Anyone here with Farmers?

Bozack23 · 03-26-2008, 11:27 AM

I'm looking to get into the insurance business and responded to a careerbuilder add for a job with Farmers. Turns out its an offer to assist you in opening your own agency.The person on the phone made it sound like a good oppurtunity. They said I pay $270.00 to get my license which they help me study for and then I work in their office for 2 to 12 months, commission only, and then based on my performance I can go career and get my own agency. They even subsidise the expenses of starting up.(office, equipment, supplies, etc.) Is this for real? If so I know this is no get rich quick job and its going to take alot of hard work but how hard is it really?

*STIBROKER@AUSTIN.RR.COM* · 03-26-2008, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bozack23

I'm looking to get into the insurance business and responded to a careerbuilder add for a job with Farmers.

And you did not inquire about the high paying potential at NAA.......

norcalinsurance · 03-27-2008, 12:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bozack23

I'm looking to get into the insurance business and responded to a careerbuilder add for a job with Farmers. Turns out its an offer to assist you in opening your own agency.The person on the phone made it sound like a good oppurtunity. They said I pay $270.00 to get my license which they help me study for and then I work in their office for 2 to 12 months, commission only, and then based on my performance I can go career and get my own agency. They even subsidise the expenses of starting up.(office, equipment, supplies, etc.) Is this for real? If so I know this is no get rich quick job and its going to take alot of hard work but how hard is it really?

I've been a Farmers agent for a little over a year now. I couldn't have started my agency without their subsidy. It is not a 'magical' time. It's endless hours, endless frustrations, blah blah blah, but yes, they do give you $1500/mo. plus commissions after you turn into a career agent, which means that you bring in 40 P&C & 4 Life policy's within a 3 month period. Of course, that was my contract, I'm in CA, contracts vary from territory to territory, but it will be something like that. It's not hard to meet the quotas, but the quotas must be met in order to get the $1500 subsidy.

Many of the 'benefits' such as office space, equipment, training etc..., depends completely on your District Manager. He has COMPLETE control over all of this. SHOP around for a DM. It may sound funny, but it's true. Ask them what their sales track record was. Make sure they will take you out in the field and show you how to be successful. You can buy leads all day long, but if you can't close, blah blah blah.

AND FOCUS ON COMMERCIAL, EVEN THOUGH YOUR DM & THE COMPANY WON'T WANT YOU TO.
PM me or write back to know more.

norcalinsurance · 03-27-2008, 12:33 AM

Also, I've found that on many forums that focus on the insurance industry, their is a lot of bad-mouthing of Farmers as a company, and other internet sites that bad-mouth Farmers & other company's.

I agree that it is smart to know how company's operate & how they treat their employees, but I bet you many of the folks who bad-mouth Farmers are disgruntled former employees that couldn't make it in the insurance industry no matter what company they were with. Perhaps others have a different opinion. I'd love to hear them!

Farmers has provided me wonderful opportunities that I could not have received had I been in another situation. And I've personally seen them pay out many claims that have been very questionable, but they want the customer to be happy. Others of you may have different experiences, but that has been mine.

briankoe · 03-27-2008, 02:46 PM

I couldn't agree with norcal any more. He is farther along than I, but overall I feel like Farmers is a great company to work for. It did take me a while to get all of my licensing because I was working full-time at the time, but now I am fully licensed in P&C, L&H, and financial services. I just started selling a couple weeks ago, and I've got 10 policies under my belt. I have the same quota as norcal. 40 p&c and 4 life, and then I go career and start receiving my $1500/mo subsidy.

He's right though, it's not just the company you are working for. The DM is just as important, because that is where you will get all of your training and support. I am blessed to have the support that I have. I have had awesome training in marketing and product knowledge, I have a personal mentor, and I am working within an agency that is the 7th most profitable in the country.

Although it is very early on, I have already had a client submit a claim. I was kind of stressing out, when she had called me, because I had no idea how to deal with it. I talked to my "mentor", and he said to give Helppoint a call. I spent 5 minutes on the phone, and they said they would take it from there. They explained everything to her, cut her a check, and left her on her way. I followed up with my client, and she had nothing but good things to say about how HelpPoint handled the claim.

It is definitely not a get rich quick scheme. It is a lot of hard work, and I know I have a lot of sweat, pain, and rejection in front of me, but I do believe that it will be worth it in the end. Anyways, Farmers has my endorsement. Good luck on your search!

