Recommendations for an IMO?

Birdman300 said:
Shannon, with every one of the IMO's/FMO's you work with, you should be sure to speak to agents that belong to that IMO/FMO...ask their opinions about what they like/don't like. IOW, you need to talk to someone who currently belongs to that IMO and you also need to talk to someone who has belonged to them in the past but left that IMO. Ask both of these people why they like/disliked that IMO, and listen carefully (take notes) to what they tell you. Keep in mind if you talk to someone who is really bad mouthing that IMO then you probably need to take what they say with a grain of salt. Same thing for someone who's really a huge fan of that IMO. There's always 2 sides to every story. In my experience the truth usually lies somewhere in between the two extreme opinions. But if there's a huge amount of negative stuff about a specific IMO then you probably should listen.

On this forum you'll talk to agents that have been or are still contracted under one of the IMO's that advertise on the forum. If you are a brand new agent (never done FE) then you should really think about an IMO that offers a lot of training, advice, mentoring, and one-on-one conversation to help you. It sounds like you haven't done FE/Med supps yet. If you haven't then you really need to get some solid initial training. Leads are the other big, big, big, big, big, big, big, HUGE deal. I can't say that enough. If you already have a great free lead source like the girl that works her dad's P&C books then you don't need the leads. On the other hand, if you have no lead source, then you need to look carefully at where to get leads. Be cautious about IMO's that offer "aged leads". "Aged leads" is often code word for - "ATTENTION: this lead has been sold to multiple agents in the past who were all unsuccessful at selling it". I'm not saying these are bad, but these IMO's will try to sell these leads to you (usually at a discount) so you need to know what you're getting into. Be very cautious about ANY IMO that tells you they provide you with leads. Be wary of these companies. If it's an aged lead, then they need to say that up-front. Too often they tell you one thing on the phone to try to get you to join them, but then after you join you learn that the leads are way old...like years. National Agents Alliance does this along with many, many other IMO's. NAA actually advertises that they have their own lead warehouse...I learned that this is false. Lincoln Heritage offers leads but I'm pretty cautious about those because I've heard rumors that those leads are "cherry picked" by top producers and managers. Just be very cautious about what anyone tells you about leads. I've always heard good things about EFES and their leads.

Your IMO should have a very clean, organized, and easy to access website that has useful information at your fingertips. It's great when they have videos on that website that you can watch at your leisure. The website should also have forms, and helpful sales training. FE/Med supp is a different market and you need to learn those techniques and tactics fast. A lot of that same stuff is available on this forum...free.

Most IMO/FMO's will also have periodic (weekly) webinars/conference calls. This is where you will also get some awesome training. I've learned tons, and tons from these. Little nuggets of powerful information that help you succeed. That weekly call should be BRIEF (no more than 1 hour at a time). The shorter the better. 30-45 minutes is ideal. It should be very structured, and to stick to a schedule. It should have useful sales techniques, real life experiences of top performers, and basic info on carriers. Off topic conversations, or repetitive "plugs" for you to use a specific carrier or carriers is what you should avoid. Before you join that IMO, ask to listen in on their weekly call. Pay close attention to how they do it. If you listen, and don't like what you hear...bad chemistry, or whatever...then don't go with that one.

And of course contract commission levels are also important. You'll find that most of them should be in the 100% - 120% range to start. Keep in mind that some IMO's that have their own in-house leads may reduce your commission levels slightly at first. As a new agent, that's not a bad thing. If you're getting leads, training, and fair commissions as a new agent then that has huge value. You need to get yourself from 0mph to 55mph as fast as possible. When you get up to speed (if you're still in the business) and have proven to yourself and the IMO that you are worth more, THEN you can think about asking for a bump. If you are a proven producer then most IMO's will recognize that and offer higher comp levels...usually you'll simply need to ask for it. There are hundreds of IMO/FMO's out there. However, there are fewer that work specifically with FE/Med Sup. On the forum here, you'll hear about EFES, FEXcontracting, Todd King, and 360...and maybe a few others...there's plenty of information on this forum about them all. Use the search function and read everything you can about each one. You can also start a new thread to ask opinions about each one, but honestly all that information is already on some existing threads. They will all want you to contract all of your carriers with their IMO (or a majority). There are plenty of people on this forum (and not on the forum) who are contracted with multiple IMO's and they spread their contracts out among many of them. I would not recommend that for you. I'd probably put your contracts with one IMO to start out. Then in a year or so, if you want to move them to another IMO you can...but you need to make sure that whoever you contract with will give you a simple release. Most IMO's who advertise on the forum will offer releases.

Also...do yourself a favor...read the contracts carefully. Be cautious about assigning your commissions. I'll never assign commissions, ever. Also, make sure the contract has the comp levels listed in the contract. If it's not listed then don't sign it until they include it as part of the contract. Wow, you're about to get a college education here. Make sure you have a reliable, fuel efficient car. You'll be putting lots of miles on it. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Wow! Awesome post. Thanks for all the detailed information, Birdman.
 
