Top Producers

[Guest]

Formula to earn $100K in health:

You get paid 21% or 22% commission (depending on your deal) let's say 21%

Write $500K in business

That equals $105K in commission your first year.

Let's go a step further:

Conservatively the average annual premium is $2500 (more if you sell on value rather than price).

It'll take 200 polices to get to $500K

That equates to 4 policies per week.

Make it 5 sales a week and you're good to go with any potential cancellations, etc.

One sale a say keeps the bill collector away and you even get weekends off!!

NO disrespect taken as a new agent sometimes it seems that there in no light at end of the tunnel may be that is why 90% of agent quit/fail. But me being new and competitive I wanted to see if it was possible to make a high 6 figure income . That is why the questioned was ask.

 

[Full Throttle]

NO disrespect taken as a new agent sometimes it seems that there in no light at end of the tunnel may be that is why 90% of agent quit/fail. But me being new and competitive I wanted to see if it was possible to make a high 6 figure income . That is why the questioned was ask.

If you "don't see the light at the end of the tunnel", you aren't thinking like a business owner. No one will open a Subway franchise without knowing what revenue figures they need to be profitable and having a plan to get there. If you do your home work, you will be building your business in a direction that leads you to your milestone. Your milestone can change, but you need to be working toward something. If I wasn't, I don't know if I could get out of bed in the morning. You can make good money in all three areas you mentioned.

It sounds like you don't have a clear cut business direction yet. If you work for a captive firm, they usually set it for you as you get going. If you are independent, there are many choices. Here is what I would do:

Step #1: What type of business do you want to build?
I would figure out first, do you want a mainly transactional business model, a reoccuring revenue business model, or a combination of the two. This will determine what type of products you sell and how you approach your market. Also, look at what markets you enjoy working, which have been profitable for you already, what time of day do you want to be working (for example, daytime hours are typically business owners or seniors). Here are the three main business models to choose from:

Transactional - selling products with lumped upfront commissions and little renewals (life insurance as an example, many annuity contracts, ect).

Reoccuring Revenue: group products in general, fee based investment advice, any product that allows levelized commissions.

Combination: individual health is a good example, lumped first year commission (and future rewrites), decent renewals. Disability would be another example. Your business sells both transactional and reoccuring revenue products/services, for example, selling life and health, life and securities, ect.

None of the three choices are good or bad, just depends on what you want to build. I personally like establishing a base revenue flow to cover my core personal and business expenses, but that's just me. If you don't know what you are trying to build, you'll be all over the place and not know where you're going or how to structure you client service model.

Step #2: Determine Income Goal and Milestones
After you figure out what type of business you want, figure out what income goal you desire. I would pick a milestone inbetween that you could live with, to know you "made it".

Transactional Business: to increase income, you'll need to increase the number of transactions (product sales) or the volume (premium dollars). What is your average size commission? How many transactions will it take to get there? Is it doable? If not, will it be as your client base grows? How many clients will you need?

Reoccuring Revenue: This is easier, take the amount of income you need and figure out what type of volume you need to get there. If group business, how much premium on the books (or employees in the plan)? If investments, what volume of AUM do you need? P&C business, how much premium do you need on the books?

Combination Approach: Basically, combine the two above to arrive at the business model you need to reach your goals.

Step #3: Bring in New Clients and Revenue
The hardest for most, focus on bringing in new clients and generating leads until you fill the business model you set out to create at the beginning. This is where the motivation comes for me, if I didn't know where I was going with my business, I wouldn't get out of bed.

Most people don't realize this is a business. You need to know where you are going, how you are going to get there, and adjust as you go if something isn't working. If you just start working without knowing where you are going, you'll burn out fast and probably not have much success, at least I would.

 

[Guest]

Good post, slow day for you?

If you "don't see the light at the end of the tunnel", you aren't thinking like a business owner. No one will open a Subway franchise without knowing what revenue figures they need to be profitable and having a plan to get there. If you do your home work, you will be building your business in a direction that leads you to your milestone. Your milestone can change, but you need to be working toward something. If I wasn't, I don't know if I could get out of bed in the morning. You can make good money in all three areas you mentioned.

