Newly Licensed, Just Realized I Signed Up With an MLM

[shonceman]

Howdy!

I just signed up to this forum. I have tried to get into Insurance before- however I was not hired either time. Finally I got a chance! I got licensed, have been looking forward to starting.. then I noticed the facebook groups and group chats. This company (whom I have yet to sell for) is almost like an MLM cult, and indeed on this forum I don't see it talked about highly (Family First Life). Now I have read through this forum, and just wanted some advice.

As a newly licensed agent, what should I do? Should I keep the course and try it out with their expensive leads and... well it truly is an MLM trying to hire people "downline" and with your own "upline". Should I try to get hired elsewhere? I am in the San Antonio-New Braunfels area, they hired me at 80% commission. Are there better agencies that would be recommended in this area?

Thank you to anyone who spent the time reading this. I forgot to mention I do have a history in sales, though am young at just 25. Any and all advice is appreciated.

Again, thank you!

I will admit I'm new. Just the way people are talking and pushing to recruit not sell... it sounds like an MLM my mother would be suckered into.




Mainly Health and Life. Well only those. I don't know to much about them... I passed the test with a 90 but I'm book smart street dumb at this point.



Thank you! Omaha, AIG and Americo are their big ones as I understand it. If your recommendation is to stay and then leave later I will follow it!


Thank you all!

Health insurance, under 65 major medical, is an easy way to get poor slowly.

Ancillary lines (cancer, hospital indemnity, dental . . .) can eventually turn into a gravy train if you have an "in" with large employers who don't have PRD coverage. Otherwise you will be old and gray before hitting the mother lode.

The 65+ market (Medicare) can be lucrative if you know how to work that segment and have enough $$$ to pay the bills for 3 to 5 years. A bit sooner if you have enough to pay bills AND $$$ left over for lead gen.

Straight life insurance can be a tough sale unless you can find a system like @JRoot has. Requires up front $$$ and a willingness to work the system but there are guys making good $$$ in 6 months or so.

FE is a way to make fast bucks but has many challenges.

No one ever said this was easy.

There are lots of directions you could go in this business. To me, Final Expense is probably the easiest system to get up and running as an independent if you've got some up front money to buy leads. It's an easy system to learn, but you still have to be willing to work hard, especially for the first couple of years. There are several good FE IMO's that are members of these forums. You should check out the Final Expense forum if that might be of interest to you.

If you don't have much up front money, you could think about working for a captive career company. They usually offer some type of financing so you don't starve while you're getting your business going.

One good option in the San Antonio area would be American National's career division. (I've never worked there myself, but I know several agents that work for them, so I'm somewhat familiar. I got my start in a similar company.) Their operation is largely based on the home service agency system. The beauty of that is that you would get a book of business of established clients, for which you would get a base pay for servicing. ANICO is well established in San Antonio, so they would have clientele whose families go back several generations with the company. The company would teach you how to grow your business from that client base.

Home Service is the original Final Expense system. Lots of FE agents started out working a debit. ANICO still works that system, but their agents aren't limited to it, and can get into more sophisticated markets as well. Most of what they do is still traditional "family" life insurance, though.

Here's a link if that sounds interesting:
Career Opportunities

 

[Rigel]

If you haven't read this, you might want to read through it and check out the links.

https://insurance-forums.com/community/threads/guidance-for-new-life-agents.29999/

I read it once but I'll read it again. I read both of the pinned ones. I'm going to be honest I'm a bit in over my head but I'm determined to learn and succeed!

I don't think he's saying to stay at all. He's saying if you leave them you won't be able sell for any of the companies you're contracted with through them for 6 months. So, you just write for other companies until the 6 months has passed. Since FFL doesn't offer many of the better companies, it shouldn't be a problem to find another IMO to work with. Get up and get on outta there, right now!

Ah okay I got you now. I think I misunderstood what was being said to me! I thought he was saying spend 6 months learning the ropes, instead just take the 6 month "burn" and go with other companies.

Health insurance, under 65 major medical, is an easy way to get poor slowly.

Ancillary lines (cancer, hospital indemnity, dental . . .) can eventually turn into a gravy train if you have an "in" with large employers who don't have PRD coverage. Otherwise you will be old and gray before hitting the mother lode.

The 65+ market (Medicare) can be lucrative if you know how to work that segment and have enough $$$ to pay the bills for 3 to 5 years. A bit sooner if you have enough to pay bills AND $$$ left over for lead gen.

Straight life insurance can be a tough sale unless you can find a system like @JRoot has. Requires up front $$$ and a willingness to work the system but there are guys making good $$$ in 6 months or so.

FE is a way to make fast bucks but has many challenges.

No one ever said this was easy.

Upfront money is no problem. I've always been a hard worker- my last job I averaged 50-60 hours a week. If OT was offered I took it. Been saving saving saving... long term goal is to buy a bunch of houses and use the rental income as retirement. Long story short in 20-30 years I'll lose my eyes so I want to be prepared with plenty of cash by then! One of the things that drew me to Insurance was the idea of renewals. I love passive income!

There are lots of directions you could go in this business. To me, Final Expense is probably the easiest system to get up and running as an independent if you've got some up front money to buy leads. It's an easy system to learn, but you still have to be willing to work hard, especially for the first couple of years. There are several good FE IMO's that are members of these forums. You should check out the Final Expense forum if that might be of interest to you.

