State Farm Offer

[fastrack1]

Re: State Farm Offer.

I would like to remind everyone that is slamming the SF opportunity that any business you start takes a good 3-5 years of hard work and financial commitment before you achieve success (only if you are good). The SF opportunity is no different than that. I do agree that it is not what it used to be, but it is still a great place to start for most people. It has allowed me to make decent money and pursue other business pursuits while not infringing upon that income stream. Most will not become millionaires working for SF. If you have what it takes to become a millionaire, you are going to do it no matter where you work.

For the average guy, SF is still a great place. There are pros & cons to every business. At the end of the day, I get paid based upon how much effort I put into this business. I have started or been involved in other business during the process because I have felt that those would provide a larger ROI, but hey, I invested 0% money into SF to begin with. I can't say that of anything else that I have done. It is a risk vs. reward situation. SF is a pretty sure thing (in most cases) so your risk is low, as is your overall reward sometimes.

For all the good advice that AgentZ gives about SF, maybe the truth of the matter is that he is not that great of an agent or a business person. You have to be more than a great salesperson to survive within SF. You have to have or learn business savvy quickly. Most agents that I know that gripe all the time about SF really aren't that great of an agent or a business person for that matter.

 

[AgentZ]

Re: State Farm Offer.

Your assumptions are not correct. I am in the top 10% in my AFO have been since my fifth month and its a good AFO (top 10 in region). I have made Ambassador travel each year once level 3 and twice level 2. My question is are you on the 97 or the AA04/05 ? Personally it sounds like a corporate response to me. There were hundreds of other TICA/AA04/AA05 Agents that went to meetings this week to discuss the contract and its lack of delivering what we were promised. You also have added nothing specific to this conversation just the old corporate line of "sell more" Wow I have been in sales and management successfully for over 20 years and never heard that one before.

Let me tell you the "average" TICA/AA04/AA05 agent is making less than 30% of the template that they showed us and they showed us ALL the same template unknown to us. Management wasn't telling people it took 3-5 years at this meeting they were telling us 5-10 YEARS. I would have said that you are not an agent with the company but I see you are on the 97 deal. You can talk all you want about being a great business person however when the company raised expenses and lowered commissions then the opportunity went in the tank. Agents are leaving in record numbers in their 3rd and 4th year they never used to lose many like this before.

To me this sounds like the rhetoric we heard this week. "You new agents need to control your expenses" below is my post from the other forum believe what you will but again I say fasttrack is NOT on the new deal.

Okay so anybody in the "know" will know the company had meetings this week in different regions to discuss the current contract. Rumor is that they are going to finally change it. We get what you have fastrack (maybe) They would not however admit that during these meetings. They said things like "its a expense problem" you new agents are having. What, the company is the one that "*suggested" that we do 3 things. Get the $20,000 furniture package, hire at least 3 staff and get an office in the busiest (ended up for most being most expensive) area that we were allowed to go. Under the old deal where they paid for staff and rent you would have had 2 staff (co paid for) and you would have stayed in previous agent's office in most cases.

3 points were made by agents. 1. The company or management does NOT care about us. 2. The co has over promised and under delivered. 3. the new agents can't keep going home to their spouses and telling them they are not making much money.

Blame was put a lot of the DAFO. That started in 2004. If you don't know what that is I won't go into it here it was basically a new department for training new agents. They kept talking about that we had to trust them. Same thing they told agents back in 1997 when they served up the previous contract and every agent that took it regretted it. All we want is that deal and something for the past 3 years or more if you were one of the first. They are losing agents in record numbers and can't replace the older agents much less TICA agents. Look before you leap. If they make the change it will be a decent to good career choice again but NOT until or if they do.

*many things were so called "suggested" during our TICA phase (first year) and we were lead to believe that we were to do these things or not get our contracts

Okay I searched the other posts you are a AA97 agent right ? You don't get it, sorry. Let's go back to when you started let you borrow $75000-$100,000 and pay you 35%-50% less commission and see where you would be at ?

I would like to remind everyone that is slamming the SF opportunity that any business you start takes a good 3-5 years of hard work and financial commitment before you achieve success (only if you are good). The SF opportunity is no different than that. I do agree that it is not what it used to be, but it is still a great place to start for most people. It has allowed me to make decent money and pursue other business pursuits while not infringing upon that income stream. Most will not become millionaires working for SF. If you have what it takes to become a millionaire, you are going to do it no matter where you work.

