SMS Questions

[retread]

Im missing something, If you work to build a book of business and have good renewals and decide to go to a new FMO you will not be paid your renewals? is it better then to have 3 FMOs and have your book of business spread out to minimize this exposer. or maybe have 1 FMO for advances and go direct with others an take as earned so you can get advances to pay your bills and build a book directly with other carriers? I am going to go nuts trying to figure this out..

This shows you are thinking!... You must decide for yourself, but I see no reason for an FMO. I am contracting direct or not at all.

 

[captain94]

This shows you are thinking!... You must decide for yourself, but I see no reason for an FMO. I am contracting direct or not at all.

What if any carriers will pay advances direct? I will need a few while im building so I can keep up with my bills. $700 a week in commisions will due while im building a book.

 

[retread]

What if any carriers will pay advances direct? I will need a few while im building so I can keep up with my bills. $700 a week in commisions will due while im building a book.

Med Sups like to pay as earned, and those commissions come the first of each month. Quite frankly... I like it like that!

MAs, such as Coventry, pay advances... I have been getting a check from them every week towards the end of AEP sales.... don't know if that will keep up all year. (Of course, they only paid partial commission) So I doubt it, but you never know... this screwy mess from CMS and commissions can't be figured out.... got paid 2 weeks from submission last year. This year CMS will intervene with approvals... don't know how long it will take them to make a decision, but if the past experience with their decision making about the "final" word is any indication, this might take all year!!!

 

[Josh]

What if any carriers will pay advances direct? I will need a few while im building so I can keep up with my bills. $700 a week in commisions will due while im building a book.

No, most carriers wont advance you, and the ones that will don't usually give you great contracts. Some FMO's will but in general you'll be taking a reduced commission since they're doing you a favor and taking a risk.

Going direct with a carrier isn't always the best option, a good FMO can do a lot for an agent. Some companies wont contract agents directly and if you don't need a lot of help they can usually pass on a good commission. If you want a great commission you'll probably need to recruit agents and grow a team, other than that you should probably just count on street level or just a little better than street level commissions.

Another advantage to using an FMO is that if you have an issue and the FMO complains to the carrier it carries a LOT more weight than if one agent has a concern.

If you find one FMO you like you should probably contract with them on all products, they'll be able to help you more that way. Most good FMO's will give you a release as long as you don't owe them money and you're square with them, just ask up front and get it in writing if you can. If you have any questions about this, please feel free to shoot me a message. I work with a lot of large FMO's (good and not so good) and could help you find one that will work best for you in your situation.

Hope this helps!

 

[patch36]

I got some kind of bonus from Coventry a few weeks ago, and today the site is showing a partial commission check for about $10k, which is the first check for this AEP I have gotten. Not all the apps are showing up, but more than yesterday.

Captain. Even though I am with a couple FMO's the carriers all pay me direct. I switched FMO's on one company a while back and the commissions and renewals kept coming as usual.
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...and I would rather be with one FMO for simplicity sake, but it makes little difference to me and none as to how and when I get paid. There can be differences at which level you get paid, but newby's may not get GA level contracts just by asking for them, I dunno.

 

[retread]

Any newbies following this thread should be apprised that this industry is quite volatile. Your pay will be up and down constantly.... more down than up in the beginning. If you came from a salaried job, you have to adjust your thinking about pay. Keep your expectations low or you will be very discouraged. Aim high, but be practical.

"As earned" means whatever commission is due for that sale is divided by 12 and paid monthly.

"Advanced" can be for 6, 9, or 12 months on the commission... the more you take, the more exposure you have for chargebacks for the clients who drop the policy. Also, many FMOs will charge interest on the advances they give you. They consider those advances a loan to you. That's what I don't like.....

 

[captain94]

I got some kind of bonus from Coventry a few weeks ago, and today the site is showing a partial commission check for about $10k, which is the first check for this AEP I have gotten. Not all the apps are showing up, but more than yesterday.

Captain. Even though I am with a couple FMO's the carriers all pay me direct. I switched FMO's on one company a while back and the commissions and renewals kept coming as usual.
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...and I would rather be with one FMO for simplicity sake, but it makes little difference to me and none as to how and when I get paid. There can be differences at which level you get paid, but newby's may not get GA level contracts just by asking for them, I dunno.

What FMO pays you directly from the company?

 

[retread]

What FMO pays you directly from the company?

The FMO doesn't pay you... the carrier does.

edit: "This just became du jour this year." is not technically correct. See patch's comment.

If you are not getting paid direct, you might be on a SOA contract... and being paid through a GA. I had to fight to get out from under this stinkin' mess a year ago, and so I had the wrong impression of how others had been paid.....

I think this is where I developed the idea that you lose your book of business when you switch FMOs, since it did for me. There was downline between me and the FMO. Perhaps if you are contracted at a GA level with your FMO you may not lose your book of business, but I wouldn't want to bet on it. It seems that Rick went through this, and I believe he said he lost his.....

 

[patch36]

The FMO doesn't even enter into the equation unless you have issues with the company you can't resolve. I get paid direct from all the companies...Life, LTC, Med Sups, MA, Annuites, ect.

 

[Josh]

And you are happy with them, no problems. What is the diffrence to an agent if its a GA or an FMO? sorry if its a dumb question.

It's totally not a dumb question. The definition of a GA is a little more vague than FMO.

An FMO is a Field Marketing Organization, generally accepted as an organization that has a direct contract with a carrier and is HUGE. They are usually licensed in at least close to all 50 states and really do business in at least 20 of them. GA generally contract under FMO's and agents contract to GA's. Another way of putting it:
Carrier (UHC, Aetna, WellCare, etc)~~>FMO~~>GA~~> Agent. There are certainly different versions of this, but that's probably as well as anyone can explain it.

With Senior Market Sales, I like them well enough. It really depends on what you want from a GA/FMO. If you want to contact me for more info about them and some others that might work better for you, feel free to visit my site and send me a message. The url is medicareplansolutions.com. I do work with a bunch of different FMO's and GA's and depending on where you're located and what you need some would be better than others.

Hope this clears things up and helps.