If you don't have much up front money, you could think about working for a captive career company. They usually offer some type of financing so you don't starve while you're getting your business going.

One good option in the San Antonio area would be American National's career division. (I've never worked there myself, but I know several agents that work for them, so I'm somewhat familiar. I got my start in a similar company.) Their operation is largely based on the home service agency system. The beauty of that is that you would get a book of business of established clients, for which you would get a base pay for servicing. ANICO is well established in San Antonio, so they would have clientele whose families go back several generations with the company. The company would teach you how to grow your business from that client base.

Home Service is the original Final Expense system. Lots of FE agents started out working a debit. ANICO still works that system, but their agents aren't limited to it, and can get into more sophisticated markets as well. Most of what they do is still traditional "family" life insurance, though.

Here's a link if that sounds interesting:
Career Opportunities

That looks extremely interesting! Being a captive agent does not sound bad... any idea what I could expect to make as a base? A captive agent doesn't pay for leads correct? And a final question sir: are there renewals for captive agents? I'm pretty dumb in this and most of the forum advice seems to be for indepents.


Once again, thank y'all!

 

[shonceman]

I read it once but I'll read it again. I read both of the pinned ones. I'm going to be honest I'm a bit in over my head but I'm determined to learn and succeed!



Ah okay I got you now. I think I misunderstood what was being said to me! I thought he was saying spend 6 months learning the ropes, instead just take the 6 month "burn" and go with other companies.




Upfront money is no problem. I've always been a hard worker- my last job I averaged 50-60 hours a week. If OT was offered I took it. Been saving saving saving... long term goal is to buy a bunch of houses and use the rental income as retirement. Long story short in 20-30 years I'll lose my eyes so I want to be prepared with plenty of cash by then! One of the things that drew me to Insurance was the idea of renewals. I love passive income!



That looks extremely interesting! Being a captive agent does not sound bad... any idea what I could expect to make as a base? A captive agent doesn't pay for leads correct? And a final question sir: are there renewals for captive agents? I'm pretty dumb in this and most of the forum advice seems to be for indepents.


Once again, thank y'all!

Other than captive home service companies, base pay isn't much. In a home service company it depends on the size of the book. I haven't worked as a captive for many years, but when I did my base was around $400/week. An agent starting with a smaller book would be less. A company manager would be able to tell you better.

Captive agents don't usually pay for leads because they don't really use them. Sales are mainly generated from working with existing clientele and referrals.

There are renewals for captive agents, but only as long as you remain on the agency. (That's actually where the base pay comes from. It's renewals on business that previous agents wrote.)

One other consideration of working for a captive carrier is there are usually a range of benefits (group health insurance, etc.) offered to the agents.

In case I sound like I'm pitching the joys of working captive, I'm not! If I thought it was a better way to do business, I'd be doing it. I've been in the business for 29 years. I've been independent for a total of 20 years, and continuously so for 14 years. I can't see myself ever going back. But it can be a good place for a newbie to get started in the business.

 

[Rigel]

Other than captive home service companies, base pay isn't much. In a home service company it depends on the size of the book. I haven't worked as a captive for many years, but when I did my base was around $400/week. An agent starting with a smaller book would be less. A company manager would be able to tell you better.

Captive agents don't usually pay for leads because they don't really use them. Sales are mainly generated from working with existing clientele and referrals.

There are renewals for captive agents, but only as long as you remain on the agency. (That's actually where the base pay comes from. It's renewals on business that previous agents wrote.)

One other consideration of working for a captive carrier is there are usually a range of benefits (group health insurance, etc.) offered to the agents.

In case I sound like I'm pitching the joys of working captive, I'm not! If I thought it was a better way to do business, I'd be doing it. I've been in the business for 29 years. I've been independent for a total of 20 years, and continuously so for 14 years. I can't see myself ever going back. But it can be a good place for a newbie to get started in the business.

Awesome thank you sir! I may just go that route. Are there any other captive agencies you would recommend in case I didn't get the job? I also have a group interested in me that pitches to teachers... it would seem there are multiple groups that do this. Do you have any opinions on groups like them? This one I can find nothing on online but they set up leads for you and don't charge you for the leads according to the recruiter.

 

[shonceman]

Awesome thank you sir! I may just go that route. Are there any other captive agencies you would recommend in case I didn't get the job? I also have a group interested in me that pitches to teachers... it would seem there are multiple groups that do this. Do you have any opinions on groups like them? This one I can find nothing on online but they set up leads for you and don't charge you for the leads according to the recruiter.

The other main captive home service company in Texas is Reliable, which is under Kemper (Kemperhsc.com). They would be a good place for training, but not my first choice for a long term career. I don't have experience with companies like Horace Mann or others in that line. I did work in voluntary benefits with Colonial Life for several years. Some of their agents do quite well. I was only doing it part time along with my other lines, and I didn't really enjoy working that way. But it's a great system for somebody who really applies themselves to it.

 

[StarterAgentKG]

I will admit I'm new. Just the way people are talking and pushing to recruit not sell... it sounds like an MLM my mother would be suckered into.




Mainly Health and Life. Well only those. I don't know to much about them... I passed the test with a 90 but I'm book smart street dumb at this point.



Thank you! Omaha, AIG and Americo are their big ones as I understand it. If your recommendation is to stay and then leave later I will follow it!


Thank you all!