TWFG-The Woodlands Financial Group?

[PhilL]

MikeM: I have only heard good things about TWFG. To explore as many options as possible however, is always best. Sounds like you probably reviewed quite a few but if you haven't done so already, check-out: agencyequity.com for their list of 'clusters & alliances' in your State. Look under the 'resources' link on the left side of the home page.
They also have a lot of other valuable info that may help guide you.

So what's your thought process so far? For me, it's not even an option with Farmers. Just too many of them in my area, over-saturated and last time I checked, their rates weren't competitive at all.

 

[jru37726]

Well I'm in Maryland and Farmers really just came into this state a year ago so there are not many agents at all in my territory. Plus they are going to pay me as I start my business and if I sell enough I will never have to pay them back, which in my experience is not going to be a problem. The only real negative I can think of is that I am not sure if the rates are good since they are new to the state and as we know price is everything. But even with that Farmers allows u to go out and get appointed with 1 outside company as well.

 

[MikeM.]

MikeM: I have only heard good things about TWFG. To explore as many options as possible however, is always best. Sounds like you probably reviewed quite a few but if you haven't done so already, check-out: agencyequity.com for their list of 'clusters & alliances' in your State. Look under the 'resources' link on the left side of the home page.
They also have a lot of other valuable info that may help guide you.

Thank you for your input. Yes, agencyequity.com is a good site. That is where I found TWFG. I went over as many clusters as I could find and pretty much narrow it down to TWFG and Smart Choice. I wish there are more but it seem like many clusters aren't newbie friendly. Most of them want already established agency with a good book, which I find it odd since its the newer people with no contracts that need these clusters the most but most of them aren't new agent friendly.
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Well I'm in Maryland and Farmers really just came into this state a year ago so there are not many agents at all in my territory. Plus they are going to pay me as I start my business and if I sell enough I will never have to pay them back, which in my experience is not going to be a problem. The only real negative I can think of is that I am not sure if the rates are good since they are new to the state and as we know price is everything. But even with that Farmers allows u to go out and get appointed with 1 outside company as well.

Yeah, make sure you are at the very least, competitive. It's going to be very hard to convince someone to switch from $600 a yr. to $1,000 yr. with nothing but a promise to provide great services.

I remember calling a Farmers agent for auto insurance a few years ago. I told him how much I was paying. LOL. He didn't even bother to do a qoute. He said that he won't waste my time and hung up the phone.

 

[jru37726]

I don't like hearing that. What state are you in? The other thing here Farmers does is let you set up your office in their headquarters for the 1st yr then gives u $ in month 13 to help pay for your office. I work at a State Farm office now (for an agent) and I worry alot that when I make the switch it the rates may be the big problem. Hopefully not!
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BTW thanks md for the input. I really appreciate it!

 

[MikeM.]

I don't like hearing that. What state are you in? The other thing here Farmers does is let you set up your office in their headquarters for the 1st yr then gives u $ in month 13 to help pay for your office. I work at a State Farm office now (for an agent) and I worry alot that when I make the switch it the rates may be the big problem. Hopefully not!
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BTW thanks md for the input. I really appreciate it!

I'm in CA. Yeah, biggest reason why I want to go Indy is the ability to price shop and not be stuck with just one price from one company. Plus in CA, some of these local brokers makes a lot of money from Broker Fees they charge.

I haven't had the chance to talk to TWFG yet. Still in the research mode. I just got done with my Life license and I'm still in the process of getting my P&C license, so I'll give them a call once I get all my license in order.

Did you get a chance to talk to TWFG?

 

[jru37726]

Yeah I we t thru 90% of the process and they are basically waiting for me to give the ok that I want to start my own agency. The problem is at the beginning you aren't getting paid except for your commissions so you need some $ to live on for a few months and I'm not in that position. If you are, I would definitely recommend them because they get you appointed with like 17 different companies and like u said u will have so many different options. I interviewed a while back for a job at a TwFG agency and they left Allstate 4 yrs ago and said it was the best decision they ever made. So I would definitely recommend them.

 

[PotentialFarmer]

Does TWFG require you to brand under their name or can you keep your own insurance agency name? Or make a new one when coming onboard with them. Seems to me they're branding a franchise. If there's no name change requirement then your still fully independent which is big for me if they decide to have 15 TWFG's in my area clients wont just assume we're all the same, will be easier to stand out if its just a TWFG contract and I'm XYZ Insurance Agency.
Thoughts?

 

[headcoach]

You keep your own agency name, but are able to brand yourself as a TWFG branch

 

[Sales71]

I think TWFG is better than global green contract. But I still think they have too much control in your operation. I had to turn them down last year.
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[PotentialFarmer]

They may be worth it just to get Mercury, if that's really an option. For auto Mercury is pretty much the best rates out there by far. Over travelers/safeco you're saving people couple hundred dollars on a 6 month policy.
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Also does anyone have an idea of how to switch my state? I'm not sure how I ended up with Alabama, probably too many things going on when I first started out on this board for me to notice.
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So what's your thought process so far? For me, it's not even an option with Farmers. Just too many of them in my area, over-saturated and last time I checked, their rates weren't competitive at all.

I started out as a Producer for a Farmers agent. I spoke with the agent I worked for about the opportunity as well as the District Manager, there is a lot of training for new agents, some support but over saturation and pricing can be off. Also the contract is intense, there is a lot of money you could end up owing them at the end should you not hit their numbers after the first couple of years and with their pricing it could be very tough to hit those numbers. If I were to start over I would have worked at an Indy Agency for a couple years so I knew that side better, instead of working at Farmers and then trying to strike it out on my own with limited knowledge of exactly how that was going to be done. The amount I didn't know at the beginning made my life hell for a while, I'm just starting to pull off decent referral sources and having the product knowledge I need to close the accounts that I really need. Market Access is very tough, I'm considering moving into a TWFG or other "cluster/aggrigator" group to help with that, but I'm unsure exactly how I'll be moving forward as of yet.