PS: Don't listen to the Farmers bashing websites. Like Norcal said, they are all a bunch of disgruntled former agents, that were looking for a get rich quick scheme, and didn't really want to put the effort into obtaining success. Those kind of people wouldn't just fail with Farmers, but with any other insurance company.

norcalinsurance · 03-28-2008, 12:26 PM

I'm glad others feel as I do Briankoe!

It's refreshing to hear that. Some of the other forums I belong to, the folks there are hostile against Farmers.

Sounds like your kicking some a$$! Keep up the good work and I'll see you around the forum.

Bozack23 · 03-28-2008, 10:29 PM

Thanks for the responses. How hard is it to get my license and go career with no experience in the insurance business? Also how much money can I make while training and then the first year I go career? I understand I will depend on how hard I work at it but just some ballpark figures would help. Maybe low to medium to high expectations.

norcalinsurance · 03-28-2008, 10:53 PM

This is my personal experience.

You should be negative income for at least the first year and have a nest egg from which to draw from, since marketing is everything. I'm not a financial expert, so I don't have the official term downs for you Guru's out there.

Have a nest egg or get a loan from a succumbing family member

You're first year will be hell. Sleepless nights, night terrors, ready to rob a bank, the best therapy is watching the movie 'Fun with Dick & Jane'

Get or have a nest egg!

Bozack23 · 03-28-2008, 11:03 PM

Well what nest egg I had has been depleated trying to survive in the car business the last year and negative income is where I'm at now. How are commissions paid? Lets say I sell a auto policy for a yearly premium of $1000.00. What kind of commission would I make and how do they pay their agents? Do they pay once a month or at the time of the sell?

briankoe · 03-28-2008, 11:28 PM

Yah, I again, I agree with Norcal. It took me 6 months to get all my licensing, but it took me two tries on 3 out of the 4 tests. I was also working full time. I decided to wait until all of my tests were out of the way before I started selling. Also, while I was studying for the tests, I went through a 6 week training course run by my agency, which was really benficial. I learned more in the 6 weeks, than I did studying for 6 months. I did not get paid a dime, for that 6 months. In fact, you'll have to pay for your licensing and study materials as well. In the end, it will end up being about $1000. The NASD license alone is, $690.

It is rough, but try not to let it discourage you. I am 23 years old, fresh out of college, and $30,000 in debt. Thankfully, my parents are allowing me to stay with them until I can get on my feet. You just have to get past the first few months, so you can start making some money.

My recommendation is to get your p&c, and l&h licenses as soon as possible. Those are the easier of the 4 tests. Besides, you probably want to focus mainly on auto/home, not financial services, when you are starting out. Once you get your p&c license, go ahead and start selling, to your friends and family. You can start selling as you are finishing your other tests, so you will be receiving some income. It would have helped me a lot if I would have done it this way, instead of waiting until I had all my tests passed.

As for as commission goes, you are paid monthly, the 1st of every month. Home pays 20% at the effective date, and i believe it is 13% on renewal. Correct me if I'm wrong Norcal. Auto pays 10% at the effective date and renewal date. So if you write a homeowners policy that has $1000 of annual premium, and 2 autos with a total of $1000, in premium, you would be receiving $300 in commission. This is pretty standard a normal sale. I would say you will average about $200-300 per sale, because you usually get a couple policies per sale.(1 home, 2 autos, an umbrella, etc.) If you can get some life polices with the auto/home, it will be a lot more. Life insurance will get you quick cash up front, where the home/auto will build your business. Hope that helps.

norcalinsurance · 03-29-2008, 01:26 AM

Briankoe really hit the nail on the head. That's pretty much exactly how my commission schedule works, as well as with all the other Farmers Agents I interact with.

Getting the P&C & Life licenses are essential, and attack them. Get them both done as quickly as possible. Don't let them linger.

And like Briankoe said, hit your friends & family for policy's.

But don't have the same state of mind I did. For a bit, I was getting frustrated after about 30 policy's, and thinking the company was out to get me and my family, then kick my a$$ out of the company.

But stick with it, market to strangers, wake up with a few shots of whiskey (j/k, seriously j/k), but you know what I mean, you have to cold call hard, because unless you are a minister or a president over some massive social council or group, your friends & family will only take you so far, you're gonna have to start hitting up strangers to build your BOB (book of business), a Farmers acronym. Good luck.