For the average guy, SF is still a great place. There are pros & cons to every business. At the end of the day, I get paid based upon how much effort I put into this business. I have started or been involved in other business during the process because I have felt that those would provide a larger ROI, but hey, I invested 0% money into SF to begin with. I can't say that of anything else that I have done. It is a risk vs. reward situation. SF is a pretty sure thing (in most cases) so your risk is low, as is your overall reward sometimes.

For all the good advice that AgentZ gives about SF, maybe the truth of the matter is that he is not that great of an agent or a business person. You have to be more than a great salesperson to survive within SF. You have to have or learn business savvy quickly. Most agents that I know that gripe all the time about SF really aren't that great of an agent or a business person for that matter. Hey, I work for State Farm and I only go into my office if I want to and I've only been at it for six years and have been doing that since day one. The key is to hire the right people - people that are better than you and then let them do their thing. It doesn't matter who you work for, it is how you manage your business

 

[chickenfarmer]

Re: State Farm Offer.

AgentZ,

You are providing a great service to people looking into an Agency career with State Farm. Thank you for your insight and experiences. Do you have any idea when the new contract changes may take effect? Did you attend the meeting? Does it appear to you that SF knows they are making a mistake and aim to remedy it without admitting a mistake?

Thanks again,

CF

 

[AgentZ]

Re: State Farm Offer.

Rumors are all over the place so I can't say if or when they will offer a contract change? All we are looking for is the previous deal "AA97". I would hope they know that this contract is not working, and they DO. Agents are leaving, filing bankruptcy and getting divorced. I don't care if they admit any mistakes. They should use these meetings to come back and say " to better align our agency force we will be offering all agents that started in 2004 and after the previous contract which is the AA97 .

I am as most agents I know simply wanting to move ahead for ourselves and the future of the company. We still love this company and the ideals we were brought in on. Let's hope they do it soon. Maybe it could start 01/09 ? More and more TICA are coming off of the 2 year set default rate and when they do they are mostly taking pay cuts. They either have to cut back everything and or keep borrowing money with no end in sight.

AgentZ,

You are providing a great service to people looking into an Agency career with State Farm. Thank you for your insight and experiences. Do you have any idea when the new contract changes may take effect? Did you attend the meeting? Does it appear to you that SF knows they are making a mistake and aim to remedy it without admitting a mistake?

Thanks again,

CF

 

[saieddie]

Re: State Farm Offer.

State Farm kills puppies.

 

[xrac]

Re: State Farm Offer.

Sounds to me like a lot of people are interesting in going to work for State Farm based upon past performance but do not realize the changes that have occured or what they are currently entering into. Anybody have an opinion about what the current best P&C captive situation is?

 

[djs]

Re: State Farm Offer.

Sounds to me like a lot of people are interesting in going to work for State Farm based upon past performance but do not realize the changes that have occured or what they are currently entering into. Anybody have an opinion about what the current best P&C captive situation is?

I'm not sure there is one... A lot of it depends on you and your location.

It also depends if you are looking for the answer 'right-now', or the answer in 5-10 years. Things evolve, change, etc, and while it's always easiest to sell the lowest price coverage, it's harder to sell a long term value, but when sold based on value, it stays on the books longer.

In truth, you need to know what carrier best reflects you, and know that the carrier is in it for the long-haul, not short term profits.

Allstate, Farmers, State Farm are all good career opportunities, but they fit different people. Right now, Allstate would appear the weakest, due to reserve issues, limits on policy writing, etc, but they will recover. State Farm has good rates, but only for certain drivers, Farmers is all over the map on ratings, some great, some a bit high, but they offer the most flexibility, probably least support.

On the P&C side, independent is not all it's cracked up to be, since you have limited carriers, claims problems, usually deal with billing, etc. Startup costs are prohibitive.

e-surance has a great business model, fits some drivers well, but is generally to high in their premiums, and doesn't work with agents.

Pick your poisen. You can do well with any of them, but they all stink in the short term, do pretty well in the long term, if you adapt and work it hard.

Dan

 

[fastrack1]

Re: State Farm Offer.

