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Well fastrack1, instead of criticizing our posts, why don't you give some constructive advice to scratch agents that started in 04-05 that are dirt poor and going broke and downright pissed off about it other then not to swear and to be classy.
What did you do to get your assignment?
Well you asked for my advice and here it is.
1. Quit gripping. No matter what your situation, it is still better than 90% of the rest of the world. Anytime you start a business, there will be challenges. I have never read a book by a successful business person that overcame tremendous odds that did it by griping and complaining about their situation. It does nothing positive for you beside corrupt your thinking. If you must gripe, do it to your wife or a close friend. Don't use a public forum. It makes you and SF look bad and it is not the full story.
2. If SF is really so bad, get out. If you are as good as you say, then you can easily cut your large losses and become very successful elsewhere and pay off your losses. It happens everyday to successful business people. MOST fail several times before hitting it big.
3. However, I don't think you want to dump SF. Be thankful for what you have. I have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars at another business just in marketing trying to duplicate what SF provides for free in many cases through their brand marketing. Plus all that free support, computers systems, healthcare, etc. We really aren't true entrepenuers, we just like to think we are. SF gives many safety nets. I have none in my other business. I guarantee the stress level there is much higher than in your new SF agency. If it fails, I'm on the hook for about a million bucks.
4. Now that our attitude is better, lets take a look at this. Do whatever is necessary to get your contract and get your AFE off your back. Then run the business only in a way that will make you money. Run it YOUR way.
5. Hire only people that also want to be agents in the next 2-3 years. They will be highly motivated, work for less money, put in more hours and take your agency to another level. Don't worry about the paperwork. It will get done. Only hire salespeople, no office people. They don't make you much money, but are more of a convenience than a necessity. You would be surprised.
6. Continually be an agency that develops new agents for SF and you will be shocked with your income growth. You CANT do it all yourself. Multiply yourself through others that want to be agents.
7. Participate in the SF advertising program. You cant duplicate it for the price and now you have salespeople following up on all that marketing.
8. Don't listen to your AFO in most cases. You are an independent business person. Make decisions based upon the numbers that you have run. Only make decisions based upon numbers.
9. Hire cheap people (college or high school kids) to prospect for P&C as many hours a day as you can afford. Start by driving your customers to you through P&C and then MULTILINE
the mess out of them. That will be the job of your highly motivated salespeople. And don't be a friend to them. Be a royal pain in the butt. If your agency is highly successful, they will get the agencies that they want, whereever they want them (probably get a much better deal than you got).
10. Finally, I think the biggest thing is attitude. I know you have been dealt what your perceive as a bad deal, but people turn bad deals into great successes everyday. You can do it if you believe in YOURSELF (not what SF wants or asks). You can tell me all the problems, but YOU have chosen to stay in this profession. Complaining is going to accomplish nothing.
Well, there you have it. Take it or leave it but I'm tired of listening to everybody here complaining about SF when I have watched friends under your contract do very well, not because of SF, but because of themselves and how they approach the business. I wish you the best of luck.
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I have been an SF agent for about 10 yrs. Adding new contract agents will have no affect on me. Most are failing anyhow.
The only reason, I speak up is that it I feel its unethical, what the company has told these guys. It is bad for them, and the turnover is bad for our clients.
A flood of desperate new Tica's selling any and everything possible is not good. When you are over 50k in debt and need to sell to keep your job, dont tell me you are always selling based on the best needs of your client.
That environment, breeds unethical behavior.
So why do agents sell less the bigger and richer they get? Seems to me that being desperate is a highly motivating factor in sales. Sure it makes some unethical, but they will probably be unethical either way.
You've been an agent for 10 years and you never been in the spot where you need a sale? You have ONLY been driven by the needs of your customer? Cmon, we are in this to make money first, by meeting the needs of our customers second. I try to meet the needs of myself and the needs of my customer all at the same time.
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