Realistic Salary Expectations
- Thread starter lisar1208
- Start date
- 238
I don't think I understand the question.
Are you looking for average first year earnings of a captive P & C agent?
The word salary is throwing me off.
There are so many different comp plans in the captive P & C world that it is a difficult question to answer.
There are plans that are all salary, there are plans that are no salary and then ones that mix salary and commission.
I may be able to give you a better answer if you can restate your question. Thanks
Are you looking for average first year earnings of a captive P & C agent?
The word salary is throwing me off.
There are so many different comp plans in the captive P & C world that it is a difficult question to answer.
There are plans that are all salary, there are plans that are no salary and then ones that mix salary and commission.
I may be able to give you a better answer if you can restate your question. Thanks
My guess is this also has a lot to do with what part of the country you are in, as well as how competitive the company you are working for is in the area.
Your manager should be able to give you a decent answer to this question, but he'll overstate it a bit. The question to ask is what is the average salary first year people earned last year under him (or her)? Don't bother asking what you can make, ask what others have made, on an average.
The brutal reality is, most new agents don't survive their first year. My guess is, 80% find something different to do. And that's 80% of ones that actually write a policy, that don't make it 12 months.
Why is this? Many want an easy paycheck, this is neither easy, nor a regular paycheck. Many have very unrealistic expectations set from the start (make 100K the first year), and many simply run out of money before they get established.
In California, I would tell you to realistically plan on $50K for the first year, but you are going to have to work for it. You can do better, you can do not quite this good. From what I see, people who don't do close to this get out.
The trick to this business is working an 8 hour day (imagine that). If you do this, you'll suceed. If you try to skip this part (many do), you won't make it.
Dan
Your manager should be able to give you a decent answer to this question, but he'll overstate it a bit. The question to ask is what is the average salary first year people earned last year under him (or her)? Don't bother asking what you can make, ask what others have made, on an average.
The brutal reality is, most new agents don't survive their first year. My guess is, 80% find something different to do. And that's 80% of ones that actually write a policy, that don't make it 12 months.
Why is this? Many want an easy paycheck, this is neither easy, nor a regular paycheck. Many have very unrealistic expectations set from the start (make 100K the first year), and many simply run out of money before they get established.
In California, I would tell you to realistically plan on $50K for the first year, but you are going to have to work for it. You can do better, you can do not quite this good. From what I see, people who don't do close to this get out.
The trick to this business is working an 8 hour day (imagine that). If you do this, you'll suceed. If you try to skip this part (many do), you won't make it.
Dan
davidrutters
New Member
- 2
Hi, I am also new to selling and i guess i just want to ease some of the work by having a website to pre-sell my stuff. I don't know if it's going to work, but i can always hope, and hope. But i think i'll take your advice on the eight hour work. Thanks.
Websites are a good start, but don't make you different from 1000's of other agents out there with their websites. Somehow, you have to drive traffic to the site, then answer questions, then consult with prospects, then follow thru, write the apps, and work them through underwriting.
I'm not sure what you mean by 'pre-sell' your stuff. 1000's have tried, few succeeded, in having a website, and having very many apps processed in a hands offf approach. It works great as a sales tool, but as a full sales system, it's hard to compete against the 'big-guys'.
Dan
davidrutters
New Member
- 2
Hi, Dan. Yes, i'm working with some technical guys to drive traffic to my sites. I dont mean for my site to become a fully-automated system, because then that would just be too much of an investment on infrastructure from out of my own pocket. But let me see how it works, then i'll let you know.
My point is a bit different, you need to find something besides a website to make this work. $500 gets you a decent site, but you have to have a full plan around it, how to get traffic, how to manage leads, how to followup, etc.
Basically, a website should be seen as one of 3-5 prospecting tools, not a business model. In fact, I would consider it a sales tool, not a prospecting tool, unless you are going for pay per click type of things, which can be VERY costly.
As a previous web designer, hi-tech product manager, etc, it took a very long time for me to get over the fact that a website isn't the main focus that I wanted it to be. While I like to see people make it work for them, I feel a bit obligated to warn you that it takes more than you might be thinking of to make it work successfully.
I used to build e-commerce sites. Most failed simply because the owner didn't really have a plan to be successful. They figured just getting the store up would make them successful. You quickly find out its like having a store in the middle of a desert, without any roads for 10 miles in any direction. Not much happening in your store. I've seen a lot of otherwise good websites suffer this problem.
Dan
Basically, a website should be seen as one of 3-5 prospecting tools, not a business model. In fact, I would consider it a sales tool, not a prospecting tool, unless you are going for pay per click type of things, which can be VERY costly.
As a previous web designer, hi-tech product manager, etc, it took a very long time for me to get over the fact that a website isn't the main focus that I wanted it to be. While I like to see people make it work for them, I feel a bit obligated to warn you that it takes more than you might be thinking of to make it work successfully.
I used to build e-commerce sites. Most failed simply because the owner didn't really have a plan to be successful. They figured just getting the store up would make them successful. You quickly find out its like having a store in the middle of a desert, without any roads for 10 miles in any direction. Not much happening in your store. I've seen a lot of otherwise good websites suffer this problem.
Dan
- Thread starter
- #8
Hello,
sorry if the question was not more specific.
I am commissions only for a captive agency. I do not have the option to use the internet for marketing.
I am mostly cold calling and working some of the existing book.
I am selling P&C only. I am trying to get an idea of what someone might make in my position.
sorry if the question was not more specific.
I am commissions only for a captive agency. I do not have the option to use the internet for marketing.
I am mostly cold calling and working some of the existing book.
I am selling P&C only. I am trying to get an idea of what someone might make in my position.
There are to many variables to answer your question. I don't know what your commission split is, how competitive your products are, or what part of the country you are in, or how successful the agency is as a whole.
Find out what the person before you made. Make more than that.
Dan
Find out what the person before you made. Make more than that.
Dan
- Thread starter
- #10
