Which is better? Selling Car and Home insurance or Medicare?

[Jason Henderson]

Very good point. I worked for a State Farm agent for a while, then went Indy. That's pretty much the way to go, I'd say.

That seems like a good route, how'd you like the State Farm gig??

 

[Markthebroker]

That seems like a good route, how'd you like the State Farm gig??

It was a scratch office, so I helped build up the office, then helped hire employees. Between that, getting my license and learning the bizz, it was fun and exciting. But then it was just pitching home and auto day in and day out, and it got pretty stale and boring. I went indi, and started transitioning more and more to commercial, and went 100% commercial several years ago. Commercial is much more challenging, more dynamic and interesting. There is much more money and future in it too. More residuals, more referrals, just better all around in my opinion. The catch is, not everyone can sell to a business owner, and it takes much much longer to learn commercial lines. Personally, I find it's easier to deal with business owners and investors than the general public. I'm ultra logical, an investor and business owner myself, and pretty much all I've dealt with my whole professional life has been business owners and investors. I think most people have an easier time dealing with the general public.

 

[Jason Henderson]

It was a scratch office, so I helped build up the office, then helped hire employees. Between that, getting my license and learning the bizz, it was fun and exciting. But then it was just pitching home and auto day in and day out, and it got pretty stale and boring. I went indi, and started transitioning more and more to commercial, and went 100% commercial several years ago. Commercial is much more challenging, more dynamic and interesting. There is much more money and future in it too. More residuals, more referrals, just better all around in my opinion. The catch is, not everyone can sell to a business owner, and it takes much much longer to learn commercial lines. Personally, I find it's easier to deal with business owners and investors than the general public. I'm ultra logical, an investor and business owner myself, and pretty much all I've dealt with my whole professional life has been business owners and investors. I think most people have an easier time dealing with the general public.

Im in the same boat, 100% commercial. There is not as much of a rush writing a personal lines policies, but writing $100k+ accounts gets the juices flowing. I also think personal lines and small commercial is going to have a large chunk taken out from online quote and bind systems.

Commercial is a tough cookie though. There are politics, religion, family ties that can come into play on most large accounts and you can get rolled for a number of reasons after putting together a great proposal. It's tough to get into doors and when you do you better have your A game. If an experienced broker is the incumbent you will have an extremely uphill battle. That being said, man does it feel good to get a bind order on a big one!!

 

[UKTX]

I've got to disagree with the financial commitment part for P&C. Yes, if you start off at a captive like State Farm then you will be financially invested and taking on huge loans, which seems crazy to me especially if you don't own the book. Go find an independent office and sell yourself on becoming a producer for them and start training, in the end indy is the way to go and you wont have any huge costs up front. You might not make much your first couple years but you wont be in the hole $50k like some captives.

By financial commitment I meant you will have to support yourself for longer since your income will not be as quick to grow in comparison to other LOB's.