Did I Get a Good Agent Deal?

The Hopp · 02-25-2009, 12:27 PM

I am fairly new to the life insurance business and was wondering if some of you seasoned agents may answer a few questions that I woundn't be able to ask my manager. Be easy on me this is my first post! Any or all opinions would be appreciated.

1. I started with a company paying 50% of AP as commission. They supply office, desk, phones, and around 5 new leads/day (internet). I handle the backend. My question...Is that a good deal?
2. I've always worked in sales jobs but life insurance only 2.5 mo's. I love the potential of this job if you're dedicated. I've received about 200 leads total since I started work there (200 after taking out bad leads). I've written $38k in total AP. My question...Is that par for the course or should I expect more or less as I learn more?
3. I eventually want to go out on my own. I've talked to one company that will pay from 105%-120% if I handle my own backend or 90% for them to do it. My question...Because I don't know any better what does the back end consist of. Right now I'm assigned a case manager but I follow up on forms not signed, call the client if questions need clarification, mail out the policy once received, etc. Is that considered the backend?
4. Eventually will I be able to sign up with another GA or do they make you wait 1 year? The reason I ask is the company I am with uses two GA's. I talked with eFinancial (one of our GA's) who supplies our client software. They told me I would have to get a release from the other company I use or I would have to wait one year.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide. I appreciate it!

Markingriffin · 02-25-2009, 12:49 PM

It sounds like you have something that is working for you. They give you everything that you need including the leads and you are making a good living.

If something is working for you, then stick with it.
A lot of it also depends on you, and how much you can do on your own.

TRK3031962 · 02-25-2009, 12:51 PM

Originally Posted by The Hopp

I am fairly new to the life insurance business and was wondering if some of you seasoned agents may answer a few questions that I woundn't be able to ask my manager. Be easy on me this is my first post! Any or all opinions would be appreciated.

1. I started with a company paying 50% of AP as commission. They supply office, desk, phones, and around 5 new leads/day (internet). I handle the backend. My question...Is that a good deal?
2. I've always worked in sales jobs but life insurance only 2.5 mo's. I love the potential of this job if you're dedicated. I've received about 200 leads total since I started work there (200 after taking out bad leads). I've written $38k in total AP. My question...Is that par for the course or should I expect more or less as I learn more?
3. I eventually want to go out on my own. I've talked to one company that will pay from 105%-120% if I handle my own backend or 90% for them to do it. My question...Because I don't know any better what does the back end consist of. Right now I'm assigned a case manager but I follow up on forms not signed, call the client if questions need clarification, mail out the policy once received, etc. Is that considered the backend?
4. Eventually will I be able to sign up with another GA or do they make you wait 1 year? The reason I ask is the company I am with uses two GA's. I talked with eFinancial (one of our GA's) who supplies our client software. They told me I would have to get a release from the other company I use or I would have to wait one year.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide. I appreciate it!

The only way to figure that out is to run the numbers.
Ok, you say you've written 38K, and at 50% that mean you've been advance 19K.
You've been given 200 good leads.
Let's say that you would have had to pay on the average of $30 per lead if you paid for them yourself. Of course, that's a very high $$ amount, but let's give the benefit of the doubt. That means that you would have had to pay $6000 in lead costs.
As for the back end, that's nothing more than keeping up with underwriting as to policy status. Seems like you're already doing the rest.
So, let's just for simplicities sake, say you were on a 100% contract and bought your own leads. You would have made 38K, minus the 6K in leads which nets 32K. So you have just paid, in 2.5 months, 13K for someone to keep up with policy status, an office to go to, a desk and a phone line.
Now in all honesty, it would take a little time from you to be your own case manager, but not that much time. But then again, we only figured your contract at 100% so I would consider that a wash.
So now that we've broken this down...is it worth it to you?
Only you can answer that one. If it were me...the answer would be no, it's not worth it. I would rather be independent!
By the way....what companies do you sell?

healthagent · 02-25-2009, 12:58 PM

You're giving up 50% comp for 5 internet leads a day? Terrible deal.

myinsurebiz · 02-25-2009, 03:28 PM

I have people signing contracts @ 50% and they pay 50% of their lead cost and :

1) They are happy

2) They are making money

3) They can advance based on production

So - your deal is pretty sweet so long as you can advance.

Good luck in the biz.

Tom

The Hopp · 02-25-2009, 04:20 PM

Thanks for all of your replies. I appreciate it.

"healthagent"...Besides the leads they do supply class 1 office space, desk, computer, phone, etc. I know I can get paid more commission assuming all those costs and either working out of my home or getting an office. That's why I asked. Because I am fairly new I'm not sure if that was a good, bad, or standard deal?
"TRK303" - I'm contracted with Genworth, AIG, Fidelity, West Coast, ING, Assurity, and Liberty/RBC as of now. I am also licensed in 21 states. Most of my leads are out of state. FYI - It does kill me to know I am giving up a ton of commission and I handle all the backend but I don't have the financial resources to go out on my own just yet.
"Myinsurebiz" - I got in on the ground floor (7th agent) and they are trying to expand to 300 agents within 2 yrs so there is/will be advancement opportunities.
"markingriffin" - Thanks for your response.
Is anyone able to answer the GA question...Would I have to get a release from my company if I want to sign with another company? And if they don't release me would I have to wait 1 year? Is that normal in the industry? (it shouldn't be a problem because I have a great relationship with them). Or should I just stay where I'm at?
Are my numbers in line with receiving 200 leads (it is really 184)? The $38k was on written cases. After scheduling the Portamedic I've had about 20% fall out due to missed appts, declines, or customers getting rated and the rates increasing significantly (due to Chol, something on APS report, etc). So that money isn't in the bank. I am just now getting paid on deals I did 8-10 weeks ago when I first started.