Birdman300 said:
Shannon, with every one of the IMO's/FMO's you work with, you should be sure to speak to agents that belong to that IMO/FMO...ask their opinions about what they like/don't like. IOW, you need to talk to someone who currently belongs to that IMO and you also need to talk to someone who has belonged to them in the past but left that IMO. Ask both of these people why they like/disliked that IMO, and listen carefully (take notes) to what they tell you. Keep in mind if you talk to someone who is really bad mouthing that IMO then you probably need to take what they say with a grain of salt. Same thing for someone who's really a huge fan of that IMO. There's always 2 sides to every story. In my experience the truth usually lies somewhere in between the two extreme opinions. But if there's a huge amount of negative stuff about a specific IMO then you probably should listen.

On this forum you'll talk to agents that have been or are still contracted under one of the IMO's that advertise on the forum. If you are a brand new agent (never done FE) then you should really think about an IMO that offers a lot of training, advice, mentoring, and one-on-one conversation to help you. It sounds like you haven't done FE/Med supps yet. If you haven't then you really need to get some solid initial training. Leads are the other big, big, big, big, big, big, big, HUGE deal. I can't say that enough. If you already have a great free lead source like the girl that works her dad's P&C books then you don't need the leads. On the other hand, if you have no lead source, then you need to look carefully at where to get leads. Be cautious about IMO's that offer "aged leads". "Aged leads" is often code word for - "ATTENTION: this lead has been sold to multiple agents in the past who were all unsuccessful at selling it". I'm not saying these are bad, but these IMO's will try to sell these leads to you (usually at a discount) so you need to know what you're getting into. Be very cautious about ANY IMO that tells you they provide you with leads. Be wary of these companies. If it's an aged lead, then they need to say that up-front. Too often they tell you one thing on the phone to try to get you to join them, but then after you join you learn that the leads are way old...like years. National Agents Alliance does this along with many, many other IMO's. NAA actually advertises that they have their own lead warehouse...I learned that this is false. Lincoln Heritage offers leads but I'm pretty cautious about those because I've heard rumors that those leads are "cherry picked" by top producers and managers. Just be very cautious about what anyone tells you about leads. I've always heard good things about EFES and their leads.

Your IMO should have a very clean, organized, and easy to access website that has useful information at your fingertips. It's great when they have videos on that website that you can watch at your leisure. The website should also have forms, and helpful sales training. FE/Med supp is a different market and you need to learn those techniques and tactics fast. A lot of that same stuff is available on this forum...free.

Most IMO/FMO's will also have periodic (weekly) webinars/conference calls. This is where you will also get some awesome training. I've learned tons, and tons from these. Little nuggets of powerful information that help you succeed. That weekly call should be BRIEF (no more than 1 hour at a time). The shorter the better. 30-45 minutes is ideal. It should be very structured, and to stick to a schedule. It should have useful sales techniques, real life experiences of top performers, and basic info on carriers. Off topic conversations, or repetitive "plugs" for you to use a specific carrier or carriers is what you should avoid. Before you join that IMO, ask to listen in on their weekly call. Pay close attention to how they do it. If you listen, and don't like what you hear...bad chemistry, or whatever...then don't go with that one.

And of course contract commission levels are also important. You'll find that most of them should be in the 100% - 120% range to start. Keep in mind that some IMO's that have their own in-house leads may reduce your commission levels slightly at first. As a new agent, that's not a bad thing. If you're getting leads, training, and fair commissions as a new agent then that has huge value. You need to get yourself from 0mph to 55mph as fast as possible. When you get up to speed (if you're still in the business) and have proven to yourself and the IMO that you are worth more, THEN you can think about asking for a bump. If you are a proven producer then most IMO's will recognize that and offer higher comp levels...usually you'll simply need to ask for it. There are hundreds of IMO/FMO's out there. However, there are fewer that work specifically with FE/Med Sup. On the forum here, you'll hear about EFES, FEXcontracting, Todd King, and 360...and maybe a few others...there's plenty of information on this forum about them all. Use the search function and read everything you can about each one. You can also start a new thread to ask opinions about each one, but honestly all that information is already on some existing threads. They will all want you to contract all of your carriers with their IMO (or a majority). There are plenty of people on this forum (and not on the forum) who are contracted with multiple IMO's and they spread their contracts out among many of them. I would not recommend that for you. I'd probably put your contracts with one IMO to start out. Then in a year or so, if you want to move them to another IMO you can...but you need to make sure that whoever you contract with will give you a simple release. Most IMO's who advertise on the forum will offer releases.

Also...do yourself a favor...read the contracts carefully. Be cautious about assigning your commissions. I'll never assign commissions, ever. Also, make sure the contract has the comp levels listed in the contract. If it's not listed then don't sign it until they include it as part of the contract. Wow, you're about to get a college education here. Make sure you have a reliable, fuel efficient car. You'll be putting lots of miles on it. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Yes, I read this: I have spent weeks on the forum looking for this information that you summarized quite nicely. You just saved this person hours and hours of research time. Good job! I hope she appreciates you.
 
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