pretty long winded. Contractors, along with most people in the trades, are generally very to the point. You are going to generally and consistently find certain types of people in certain types of industries, and the trades may not be it for you. Maybe it is, maybe it's not.

How to Sell to 4 Different Personality Types

Contractors are the "assertive personality type" who I have also heard defined as "directors"

Next, your split agreement is very generous, be thankful. You are having trouble getting time from the owner for two reasons. First, I think he was a fan of the idea of mentoring you and building you as an agent, however the actual work is less appealing when he is in the middle of running a business, dealing with clients, etc. Much similar to how my plans of going to the gym don't always materialize.

Next, with your low production, he is probably having issues justifying spending a lot of time with you, time he could be spending on the business. Finally, I suspect you may take a long time to get to the point, which could frustrate him. That also explains why he is talking over you, he doesn't want to wait for you to get to the point, being an "assertive personality type" as we covered earlier. One way or another, most of your learning is going to be from stumbling around on accounts, getting beat up by underwriters, kicked around by clients, etc. I had to learn my own way that works for me. I have specific tactics I use that are extremely successful for me, that I rarely hear of anyone else using. Certain tactics I use that are extremely successful, others would point blank tell you not to do.

Finally, I don't know what the hell producer1 is selling, but stay away from it. I've come across him on here before and my bs radar goes off each time. Focus on getting good at selling commercial p&c.

 

[Insuranceguy76]

Sold commercial for 6 years, find a niche and stick to it! Dont go for contractors, they are literally all full of kaka and would leave you over a $22 premium reduction. Remember to them it’s a commodity since their business is usually won by being the lowest bid!

Find something fruitful, maybe even trucking. I will tell you what my mentor told me: find something no one else wants, perfect it until it is something everyone wants!

 

[Markthebroker]

Sold commercial for 6 years, find a niche and stick to it! Dont go for contractors, they are literally all full of kaka and would leave you over a $22 premium reduction. Remember to them it’s a commodity since their business is usually won by being the lowest bid!

Find something fruitful, maybe even trucking. I will tell you what my mentor told me: find something no one else wants, perfect it until it is something everyone wants!

The op is going to have to find what works for him.

I am 100% commercial p&c and would disagree with most of those statements. Most large contractors are more concerned about certs than an small amount of savings. Small ones, yes. Furthermore, though, many will stop paying their premiums and go under during the next recessions. Many even before that.

Truckers will absolutely leave you over a small savings. It is a terrifically difficult market, you need specialty markets. It's an industry I would advise against if you are still learning. It's a lot of work to do for a market that may collapse 10 years from now.

 

[raxx]

Ok, there's a lot to tackle here, so here we go.

First off, the advice you got about creating a niche is correct. You want to also think about the type of people you are going to connect with. Based on your post, your conversations with underwriters, and the conversations you have with your boss, you seem pretty long winded. Contractors, along with most people in the trades, are generally very to the point. You are going to generally and consistently find certain types of people in certain types of industries, and the trades may not be it for you. Maybe it is, maybe it's not.

How to Sell to 4 Different Personality Types

Contractors are the "assertive personality type" who I have also heard defined as "directors"

Next, your split agreement is very generous, be thankful. You are having trouble getting time from the owner for two reasons. First, I think he was a fan of the idea of mentoring you and building you as an agent, however the actual work is less appealing when he is in the middle of running a business, dealing with clients, etc. Much similar to how my plans of going to the gym don't always materialize.

Next, with your low production, he is probably having issues justifying spending a lot of time with you, time he could be spending on the business. Finally, I suspect you may take a long time to get to the point, which could frustrate him. That also explains why he is talking over you, he doesn't want to wait for you to get to the point, being an "assertive personality type" as we covered earlier. One way or another, most of your learning is going to be from stumbling around on accounts, getting beat up by underwriters, kicked around by clients, etc. I had to learn my own way that works for me. I have specific tactics I use that are extremely successful for me, that I rarely hear of anyone else using. Certain tactics I use that are extremely successful, others would point blank tell you not to do.

Finally, I don't know what the hell producer1 is selling, but stay away from it. I've come across him on here before and my bs radar goes off each time. Focus on getting good at selling commercial p&c.

Producer1 sent me a referral link to some silly sales training program I could buy into for only 99 dollars are month. Yeah, no thanks.


Hey thank you for the advice Markthebroker. Long form I am very long winded. In person or on the phone I'm pretty much straight to the point. So straight to the point I actually think that's hurting me. I also had a couple beers when I wrote that post, so that may be it.

You mentioned the proper way to ask for referrals and say you write mid-term business often. Any advice for me in that regard?

I agree with you. He probably liked the idea of mentoring me and building me up but he really is busy and runs a family business with all of his immediate family working for the business in one way or another. I naturally am just going to take lower priority.

I'm more concerned with just being a profitable producer. Any niches I should maybe check out, you guys have any advice on that front?

 

[Markthebroker]

Haha, yeah, Producer1 hangs out on here trying to sell his nonsense. He hates me because I always warn people and he can't scam or sell anyone when I do that, ha ha.

On referrals? Yup, watch videos, read articles, implement techniques, refine your system, refine again, refine, tweak, improve, test constantly. I'm about 4 years or so into my referral system, and it's absolutely lethal. It worked well when I started it, but it's even better now.

Right now you need to pick a niche and try it. You may change later, but you gotta start somewhere. It took me about 3 or 4 years to settle on the one I stuck with. The first was good, the second was bad, the third was absolutely fantastic.

What niche should you pick? What personality types do you deal well with? How well networked are they to send you more business, especially the business they are in? How likely are they to be in business and paying premiums 10 or 20 years from now? How likely are they to grow? Will they survive the next recession? How will you be able to get ahold of and sell these people to start with? Is this business common enough that you will always be able to find a good market, or some ultra niche business, like truckers, where you need to have a special market, or risk losing it to the agent down the street?