Okay I searched the other posts you are a AA97 agent right ? You don't get it, sorry. Let's go back to when you started let you borrow $75000-$100,000 and pay you 35%-50% less commission and see where you would be at ? [/COLOR][/B][/QUOTE]

Yes, I am an AA97 agent and I wasn't intentionally trying to hid that fact. I understand that I am out of the loop some because you are dealing with different issues than what I dealt with. The picture that you are painting seems different that what I am seeing in my area. I have several friends across several states that are on the new contract and they seem to be doing okay. They are good enough friends that I would assume they would tell me if their deal was crappy. I personally wouldn't take the new contract because I don't want someone breathing over my neck for the rest of my life forcing me to sell certain levels of insurance. But again, those agents knew that going into the program.

It sounds like you have been successful and I congratulate you on your accomplishments. My point however is that you can't just follow company line. Sure, do what you need to to get your contract and then run your business like you want to run it. Don't hire 3 staff and rent the most expensive spot in town. You can change all that. Maybe not while an AFE is telling you every move to make, but eventually if you stick with it.

Believe me, I have tried every program that State Farm and the AFE's have told me to do over the years and I have learned to ignore alot of what they say and to do things the way I feel they need to be done. That is the business savvy that I refer to. You will go broke listening to an AFE.

My question to these new guys is always the same. Did you do your own due diligence is researching the opportunity before you started? There are plenty of new contract agents out there to get opinions from. If you just bought what the AFE's and SF told you up front, then it is your fault where you are at now. I'm not saying this is the case for you, but people have a tendency to jump at opportunities and then complain about how they were "tricked" when it doesn't work out.

I do agree that SF is not what it used to be, either as an opportunity or as a company. While I am an AA97 agent, I feel that my potential is certainly capped and that the ROI is certainly not what it used to be. Because of that, I have started other businesses to make sure that all my eggs are not in one basket. Of course, if those other businesses fail, I can't blame anyone other than myself. The same normally applies to a SF agency. I know that some agents have been screwed, but in the cases that I know, the agent put himself in that position and simply believed everything that he was being told.

I also understand SF's position. Look around at some of the older agents that have made tons of money over the years. Many of them are inept at what they do and are dinosaurs in this business. SF can't keep paying people that kind of money for that level of performance. Sure, SF created the problem and I wish I was one of those agents, but you can't blame SF for trying a new system to get better results for them. They are not in the business for us (as alot of agents still like to hold the belief). They are in business for company. I have 30 agents in my town and they are considering adding more. Do I want them to do this? NO! Do I know why they are doing it? YES! Because the other agent's (mainly older agents) are not providing the level of production needed to make the profit needed. They are fat and happy where they are at (my hat is off to them!) but SF needs certain market penetration, etc.

Again, SF is a great opportunity, but not for everyone. You need to do your own individual research. The days of just hanging a SF sign out front and reeling in the money are over and many people are still being sold that bill of goods.

 

[Sailor]

Re: State Farm Offer.

That's a great idea, I'm actually really good at cross selling and would enjoy the challenge- especially if it's working towards my goal!!! Can't believe I didn't think of that!!! LOL!!!

You are not allowed to do this. Your contract states that you can not directly or indirectly solicit policies from another agent. Now new applications are not policies, but management will threaten you with termination. Be careful, your contract states you can be fired for any reason.

Now, you could do that with other carries just not SF.

 

[AgentZ]

Re: State Farm Offer.

Thank you and okay fair enough as for your point of view here. The difference between my contract and your contract are these things. We paid ALL expenses. We paid staff ( they made us have 3 or more full time & in some cases 1-2 part time), many were required to purchase the $20,000 furniture package that they are still paying over $350 a month for, and rent a building in a "highly visable location that was deemed very professioal looking" Okay then they said these things were "suggested" but we ALL understood to do these things and the ones that did not then did NOT get their contract. Also we had a default rate on P & C for the first two years and from my research of talking to over 100 TICA agents nationwide over 85% took a pay cut some as much as $22,500 after year two and most over $13,000. You contract doesn't work like that you part without the "quality" is better than most TICA gets with top performance.

Yes we did our due diligence. Many like me talked to over 10 agents before coming in, but NONE had the present contract. They didn't have it when I first started looking at agency. I had operated a successful business for almost 20 years before coming to the company, had a high income and had excelled at sales and management. They recruited me and I did all I could to understand the opportunity as it was then. The problem comes back to the new contract. They raised expenses and lowered commissions. When they first started talking this new deal they were very ambiguous. Now by then I had built a relationship with an AFE was in the hiring process and I did "trust" them. Now I know I should not have. What a shame that is to not be able to trust them.

