State Farm Offer

Re: State Farm Offer.

I don't know what an expense ratio is unless you mean for my book where I don't see that as relavent as to why my agency is loosing money.

Top 100, traveled twice in three years once level 2. I'm on time for travel this year.


To qualify for that I DO sell life and financial services to exceptional levels and still can't make pay the bills. That was a SMALL part of scorecard until today - and because I sell mostly Variable it doesnt count ANYWAY.

By next year I will be breaking even but it could take me 10 years to pay down the debt I accumulated over the past 4 years.

Most SF agents try to have an expense ratio of 50% in relation to gross profit. I was just curious what your was. If you are losing money, you would have an expense ratio over 100%. That won't answer why you are losing money, but will indicate where you are at in relation to everyone else.
 
Re: State Farm Offer.

You can't make it (comfortably) in one of the major P&C companies selling only P&C. Without a substantial amount of Life and Securities sales on the books you will not make a good living and will work yourself to death servicing the P&C.

If you like customer service work it is a great opportunity to get good at data manipulation and entry. As soon as you get enough business on the books you have to hire someone just to do that, so there goes that potential profit.

Cross sell Life and Securities is your only hope of building a business that is sustainable and lucrative. Or you could just sell Life and Health and cut State Farm, Farmers, Allstate, ect. out of your life.

Are you a SF agent, because we can't build a lucrative business off Life & Securities. The commissions and renewals are to low. They help us achieve a higher yearly bonus, which is nice, but P&C is where our money is at long-term and constitutes a majority of our income. L&H is for show, P&C is for dough.
 
Re: State Farm Offer.

My questions were a little different from the recent post by another individual. I've been a successful financial advisor for the past five years. My wife and I are desperately wanting to move to the country and raise a family and there is no way that I would be able to do that as a financial advisor without having to start over or luck into a retiring Edward Jones broker's office.
Hence, I've been looking at insurance agencies. I've been approached by State Farm and have talked to an existing agent. I'm supposed to have an interview with a recruiter next week. I was wondering if folks could give me some advice as to rather or not this would be a wise decision and also some questions that hopefully weren't answered on the previous topic post.
1) I would only go here to take over a retiring agents office and it's my understanding I'd be at the front of the line since I have the ability to cross sell LTC, LIFE, Mutual Funds successfully AND because I want to live in the country and I guess nobody else wants to anymore. I assume this is correct as they wouldn't waste there time interviewing me knowing this is the only way I'd come on board.
2) I was told for the first year I'm paid a salary and it is whatever I was making in my last year of my previous employment. This would be a major draw as I did 100k this year. I've never heard of a company willing to do this, is it a salary or actually some kind of forgiveable loan or draw?
3) What to look for if I did get the offers to take over an office in small towns? I get the impression I need to be the only shop in town. Do any of the old timers really cross sell? I was wondering if there is a way of finding out how many existing homeowners and car policies there is per capita for the counties ahead of time and how many existing ltc, and life policies there are in place?
4) I expect to make 85-115,000 at my peak in a small town. Is that normal or higher than I should expect? .
5)This should have been the first question. It is my understanding that you don't have to buy a retiring agent's book but when you retire you don't get to sell it or give it to your kid either, where other companies you buy the book and then get to sell it. Correct? Are there other companies I should be considering for the market I'm wanting?

Thanks for everyone's help.

#1- Front of the line may be pouring it on a little thick. Once and if you make it through the process and gain entry into "the pool", you will have the opportunity to post for new openings you will have access to every Wednesday. However, Financial Services does play an important part of the contract. Your experience may enable you to beat out other candidates that also post for the same position.
#2- "the first year" is usually the Agency Intern process, around 16 weeks. You may get a month or two on the front end, and a couple more on the back end. It depends on class scheduling dates and your start date. You are on commission from then on. They will match, but I do not know if they will do over $100K. I was around $70 and they didn't like it much;)
#3 You are at the mercy of someone giving you those numbers, and in my case, those numbers changed several times. I went into a 2 horse town. Very high market penetration. My marketing benefited me, but it made the other guy more money because he was the agent most identified with the brand. I would recommend selecting a location where you will be the only one (if you are wanting rural), but those are rare unless you are willing to wait or get lucky.
#4- Considering the above, you should not have a problem with that, at least after the pressure is off to market heavily, which you need to do anyway to grow and leverage YOUR name with that of SF. Rural communities tend to be larger assignments than urban ones. So is the expectations, however.
#5 You don't buy SF books of business. You are given them to service until you leave. This is a plus or a minus depending on your personal view of debt and the size of your savings.

Hope that helps! You'll get a lot of answers. What you will find is that every opportunity can be completely different than the next depending on # of agents, marketshare, and the size of the book. Not to mention the competitiveness of the rates.

Good Luck.
 
Re: State Farm Offer.

I was the first TICA in CT I am an AA05. I started in November of 2004 scratch.

I now have about 1,000 households. 900 cars 800 fire.

Top 100, traveled twice in three years once level 2.

I am still borrowing money to stay in business.

What do I have to do to get an assignment/migrate/stop loosing money???

Sell some more insurance, slacker:D
 
Re: State Farm Offer.

Spoken like a true State Farm Brat!

Was your pappy an agent or did you work in SFPP or claims as a secretary?

