Passed the state exam! Now what?

[Jocko]

The main thing it comes down to is if you want to work for a captive or independent.

Captive agents sell insurance for one company such as State Farm, Nationwide, Allstate, etc. You will only be allowed to sell their polices. Although it seems like they are good places to start because of their "support"...

I wouldn't know much about the support or hiring process though. I am fairly new to the industry and work for an independent agency. I started February 2020 as an account manager in the operations side of things. However I making the switch to Broker in a month. They gave me the opportunity to learn the back end of it before throwing me into the fire..

Independent Agents sell for a number of different companies. Giving you the ability to shop around and obtain quotes from many carriers, as long as the agency has an appointment with them. The more markets your agency has access to the better obviously.

There is pros and cons to everything. I work for a fairly large agency with a HUGE amount of markets, account support, risk management resources, great benefits, many offices to work from and remote options..the list goes on. ALTHOUGH our commission splits on Commercial Accounts are 40% for new business and 24% renewals. I know some folks who work at smaller agencies and the commission splits are much better as well as more flexibility/less "rules" if you will. I like having the structure in place though, I have faith that it will benefit me(in the beginning at least lol)

Thank you! that cleared up the whole captive vs independent thing for me. Now that I have some sense of that. I feel as though independent is optimal but, I would appreciate the support and perhaps even opportunity to learn from other agents which seems like the captive side of things due to there being as I see it a higher volume of people like myself who need some help for awhile at the outset of our careers so we can adequately contribute to an agency and make a living.

 

[alexmishchuk]

Thank you! that cleared up the whole captive vs independent thing for me. Now that I have some sense of that. I feel as though independent is optimal but, I would appreciate the support and perhaps even opportunity to learn from other agents which seems like the captive side of things due to there being as I see it a higher volume of people like myself who need some help for awhile at the outset of our careers so we can adequately contribute to an agency and make a living.

Also depends on what type of insurance you plan on selling.

Personal or Commercial.

I feel like the "big names" make it easier to sell personal lines because they have insane marketing. Commercials, billboards, online etc. Everyone has heard of State Farm and Allstate. Just something to keep in mind.

Again...take my advice with a grain of salt. I am still green as grass

 

[Jocko]

Also depends on what type of insurance you plan on selling.

Personal or Commercial.

I feel like the "big names" make it easier to sell personal lines because they have insane marketing. Commercials, billboards, online etc. Everyone has heard of State Farm and Allstate. Just something to keep in mind.

Again...take my advice with a grain of salt. I am still green as grass

any info I can get is a win for me so ill happily take the advice

 

[alexmishchuk]

any info I can get is a win for me so ill happily take the advice

Just start contacting companies or people in the industry. Like most beneficial things in life the sooner you start the better (for example investing for retirement, healthy habits, education, etc)

If you 100% plan on pursuing this then start calling today. Do not keep putting it off until the "right time"...Some say the right time never comes although I dont like that mentality. I like to think that right time is NOW!

 

[Jocko]

Since calling to talk on the phone seems like the going idea. How much should I worry about a resume? I was considering hiring a professional writer but now Im not sure it would be worth it to pay for that service when my credentials are not technically official yet. Could I get some thoughts on that?.

 

[alexmishchuk]

Since calling to talk on the phone seems like the going idea. How much should I worry about a resume? I was considering hiring a professional writer but now Im not sure it would be worth it to pay for that service when my credentials are not technically official yet. Could I get some thoughts on that?.

It's all up to you man. What if someone asks for a resume? Then you're gonna scramble to throw one together. I would prepare one before hand, as well as have 3-5 references from prior roles available. Make sure your references know you are putting them down so that in case the hiring company calls they can sing your praises.

a professional writer?? you think that's really necessary?? Just look up resume examples online as a template and do your best to make yours look professional. Maybe have someone you trust review it. I would NOT hire anyone to do something that you could so easily do yourself. Again its all up to you though...

 

[rousemark]

The more markets your agency has access to the better obviously.

Not so obvious.. The agents that tend to make the most money specialize in one market and often one product with one company. It is kind of like the medical profession.. Who makes the most, the general practitioner or the specialist?

 

[telephonic agent]

Telephonic agent here, if you passed your exam and you're ready to write some business the first thing that's going to happen is you're going to start getting calls from hundreds of different IMO fmo trying to tell you they're better than the other one.

Find yourself a good space to be in either right life or health and stick to one don't try to do one or the other is too much to learn in the beginning

Don't let people tell you you can't sell insurance over the phone it's a lie I've made a very good living at doing it

The people that tell you that have not the right telephonic skills nor have they invested in it

You may be a face-to-face guy you maybe a telephone guy you just have to find your right space

If you don't have at least $2,000 in your pocket to buy leads or start generating your own leads you might want to think about being a captive agent for a company like State Farm or Farmers the wages is a salary or an hourly rate which is using 12 or 15 bucks an hour

I went face to face half of my career and the rest over the phone so I've been in both worlds and I'm convinced since this covid happened I have made more over the phone than I ever have

There's a lot of IMO's fmoc out there that have a big marketing advertisement budget that damn near can convince you the sell ice to an Eskimo they're pretty good at their marketing they're very good at sublingual subconscious patterns to get you to join their organization.

If you haven't got a clue how you're going to make any Revenue and you're serious about getting exclusive leads right to you reply back to me and this goes for everybody here in the Forum

I am so sick and tired of unethical people and companies taking advantage of good potential producing agents that end up taking their money promising them the world and then they end up quitting because they got a bad taste in their mouth and they're not making any money and they have to pay their bills and feed their family.

I only recommend the few out of everything out there in the internet world and if there's anything that comes across I'll use the ask somebody that has way deeper pockets and I have if they vetted him people I really trust.

Blessings to you

 

[alexmishchuk]

Not so obvious.. The agents that tend to make the most money specialize in one market and often one product with one company. It is kind of like the medical profession.. Who makes the most, the general practitioner or the specialist?

That's a good point I guess...Although I still don't understand how obtaining quotes from a variety of markets can be a negative thing.

What happens if you have an appointment with only one company and they decline the submission? Do you just move on to your next prospect and forget the first one existed? Why would it not be ideal to have many markets to send submissions to?

From my experience, the more quotes we're able to present the more likely the insured is to buy..

 

[rousemark]

That's a good point I guess...Although I still don't understand how obtaining quotes from a variety of markets can be a negative thing.

What happens if you have an appointment with only one company and they decline the submission? Do you just move on to your next prospect and forget the first one existed? Why would it not be ideal to have many markets to send submissions to?

From my experience, the more quotes we're able to present the more likely the insured is to buy..

Sounds as what you are talking about is getting quotes from different carriers... When you speak of markets, it normally thought of specific areas of the business such as the personal lines market, the commercial market, the life market, business market or even subsections of markets such as Health Market (or ancillary health market, ACA market, cancer market, etc.