Newbie: My First 24 Hours on the Job...

[K.Hall]

Long story short:
I'm 26, working at Home Depot and a co-worker of mine introduced me to the prospect of selling insurance for a living.

His Dad (We'll call him John) is an insurance agent in this area and he's "looking for new people". Apparently he's got 25 years experience and is a guru. My buddy tells me he's working for him soon and I should join. I decided to "interview" with him, and all went well. He decided to pay the $279 for me to get licensed with the state (Michigan). I studied my ass off for 2 weeks, and got a 88 on the test. At this point I'm looking forward to learning/working with John and I'm eager to get started.

Well, I go in today and I ended up getting "into it" with John regarding a misunderstanding of how often he wanted me in the office. One thing leads to another and he fires a barrage of belittling statements at me, saying "I dont need you; You're no benefit to me; You came to ME for a new career; Are you calling ME a liar; Do you know who I am??" etc...

Now I'm having second thoughts - I have a extensive background in retail sales and I know the fundamentals of selling. I've always done VERY well in sales and I view this as an opportunity to change my life.

However, I'm not sure weather to
1) Stick with this guy and do as he says to learn from his experience...
2) Consider interviewing with another IA in the area
3) Try to become a captive agent with a "big name" (oh the horror stories I've read...)
or 4) Work for Home Depot the rest of my life (kidding!)

Assuming I've done my research, and I can "handle" the demand this industry requires - what advice would you give me?

 

[DSInsurance]

How do you get into it with your boss (friends dad) right away? Did he want you to be out of the office to find leads? What was he expecting you to do, or what were you expecting to do?

 

[STIBROKER]

first off....what kind of insurance.....

 

[K.Hall]

Good question, I should have clarified.

He was very clear in May that "I will not work around HD's schedule" - which I understood.

and "I need you in here by June 20th to keep up with Matt (his son, we both started training at the same time)"

So, HD makes their schedule 3 weeks in advance - I immediately changed my availability to Sat/Sunday ONLY to give ALL of my attention to the Agency.

When he found this out he insisted "You should have STAYED with your schedule - the idea was to WORK AROUND HD's schedule"

When I conveyed that this was not the way I interpreted it - the barrage ensued.

 

[jhuang]

I would agree with "what type of insurance you are selling" mentality first. If you are going P&C, it's hard to start off independent, you may have to work under someone.

Life insurance is a bit easier, stick with one product (TERM) and understand how it works and hit the streets prospecting.

Capitve agencies (Farmers and such) can be good for the newbs, but you'll need an exit strategy.

Of course you have to think about your cash flow for living, and your learning curve. Can you make the cash you need and learn as fast as you can?

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EDIT: After reading your post, since you are going P&C and you don't like that guy, go on and find someone that is willing to teach you the business, salary or no salary.

When I started in P&C, I worked as a CSR, but had the mind to learn the process and products before I started to think about my own agency.

 

[K.Hall]

first off....what kind of insurance.....

He sells P&C, L&H, and dabbles in financial planning on the side to offer the "Entire package to customers" - sounded great to me.

My license is in P&C - he recommended I get the "harder" one first - which I did
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Thats good advice - This was my thinking as well.

"I want to learn from the best, I dont think I can do this without a mentor"

But now it seems like this guy (as smart as he MAY be) is a jerk, and I cant see myself working for someone so AUTHORITARIAN.

However, does his experience (and the potential of learning from him) outweigh his "jerky-ness"?

What would you rather do (as a newbie):
Work for a guru/jerk?
Go captive?
Take a "risk" and try at other IA's?

I just cant imagine anyone wanting to take on someone with NO experience in insurance.

 

[DSInsurance]

Work for a larger company first. Get experience and go from there. You may have a great career as a captive agent, but many people get into this industry and get out pretty quick. It is not easy so try the captive route, get some experience and training and go from there.

I am captive, I get quite a few perks. I said I would stay captive with my current company until for some reason they let me go, as I have quarterly numbers to hit the rest of my career and I miss it I could be out.

 

[STIBROKER]

man....go for the life and health......

 

[BNTRS]

Sales in retail and sales in insurance can be very different. I did sales in retail as a college student so I can profess some expertise here.

Is the attitude worth dealing with? Probably not, there's more than enough to worry about when it comes to this business, you don't needed added pressure. And if the guy can't get expectations on your schedule straight, who knows what other surprises lurk.

My immediate thought, if Depot is going well, why march out into the rain right now if you don't have to? Perhaps I'm the nay-sayer here, but the economy is still looking bleak. The insurance industry as a whole is pretty rock solid, so it doesn't show a lot of signs of stress, but it's taking it on the chin like everyone else (mostly in the form of agents' taking home less money each week).

 

[Josh]

First, no one in their right mind would put up with him. If I had an agent change their schedule to work only weekend so they could focus on helping me build my agency I'd think that was fantastic (unless they were looking for an hourly).

What is your background? What type of savings do you have? If you can afford to work for someone on a commission only basis and want to promote auto and homeowners as a way of building a book then that wouldn't be a bad deal, but I'd never do it with that asshole.

Odds are your best bet is another IA, but you might also want to look for someone willing to do a salary plus or a different line of work. This industry isn't for everyone and I know a lot of folks in it that would be better off making a career at HD