The Right FMO... do I need one?

[axeman462]

I guess I worded the title wrong.

"SHOULD I work with an FMO ?" (That's better) !

Thanks

yes, a decent FMO will be able to offer you some basic guidance, work for you, among other thing.
I'm in Florida, I offer some basic assistance to my downline.
@Todd King is good for an upline as well. He won't nag you as many other will, but he does answer his phone when in need.

 

[CJ Tibbs]

Thanks Friends... talking to a couple right now.

1 is offering a 70/30 split if I need their support...

Not sure what questions to ask them... Anyone got any tips on shopping these FMO's?

 

[rmhaire]

Thanks Friends... talking to a couple right now.

1 is offering a 70/30 split if I need their support...

Not sure what questions to ask them... Anyone got any tips on shopping these FMO's?

Are we still talking Medicare or something else?

No reputable FMO is going to charge you 30% for something he/she should be providing for free.

You're talking to the wrong people.

 

[margostl]

You Don't need an FMO for Med-Supp, You do need an FMO for some MedAdv. Aetna is one of them. You might want to use several so your eggs are not in 1 basket.They do come in handy and have for me personally when you need to fight for your commissions.Each have different perks .

 

[Ron Van D]

Why are they wanting a split? They already get overrides.

 

[CJ Tibbs]

Are we still talking Medicare or something else?

No reputable FMO is going to charge you 30% for something he/she should be providing for free.

You're talking to the wrong people.

Not sure why they get 30%... I think its for training.

I'll let your know when I read the agreement.

 

[goillini52]

Not sure why they get 30%... I think its for training.

I'll let your know when I read the agreement.

Could they be keeping 30% because they supply you with "free" leads?

 

[axeman462]

Not sure why they get 30%... I think its for training.

I'll let your know when I read the agreement.

Where you getting this 30% from?

Medicare contracts are pretty straightforward.

street level for MA is something like $613 for new to MA, $306 for non-new

PDP $110 new, $55 not new

And UHC medsupp (one of the few medsupp you'll be selling in Florida) is a flat amount, something like $450. I can't remember anymore without looking up my contract.

Don't fall for these gimmickee FMOs that are taking huge overrides for "free leads and technology".

Just look for a fair street level contract, from an FMO that answers the phone, does not force you to assign commissions, and won't spam your email.

You're in Florida if I'm not mistaken. You'll need UHC and Humana at a minimum to get started. Humana comes with Careplus.
Those two carriers will be enough to keep you busy until you can wrap your head around their offerings.
Down the road you will want to add Aetna, and Florida Blue.
Then some of the smaller local Carriers.

Taking on too many carriers too soon can leave you overwhelmed.

 

[Fisher]

Just look for a fair street level contract, from an FMO that answers the phone, does not force you to assign commissions, and won't spam your email.

Oh damn, my bad - I didn't even think about the LOA aspect. Yeah, Ms Tibbs, don't EVER assign your commissions.

 

[Shyla Christensen]

First, beware.
Integrity Marketing Group (based out of TX) has been on an FMO buying spree, trying to gobble up as many FMO's across the country as they can, simply in order to reduce market competition.
FMO's, such as Agent Pipeline, Holland, NAA (Superior Performers), AGA, Premier Marketing, Western Marketing, and many others are included in their portfolio (this list can be verified/expanded via the Integrity website).
Integrity hasn't been able to grow organically, and so have had to take the FMO merger route.

Integrity hasn't been able to grow organically (i.e. gaining more Agents via better support), and so acquisitions have been their key to growth.

As per another post elsewhere:
"Welcome to the world of insurance full of empty promises and recruit anybody with a pulse."

And Integrity owned FMO's are no different, even perhaps amongst the worst offenders.
Burn & churn is the Integrity way.

Integrity has adopted a quantity over quality approach in regards to Agents.
They would rather have 100 low-producing Agents (often via lack of support) that each write only 1 app than 10 better-producing Agents that each write 10 apps.
The net dollar gain is the same for them (100 apps written is 100 apps - regardless of the sources).

Integrity only cares about Integrity.
Again, burn & churn is the m.o. for Integrity (in regards to both Agents & employees).

Perhaps worse, many Medicare carriers could care less about Integrity, and so offer little-to-no dedicated support and/or training, meaning Agents are often left completely in the dark.
Most Integrity employees themselves don't even know the process for onboarding new Agents, and so cannot offer any real help.
Even worse, Integrity has in-house CRM's & databases that are outdated by some 30+ years, but continue to pump out propaganda claiming they are "leaders" in "AI" (ha!).

Let's not ignore the massive data breach that recently occurred at some Integrity companies (a class action suit is pending).

Plus, many of those Integrity owned FMO's all operate on different systems than each other, so any one of their FMO's is largely unaware of what the other(s) are doing, and there is virtually no cohesion amongst those similarly owned FMO's (imagine the nightmare caused when several subsidiaries of the same parent company each have different policies, procedures, processes, computer systems, forms, etc.).

Worse still, many of those Integrity similarly owned FMO's simply don't get along with each other (given the lack of cohesion/cooperation between each other), and so don't even offer support for each other.
I have frequently seen employees from one Integrity owned FMO simply refuse to return calls/emails from employees of another Integrity owned FMO.
And I have never seen as many data processing errors as I have w/Integrity owned FMO's (Integrity hasn't even initiated training programs for their employees, thus many don't even know how to properly submit Agent info to conform with NIPR/licensing info, creating unnecessary delays and/or rejection when trying to onboard.

Integrity has completely ignored sustainable operations and infrastructure, meaning lack of knowledge, low efficiency, low productivity, and low effectiveness.
One of the main reasons why their Agent support is so bad.
And many Integrity Managers are amongst the least knowledgeable of products, carrier processes, etc.
I once had to speak to four different Marketing Managers at an Integrity FMO, and was given four very different answers, each of which was completely wrong (which I discovered after finally speaking to carriers and getting the correct answers).

Integrity is easily one of the worst run companies I have ever seen.

My best recommendation, is stay far away from any Integrity owned FMO.