Ouch...you got it pretty close.;)

I'm the guy that deletes all of your uploaded docs, LOL.

Or first level ISC, take your pick:D
 
Re: State Farm Offer.

I am in exactly the same boat, I was one of the first TICA's in my state as well. I traveled and there is only ONE real way to overcome this contract, cut, cut, cut. Go to one staff then do all you can to preserve your book of business and sell all you personally can. The co. is losing agents at record numbers. Just today and last Friday rumors are rampant and something is coming out of corporate soon and it appears it will help the current ticas but if you started in 2004 or 2005 then you will be out in the cold.

I hope the company and many AFEs do read this. DO you realize you have caused bankruptcies, divorces and ruined lives. We are talking about lives here the co is making huge profits and the new contract agents are drowning in debt. With little or for many NO light at the end of the tunnel.


I don't know what an expense ratio is unless you mean for my book where I don't see that as relavent as to why my agency is loosing money.

Top 100, traveled twice in three years once level 2. I'm on time for travel this year.


To qualify for that I DO sell life and financial services to exceptional levels and still can't make pay the bills. That was a SMALL part of scorecard until today - and because I sell mostly Variable it doesnt count ANYWAY.

By next year I will be breaking even but it could take me 10 years to pay down the debt I accumulated over the past 4 years.
 
Re: State Farm Offer.



I hope the company and many AFEs do read this. DO you realize you have caused bankruptcies, divorces and ruined lives. We are talking about lives here the co is making huge profits and the new contract agents are drowning in debt. With little or for many NO light at the end of the tunnel.


I understand the situation that you new TICA's are in, but it is a little extreme to blame SF for your divorces and ruined lives. If you divorced over your failed business, then you didn't have a good marriage to start with. If the rest of your life is ruined over your failed business, then you don't have the stomach to be a small business owner (most fail, remember?) If you bought a lie when you started, you should have done more research. You contributed to your problem, not just SF. I'm sure the AFE's lied to you, but don't most recruiters who are trying to sign someone up for a business? You got taken and now your looking for someone to blame.

What do you want the company to do? Because you made a bad decision, you want them to pay off all your debt? You should go work for the government because you would fit in great.

I don't mind the bashing of SF, because they do make mistakes, but your divorce, bankruptcy, and ruined life is your own fault. :cry:
 
Re: State Farm Offer.

I understand the situation that you new TICA's are in, but it is a little extreme to blame SF for your divorces and ruined lives. If you divorced over your failed business, then you didn't have a good marriage to start with. If the rest of your life is ruined over your failed business, then you don't have the stomach to be a small business owner (most fail, remember?) If you bought a lie when you started, you should have done more research. You contributed to your problem, not just SF. I'm sure the AFE's lied to you, but don't most recruiters who are trying to sign someone up for a business? You got taken and now your looking for someone to blame.

What do you want the company to do? Because you made a bad decision, you want them to pay off all your debt? You should go work for the government because you would fit in great.

I don't mind the bashing of SF, because they do make mistakes, but your divorce, bankruptcy, and ruined life is your own fault. :cry:
You judge too quickly and too harshly. Unethical AFE's sell a pig in a poke. They misrepresent the situation and outright lie to induce new agents. If they are guilty, it guilty of niativity.

It is NOT the same game it was years ago and pointing to the old timers success and incomes is TOTALLY misleading. Many factors come into play, including gender and race.
 
Re: State Farm Offer.

You judge too quickly and too harshly. Unethical AFE's sell a pig in a poke. They misrepresent the situation and outright lie to induce new agents. If they are guilty, it guilty of niativity.

It is NOT the same game it was years ago and pointing to the old timers success and incomes is TOTALLY misleading. Many factors come into play, including gender and race.

I'm not pointing to the old timers success and incomes. I understand fully that the opportunity is not what it used to be. I've seen that in my own situation. However, if you are dumb enough to go $160,000 in debt (as some have mentioned) without realizing along the way that this boat is sinking, then you are not that smart. Just because an AFE lies to you doesn't mean you're not responsible for your own actions or lack thereof.

Being guilty of niativity is still being guilty and can only be blamed on the person that was naive. There are tons of scams out there (although I'm not saying that SF is a scam) and usually those that fall for them do so on their own misjudgement.

I am not a TICA, but I'm also not an old-timer and I see alot of the problems that are going on. I definitely feel SF is misrepresenting the opportunity, particularly through the recruiters, who get paid on placing agents. However, it is not fair for someone to blame their failed marriage and failed life on SF. That is just sour grapes. Of course, you're not going to admit that.

I also can't believe that you think race and gender play into any decisions that SF makes.......har!har!har!:D:D:D:D:D
 
Re: State Farm Offer.

You say "The older and complacent leadership is as much or more of the problem as the older agents"

Older agents are those who made the company what it is today and paved the way for new agents to get those guaranteed big start up costs.

As a scratch agent in a small town, my total monetary "help" from SF was $800 a month and I had to pay that back with current applications in order to validate. So.... in essence I was given ZERO since I paid it back.

New agents today are given ridiculous sums... up to $12,000.00 per month that I am aware of. And...they don't have to pay it back.

Having said all that.... Please enlighten me as to how "older" agents are a problem.
 
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