It sounds like you don't have a clear cut business direction yet. If you work for a captive firm, they usually set it for you as you get going. If you are independent, there are many choices. Here is what I would do:

Step #1: What type of business do you want to build?
I would figure out first, do you want a mainly transactional business model, a reoccuring revenue business model, or a combination of the two. This will determine what type of products you sell and how you approach your market. Also, look at what markets you enjoy working, which have been profitable for you already, what time of day do you want to be working (for example, daytime hours are typically business owners or seniors). Here are the three main business models to choose from:

Transactional - selling products with lumped upfront commissions and little renewals (life insurance as an example, many annuity contracts, ect).

Reoccuring Revenue: group products in general, fee based investment advice, any product that allows levelized commissions.

Combination: individual health is a good example, lumped first year commission (and future rewrites), decent renewals. Disability would be another example. Your business sells both transactional and reoccuring revenue products/services, for example, selling life and health, life and securities, ect.

None of the three choices are good or bad, just depends on what you want to build. I personally like establishing a base revenue flow to cover my core personal and business expenses, but that's just me. If you don't know what you are trying to build, you'll be all over the place and not know where you're going or how to structure you client service model.

Step #2: Determine Income Goal and Milestones
After you figure out what type of business you want, figure out what income goal you desire. I would pick a milestone inbetween that you could live with, to know you "made it".

Transactional Business: to increase income, you'll need to increase the number of transactions (product sales) or the volume (premium dollars). What is your average size commission? How many transactions will it take to get there? Is it doable? If not, will it be as your client base grows? How many clients will you need?

Reoccuring Revenue: This is easier, take the amount of income you need and figure out what type of volume you need to get there. If group business, how much premium on the books (or employees in the plan)? If investments, what volume of AUM do you need? P&C business, how much premium do you need on the books?

Combination Approach: Basically, combine the two above to arrive at the business model you need to reach your goals.

Step #3: Bring in New Clients and Revenue
The hardest for most, focus on bringing in new clients and generating leads until you fill the business model you set out to create at the beginning. This is where the motivation comes for me, if I didn't know where I was going with my business, I wouldn't get out of bed.

Most people don't realize this is a business. You need to know where you are going, how you are going to get there, and adjust as you go if something isn't working. If you just start working without knowing where you are going, you'll burn out fast and probably not have much success, at least I would.

 

[Full Throttle]

Good post, slow day for you?

No. Just had a lot to write as someone who has been there working hard and not sure where I was trying to go. It took two years before I had a business model and plan to make it happen before I actually enjoyed getting up and going to work instead of dreading the calls to be made for the day. The business model changed since then, but the last three years have been much more fun.

 

[Guest]

Good to hear man and again great post, nice of you to take your time out to do that!

No. Just had a lot to write as someone who has been there working hard and not sure where I was trying to go. It took two years before I had a business model and plan to make it happen before I actually enjoyed getting up and going to work instead of dreading the calls to be made for the day. The business model changed since then, but the last three years have been much more fun.

 

[TXINSURANCE]

Formula to earn $100K in health:

You get paid 21% or 22% commission (depending on your deal) let's say 21%

Write $500K in business

That equals $105K in commission your first year.

Let's go a step further:

Conservatively the average annual premium is $2500 (more if you sell on value rather than price).

It'll take 200 polices to get to $500K

That equates to 4 policies per week.

Make it 5 sales a week and you're good to go with any potential cancellations, etc.

One sale a say keeps the bill collector away and you even get weekends off!!

Maybe double this to actually "clear" 100k... tons of variables of course.

 

[NMFNMDRT]

The top life producer (non-boli) at Northwestern is around $2.5 million of premium. Income with FYC's, renewals, some investments, etc. might be around $2M.

There are a few with a healthy combination of insurance/investment books that are in the $3-3.5M range as far as income, but there aren't many who are that balanced. It's usually heavily favored with one product.