Thanks again for all your responses!

SportsNut · 02-25-2009, 04:39 PM

Originally Posted by The Hopp

Is anyone able to answer the GA question...Would I have to get a release from my company if I want to sign with another company? And if they don't release me would I have to wait 1 year? Is that normal in the industry? (it shouldn't be a problem because I have a great relationship with them). Or should I just stay where I'm at?
Are my numbers in line with receiving 200 leads (it is really 184)? The $38k was on written cases. After scheduling the Portamedic I've had about 20% fall out due to missed appts, declines, or customers getting rated and the rates increasing significantly (due to Chol, something on APS report, etc). So that money isn't in the bank. I am just now getting paid on deals I did 8-10 weeks ago when I first started.

Thanks again for all your responses!

The GA question is different with each company. Many cos will issue dual writing numbers, and when they do there is no need to obtain a release, You just get a new agent number from the company and submit the biz under that number; not the old one... done. Fidelity will not allow dual numbers, not sure about RBC, but most of the rest should. You just need to find an IMO to contract with. There are some good ones on here to choose from.

I would actually recommend that you stick it out another 3, 4 or 5 months to get more experience. You are still green and there are things that you will learn in that span of time that will be useful. You are getting good training and support, it seems, which is of value. Some ppl actually work better in that more structured environment too, so be sure you are ready when you make the move.

Your production on 184 leads is very good... assuming 100% comp, and 25 lead cost, you would be returning about 8.40 for each dollar spent on leads. Your sales rations seems to be slightly higher than 20%, or 1 sale from 5 leads, assuming avg comm per policy, but some of what you now have in u/w may not place... so that could drop some... but still decent.

You mentioned eFinancial... you won't get 100-120% comp there, (70-80%), so there are better choices than that when you are ready.

All the best.

The Hopp · 02-25-2009, 05:37 PM

"sportsnut" That answers my GA question. Thanks.
I wasn't going to do anything until about the 6-8 month mark if I did make a move. I have been in sales most of my career but it has been face to face working for the banks. Working and closing the sale on the phone was new to me but it's something I do not mind at all.
From my research $25/lead is what I was figuring. As an independent what kind of ROI do you look for on your marketing costs? I figured I would have to buy 25/leads week to make a decent living. Is that about right?

On that subject I have another question for everybody....

From my somewhat limited experience I figured if I ever went independent my blueprint is I would need to purchase 25 leads/wk or 100 leads/mo. I figured I would close 1 of those, 3 I would never reach, and 1 would be a "maybe" (they won't commit for whatever reason but they're not dead). I just closed 2 leads I got the first week of December that were "maybes." That would produce $5-8k of AP a week. Is that reasonable over the long term?

nka245 · 02-27-2009, 07:03 PM

If you are going to pay that much for leads; you would be better off generating your own leads...

TRK3031962 · 02-27-2009, 08:23 PM

25 leads a week? What do you do with the other 4 1/2 days? (Not counting the weekend of course).
At the rate of $25/lead that's $625/week for the 25 leads. Do yourself a favor and buy $6 dialer leads and get 100/week. Production goes up and then the $625/week doesn't sound so bad.

SalemInsuranceGuy · 05-04-2009, 06:33 PM

Originally Posted by The Hopp

I am fairly new to the life insurance business and was wondering if some of you seasoned agents may answer a few questions that I woundn't be able to ask my manager. Be easy on me this is my first post! Any or all opinions would be appreciated.

1. I started with a company paying 50% of AP as commission. They supply office, desk, phones, and around 5 new leads/day (internet). I handle the backend. My question...Is that a good deal?
2. I've always worked in sales jobs but life insurance only 2.5 mo's. I love the potential of this job if you're dedicated. I've received about 200 leads total since I started work there (200 after taking out bad leads). I've written $38k in total AP. My question...Is that par for the course or should I expect more or less as I learn more?
3. I eventually want to go out on my own. I've talked to one company that will pay from 105%-120% if I handle my own backend or 90% for them to do it. My question...Because I don't know any better what does the back end consist of. Right now I'm assigned a case manager but I follow up on forms not signed, call the client if questions need clarification, mail out the policy once received, etc. Is that considered the backend?
4. Eventually will I be able to sign up with another GA or do they make you wait 1 year? The reason I ask is the company I am with uses two GA's. I talked with eFinancial (one of our GA's) who supplies our client software. They told me I would have to get a release from the other company I use or I would have to wait one year.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide. I appreciate it!

As I've learned in sales a "good deal" is a "state of mind". The bottom line is are you happy with what you're doing? I don't know how much you made prior to getting into insurance. If you're making more and enjoy it then you may look at it as a good deal.

Considering your new, 50% with someone showing you the way probably is decent. Like someone else mentioned can you advance? 50% of 38k is $19k to you. You may be able to get a 120% contract but if you don't know how or can't generate your own leads 120% of nothing is still zero, which is $19k less than you made now.

You'll know when the time is right to move on your own and go independent. You're fortunate being here because there are a lot of people on this forum with tons of knowledge. Learn and once you get to the point where you feel your company isn't doing anything for you that you can't do on your own, then you know it's time to leave. For now though enjoy them covering some of your expenses while you learn.

myinsurebiz · 05-05-2009, 12:42 PM

You can get Dialer leads for less than $6 each . . .

Buy dials by the completed calls. 5,000 completed calls would cost around $125 and would generate 30 to 40 transfers and 6 to 10 quotes. Average closer should net a minimum of one sale per batch.

Fresh, consistent lead flow is paramount to success.

Tom