MY question to you is did you go in debt $75,000-$125,000 like MOST Tica's did? I know the usual answer to that and its NO. Did you take a pay cut after 2 years ? Did you have to pay ALL expenses your first year like rent, payroll, basically everything? Did they "suggest" you have 3 staff ? Under your contract with an average book you know as well as I do you would have had 2 staff at best. You ever see a 97 trainee agent ask for a 3rd staff they would have told you NO, top 100 or not.

I am not saying the entire opportunity is bad and you are correct you need to have outside interest. The problem is the AA04/AA05. I have personally talked to over 100 agents hired in 2004 and here is the consensus.

1. The company does NOT care about us
2. The company over promised and under delivered
3. Many can't face their spouses because they are not making 30% of the money that we were shown we would make when hitting our sales goals.

its is NOT a Great opportunity not on this current contract. it could be and is on your contract.

You are right the older agents hurt us all they set on their books collecting tons of $ doing nothing. They are what is called not "engaged". This made the pendulum swing to far in the other direction. To much of our pay is based on variable P&C rates, agents that have one bad or mediocre year have to immediately cut back the next and with all the debt they have no option. Many are down to one staff and themselves and just trying to survive.

People if you are looking at agency PLEASE go talk to 10 agents that were hired in 2004.

Okay I searched the other posts you are a AA97 agent right ? You don't get it, sorry. Let's go back to when you started let you borrow $75000-$100,000 and pay you 35%-50% less commission and see where you would be at ? [/color][/b]

Yes, I am an AA97 agent and I wasn't intentionally trying to hid that fact. I understand that I am out of the loop some because you are dealing with different issues than what I dealt with. The picture that you are painting seems different that what I am seeing in my area. I have several friends across several states that are on the new contract and they seem to be doing okay. They are good enough friends that I would assume they would tell me if their deal was crappy. I personally wouldn't take the new contract because I don't want someone breathing over my neck for the rest of my life forcing me to sell certain levels of insurance. But again, those agents knew that going into the program.

It sounds like you have been successful and I congratulate you on your accomplishments. My point however is that you can't just follow company line. Sure, do what you need to to get your contract and then run your business like you want to run it. Don't hire 3 staff and rent the most expensive spot in town. You can change all that. Maybe not while an AFE is telling you every move to make, but eventually if you stick with it.

Believe me, I have tried every program that State Farm and the AFE's have told me to do over the years and I have learned to ignore alot of what they say and to do things the way I feel they need to be done. That is the business savvy that I refer to. You will go broke listening to an AFE.

My question to these new guys is always the same. Did you do your own due diligence is researching the opportunity before you started? There are plenty of new contract agents out there to get opinions from. If you just bought what the AFE's and SF told you up front, then it is your fault where you are at now. I'm not saying this is the case for you, but people have a tendency to jump at opportunities and then complain about how they were "tricked" when it doesn't work out.

I do agree that SF is not what it used to be, either as an opportunity or as a company. While I am an AA97 agent, I feel that my potential is certainly capped and that the ROI is certainly not what it used to be. Because of that, I have started other businesses to make sure that all my eggs are not in one basket. Of course, if those other businesses fail, I can't blame anyone other than myself. The same normally applies to a SF agency. I know that some agents have been screwed, but in the cases that I know, the agent put himself in that position and simply believed everything that he was being told.

I also understand SF's position. Look around at some of the older agents that have made tons of money over the years. Many of them are inept at what they do and are dinosaurs in this business. SF can't keep paying people that kind of money for that level of performance. Sure, SF created the problem and I wish I was one of those agents, but you can't blame SF for trying a new system to get better results for them. They are not in the business for us (as alot of agents still like to hold the belief). They are in business for company. I have 30 agents in my town and they are considering adding more. Do I want them to do this? NO! Do I know why they are doing it? YES! Because the other agent's (mainly older agents) are not providing the level of production needed to make the profit needed. They are fat and happy where they are at (my hat is off to them!) but SF needs certain market penetration, etc.

Again, SF is a great opportunity, but not for everyone. You need to do your own individual research. The days of just hanging a SF sign out front and reeling in the money are over and many people are still being sold that bill of goods.[/quote]