MM Career Fees and Rent

[Advisor06]

Guys,

Just trying to figure out if it is common for career life companies/agencies to charge rent, phone, admin charges, etc? They told me as long as I produce at least X amount per quarter there will be very low cost out of pocket.

Thanks.

 

[Norwayguy]

From my experience it is common for them to provide you with a phone number and desk and to charge you for that phone, desk, photocopies etc.

If at all possible I would see if you can have say your cell # as your contact number on your business card for if and when you move on its unlikely but worth a shot.

 

[Larry Tew]

It's not uncommon. Back in the 80s before everyone had PCs, some captive agencies even charged for illustrations.

 

[Norwayguy]

It's not uncommon. Back in the 80s before everyone had PCs, some captive agencies even charged for illustrations.

I can see charging for illustrations now when they are being run without a client present between say 10am and 5pm.

 

[Advisor06]

From my experience it is common for them to provide you with a phone number and desk and to charge you for that phone, desk, photocopies etc.

If at all possible I would see if you can have say your cell # as your contact number on your business card for if and when you move on its unlikely but worth a shot.

Why do you say when I move on? Do you think I can fail as Mass? I am currently captive with and my set up is much much different and I am nervous about taking on expenses along with trying to find people to call and prospect since I always worked from a list (not the greatest) and never had to find people to call. I was always just pushing life so people would not always grant appts.

 

[Josh]

Why do you say when I move on? Do you think I can fail as Mass? I am currently captive with and my set up is much much different and I am nervous about taking on expenses along with trying to find people to call and prospect since I always worked from a list (not the greatest) and never had to find people to call. I was always just pushing life so people would not always grant appts.

I think you (and anyone else for that matter) can fail anywhere.

You have a list of 1,000 existing clients and that's the only list you can work? (just from what I can recall from previous threads)

That's putting you at a huge disadvantage right off that bat. I think it's a wonder you've survived there under those conditions, nearly anything should be an improvement from that.

 

[Advisor06]

I think you (and anyone else for that matter) can fail anywhere.

You have a list of 1,000 existing clients and that's the only list you can work? (just from what I can recall from previous threads)

That's putting you at a huge disadvantage right off that bat. I think it's a wonder you've survived there under those conditions, nearly anything should be an improvement from that.

I survived since I am a you g guy and haven't had to make that much. The company pushes hard on WL and they do not recognize anything else on my contract to validate. I have been required to sell anything even if it was a $6 mo wl on a kid. I'm not opposed to selling anything since money is money but if I sold 1 case for $5k in commission and another guy sold 10 cases for $1000 he is a hero. They only case about life apps and not if you make money.

But at the end of the day I'm trying to find a really good place to take my career to the next level but I am nervous because even though I am not making the money I want/need I am "comfortable" since this is all I know and I want to make sure the next place can be for the long haul. It's a big risk.
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That's putting you at a huge disadvantage right off that bat. I think it's a wonder you've survived there under those conditions, nearly anything should be an improvement from that.

Do you think a career with mass mutual attached to ash brokerage would be a good move for a guy in my position? Mass wants to bing me on and everything they are saying sounds great but i have been talking to them for a long time and they are looking for a decision and want to meet my fiance this week.

Your advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Josh]

As important of a decision as this, it's a good question. I only know what I've seen of you here on the forum and overall it seems like you're spending an awful lot of time trying to "figure things out" which you could spend actually prospecting and selling. A contributing factor in that is probably your dissatisfaction with where you're att.

Mass Mutual has a great support structure and some great products. The agents I know that have worked there have also been frustrated at times, but a lot of what's difficult about being an agent (self-employed) is staying focused. Having a support team and peers at a physical office, even if you aren't there much, is important. The meetings, for some agents including the ones that don't like them, are also important. Mass would LOVE to just contract agents then sit back and count the money, but there is more money in them keeping their agents focused.

If you're afraid of prospecting another thing I would consider if I were you, and this is just being honest, is a job. There are a lot of folks in the insurance industry or in other sales positions that do just fine for themselves on a salary + situation. I realize that folks here are staunchly pro-indy agent, but the fact of the matter is that most people do much better on a salaried sales position than selling insurance on a commission basis. There are other benefits to being self-employed, but in dollars and cents it doesn't always make sense.

The $64k/year question is "can you prospect?" If the answer is yes, you can do better than the $64k/year. If the answer is no, you probably will never make more than $64k/year.

That's just the opinion of one guy on the internet that's never met you, but those would be my considerations if I were in your position. Having spent any amount of time selling insurance can do great things for your resume.

 

[Norwayguy]

Why do you say when I move on? Do you think I can fail as Mass? I am currently captive with and my set up is much much different and I am nervous about taking on expenses along with trying to find people to call and prospect since I always worked from a list (not the greatest) and never had to find people to call. I was always just pushing life so people would not always grant appts.

So what happens say 5 years down the road and you decide you want to move on to somewhere else. If and this is a big if if you are a registered rep, if your clients have a phone number you control as opposed to a number your GA controls which is better.

I hope everything is all you could ever hope form. But always plan for if things don't go well.

 

[Advisor06]

So what happens say 5 years down the road and you decide you want to move on to somewhere else. If and this is a big if if you are a registered rep, if your clients have a phone number you control as opposed to a number your GA controls which is better.

I hope everything is all you could ever hope form. But always plan for if things don't go well.

They are pushing for me to get a series 6 but I told them I don't want to do it right away. They also said my business card would have their office number but I told them I have my office number for 6 years that my clients have but I may port that to a cell phone to give to my clients.

I am not afraid of prospecting but I need to learn how to do it effectively since as I mentioned I have only experience in calling from my list of insured and uninsured members of the organization.

I also am a little concerned with the expenses but they mentioned as long as I produce a small number per quarter the costs will be minimal. I guess my biggest concern would be to get the sales coming in ASAP to continue my income stream but other than that I do feel this can be a positive change since right now I am forced to only sell for one company, with mass and the attached brokerage firm I would have about 25 to sell from. Ugh what to do!