Emmanuel_Alonzo · 03-29-2008, 02:37 AM

I just recently started with Farmers, I am still waiting for my license to be processed. I read a lot of negativity online about Farmers. However, I didn’t let that affect my decision. Biggest complaint was that if you didn’t meet your sales goals you had to pay the subsidy money back. Well in the end, you are in the SALES industry and if meeting sales goals is an issue, then you are not in the right industry. Total you end up receiving 60k from Farmers in subsidy income. However, you are only responsible for 30k, your Dm is responsible for the other 30k, this ensures that the Dm has a vested interest in your success aside from overrides. If you meet your sales goals, in my case being 25/4 per month for 3 years, well then you just go 60k in free money.

norcalinsurance · 03-29-2008, 12:38 PM

Emmanuel speaks the truth!

If you don't hit your quota count, and that doesn't mean just hitting it for each quarter, your policy's have to stay on the books for 2 years, it's called 'meeting your running to daylight' numbers.

So if your total policy count after 2 years is below what you have had to meet for your quota each quarter, then you will have to pay back your subsidy. But as Emmanuel says, if you can't meet your quota, you shouldn't be in sales in the first place.

So really, to be on the safe side, think of the Farmers subsidy as an interest free loan, that you will have to pay back unless you can meet & keep your #'s on the books for two years. It's not easy, it's really not, that's why I stress getting some commercial accounts (that pay big commission, but don't count hardly at all for meeting your quota) so that if at the end of 2 years you have had some business drop off the books and you can't meet the 'running-to-daylight numbers, then you have a nest egg built up to pay back the 'loan' that Farmers has been giving you.

But hey, even if you have to pay back the subsidy after two years, I challenge anyone to send the contact information of an institution that will give $1500 / mo. at a 0% interest rate to a new business owner with no track record? Any takers, I didn't think so!

briankoe · 03-30-2008, 12:49 AM

Very true, being paid a subsidy in addition to your commissions is very rare in the p&c insurance industry. Some companies might pay you a salary for the first year or two, but you won't be receiving commissions. If you’re not receiving commission, is that really going to motivate and teach you to sell? I believe that the struggle new agents have with being broke in the first year is a good thing. It forces you to bust your butt, by working 12 hour days, picking up the phone(dealing with rejection), and finding new creative ways to market. Currently, I am not making enough income right now, and I am struggling to pay my bills, but that "inspires" me to get out there and sell my ass off. It's not such a bad thing. You know what they say "no pain, no gain".

Again, don't listen to the Farmers bashing websites. They are disgruntled former agents who were not cut out for the insurance industry. They are the kind of people who are not willing to experience the struggle we all go through at starting this business.

When you are first starting out, I would say dedicate 80% of your time towards marketing. The other 20% for various administrative activity(quotes, applications, etc.) Develop a marketing plan that you will dedicate to follow. Like I said earlier, I am still a new agent, so I have actually just started my marketing campaigns. Below are some great marketing ideas when you are starting out. You probably don't have income you can put towards advertising, so finding creative ways to market is a must.

-Compile a "natural market list" in an excel worksheet. List out every single person you could possibly know. List out addresses, phone #s, etc. so you have the possibility of doing a postcard campaign before you follow up.
-Cold Calling(Later on, you can hire telemarketers, but for now, someone has got to do it. It sucks, but it will get you business.)
-After you make a sale, ASK FOR REFERRALS. If they like you, they will refer you.
-Network with mortgage brokers & real estate agents. Build a strong relationship with them. Get them to trust and like you, and they will throw referrals at you all day long. Apartment complexes might be good too, for renters insurance. Build a relationship with the person who shows off the rooms. Maybe he/she will refer you. It is a benefit to the apartment complex for their roomers to carry renters insurance.(You hardly make anything off renters, so get their autos too.)
-If you go with Farmers, market the affinity groups. These are police officers, teachers, fire fighters, accountants, etc. Farmers gives them an 8% discount on auto and a 5% discount on home. This is great daytime activity.

norcalinsurance · 03-30-2008, 04:04 AM

Wow, everything Briankoe is exactly right!

Follow his plan, you'll be OK, and take the Farmers bashing with a grain of salt. Just work your ass off, and things such as cold calling that are hard to do is what pays off, because many in the industry do not do it enough, and it is a very inexpensive way to generate and maintain leads.

But follow Briankoe's plan, it's perfecto!

AND GO AFTER COMMERCIAL, WHO CARES IF YOU ARE NERVOUS ABOUT DOING IT, JUST DO IT. AFTER 1 DEAL, YOU'LL FEEL AND BE AN EXPERT. I PROMISE!!!

briankoe · 03-31-2008, 07:22 PM

Hey Norcal, I am starting to get curious about commercial. I had heard from one of the agents in my office that I have to wait until I career before I am able to write any commercial. Do you know if this is true? If not, that is definitely something I should try to go after. I know of a church building I could possibly write and a workers comp. policy to write for a dentist office.