Starting Agents Should Work For

[seadevil]

physicians mutual???? Anyone disagree with this suggestion? They are in my area ... anyone think bankers is better?

Jody,

I was with PM for a short period. My personal experience was good to a point. A lot will depend on who you Divisional Manager and Assistant Manager will be. They are the ones who will conduct a majority of your training.

They do have a leads system in place, however, a majority of the leads that I received were either extremely old or current customers who had been orphaned.

I would say that the biggest thing that I gained from them was the ability to Door Knock. Basically I was given a turning 65 list and off to the races I went.

The upside is that you can be appointed with other carriers, however, you must present a PM product first. I was told that during an appointment the client had to refuse PM's product before offering something else, however, the contract states that you can only offer other products if the client is not qualified or is rated up.

 

[The Rabbi]

It's sounds like you may not have what it takes to go indie and want someone to hold your hand. It won't happen. Those regional offices are full of mediocre agents and that's who will train you.

If you have any sales experience and can read a brochure, you can work for yourself. That's the whole reward for getting the license. Freedom and renewals for those who have the work ethic to make it.

 

[jody108]

I'm impressed with the support you guys are giving. I appreciate it. It's true Rabbi, i do want my hand held .... however, my wife is requring it ... so I don't have a choice either way.

I contacted PM and I was definately more impressed with them then Bankers .... however, the bankers manager seemed really good. Since there is a 90% disapproval rating for Bankers, I will stay away. Since PM gets, at worst, a nuetral rating, I will go that direction.

INDY will come later ... lets see if I have the balls to do this first.

Experenced Agents: If you had one advice to give a newbie to be succeful, what would it be??

 

[jdeasy]

I'm impressed with the support you guys are giving. I appreciate it. It's true Rabbi, i do want my hand held .... however, my wife is requring it ... so I don't have a choice either way.

I contacted PM and I was definately more impressed with them then Bankers .... however, the bankers manager seemed really good. Since there is a 90% disapproval rating for Bankers, I will stay away. Since PM gets, at worst, a nuetral rating, I will go that direction.

INDY will come later ... lets see if I have the balls to do this first.

Experenced Agents: If you had one advice to give a newbie to be succeful, what would it be??

I just had an agent buddy go to work for PM here in western Ky. He has been indy for thast several years. He used to work for Bankers and hated it. He has a tough time with leads for the last year or so. He has most of his contracts, Coventry, Pyramid, Humana and Shen. thru parker and Asses and can't get released. He met with PM and really liked their lead support and their business model. He is interested in med sups mostly now.

He seems to like what they offer. Their med sup premiums are way out of line with other companies in Ky. I don't know how well that work out for him. He seems happy with his choice of PM.

 

[seadevil]

JD,

That is one of the problems that I encountered during my time with PM. They pushed Med Supps, but their premiums were anywhere from $30 to $50 dollars above some of the rest. The only time they became comparable was after the client had aged a few years. Then it wasn't so bad, but it was still higher and I found out real quick, if a Senior can save $1 they will.

 

[jody108]

Seadevil ... are you independent now? What did you do after PM ... thus far, you have left the only semi negative feedback for PM. Just wondering if it could just be your office you worked for or if you think it's universal. Thank you for your time.

Jody

 

[Todd King]

I have yet to see a captive company that has a competitive med supp on the market. It doesn't surprise me to see that PM is higher on the supps. Captive companies also seem to have higher rates on their FX too, or other lines of life insurance for that matter. I just love to run across these 'great' companies. I'll replace them 100% of the time if they can be replaced (health wise).
If you can be successful with a captive company, then you can switch to the indy side and the only thing in your way would be you. You certainly wouldn't have to deal with the high prices anymore.

 

[jody108]

Thanks Todd. Great advice all the way around. I can't stop thinking about your comments.

SEADEVIL: In response to your private message: I appreciate your time. It's funny, i came across another forum that was on PM and the person, named Seadevil was asking if anyone knew about PM and whether they would recommend working for them ... it was in july ... was that you?

I too will be 2 hours away from the nearest office. You have made me think maybe I should think about it a little harder. Bankers, on the other hand, is near me ... i would have office training ... however, only a few people have said anything remotely good about them. So, I don't know ...

Again, I appreciate everything .... I wish you the best ... Haribol, as they say in India ... I just returned from there

take care,

Jody

 

[seadevil]

Yep Jody that was me. Like I said, I was there just a short time and it was just not working out. Like I said in my PM Physicians does seem to be a really good company and as for my Div Mgr he was great, however, I felt like I was actually taking steps backwards.

So, I terminated, which all in all in will not affect me by the way the contract is written. I cannot talk insurance to any of my customer's that I developed with Physicians.

Right now I am concentrating my efforts in the FE market. Good manager, very experience team and the leads are reasonably priced. Yes, I'm giving up a few points in the beginning, but that will change. As for the giving up the points, I was comfortable with that because I figure if I get the training and the leads, it will all work out in the end. The only thing that may be a downside is that there is no hand holding. If I have questions, I ask, also I went and spent some time with my manager and watched how he did it.

Don't let the couple of hours scare you to much. Just make sure that you and the Manager go into detail what your training will be. What you expect of them and they of you. Be upfront about how much attention you think that you will need. Just to let you know though, your Asst. Mgr may also be one of your trainers and if so, he is still on production, so you may have to work around that.


Good luck.

 

[jody108]

Thanks Seadevil.

I signed on with PM Today.

Bankers looks better in structure, training, support etc ... but I will have to go with the advice of experienced agents that tend to think they are Okay??

Thanks so much everyone.

Jody
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Thanks Seadevil.

I signed on with PM Today.

Bankers looks better in structure, training, support etc ... but I will have to go with the advice of experienced agents that tend to think PM Okay??

Thanks so much everyone.

Jody