New to Forum - Nationwide Question

[Quarter Pounder]

Greetings from Southwest Virginia.
Can anyone share the process of becoming a Nationwide Agent? I went through the State Farm process becoming an Approved Candidate. Had several interviews only to find out that they either hired internal candidates or family members of existing agents or employees. I have started to think that State Farm is trying to tell me something. I would appreciate any insight on what is involved with Nationwide. Can you buy an existing book or does Nationwide own the book like State Farm? Can you contact an agent directly about buying the office? Thanks in advance.

 

[tommyk]

Welcome to the board.

While I do not know anything about Nationwide..is there a main web page that may assist you?

Best of luck.

State Farm is just plain weird.

 

[Quarter Pounder]

I have searched the Nationwide site and completed what inormation they requested. Did not see much information about how their program works.

Does anyone know who the District Manager for Nationwide covering Southwest Virginia is and how I can contact them? I appreciate any help that can be provided.

 

[xrac]

I have searched the Nationwide site and completed what inormation they requested. Did not see much information about how their program works.

Does anyone know who the District Manager for Nationwide covering Southwest Virginia is and how I can contact them? I appreciate any help that can be provided.

My experience is once you respond on their websites these companies will hunt you down. Sometimes it just takes a little while. That was how I originally contacted Metlife, NYL, and Guardian. Did you email a resume? Have you picked up a phone and called and asked for the District Manager's name and phone number? The direct approach is usually the best.

 

[tommyk]

You might contact a local Nationwide Insurance Agent and find out who his/her District Manager is and obtain a phone number. From there you can contact that person direct.

 

[Quarter Pounder]

Thanks TommyK and xrac. Your help is appreciated

 

[magicmarker]

QP,

I attempted to send you a PM but I haven't posted my required 20 posts -ridiculous!

I am going through a process similar to yours: State Farm. Word on this forum has it that SF is no longer the best opportunity.
I called around to agents with other carriers and began a process with American Family. They are fairly new to my state but seem to support new agents on many levels.
I, like yourself however, am interested in Nationwide and can't seem to find anything pertinent on their website. They have very few agents in my state and no agents in my city. I contacted a Nationwide agent a couple towns away and that's as far as I got.
Any news from you on Nationwide --or American Family, for that matter?

Thanks,
MM

 

[CaptiveGuy]

I have an interview with Nationwide tomorrow after meeting with a SF recruiter last week. From the SF forum you can tell that those agents HATE their TICA training contract.

Nationwide seems legit though and you OWN your business and are given a book $2.5M-$3M rather than $1.5M with SF. Only catch is you have to finance your book over 4 years with a 20% down payment (based on commissions from the book). You get $50k for completing training and up to $45k on top of that depending on when you finish the program. Commission is 17% new biz and 12% renewal.

 

[hoagylips]

captive guy, 17% and 12%, is that for new agents, once you get to a certain dollar amount. I am looking at nationwide as well. Would love to chat.

 

[CaptiveGuy]

Nationwide has a few programs. The capital builder program requires $10k to start and you sell out of an office for 18months to a year. After you complete the program you get a $50k bonus + up to $45k bonus depending on when you hit your training sales quota. You will use some of that money as a down payment for buying a book of busines you finance over 5 years then own.

The other program is 6 months but requires 30k of capital to begin and you only get a $40k bonus I believe for completing. You can also buy an agency outright

I am going independent now after looking into Nationwide and SF. SF seems like a nightmare and you have no say in your business and Nationwide is not competitive in my target market. I would def choose Nationwide over SF in terms of training and starting out just sell your business if you ever want to leave.