Settlers 2017 Trip .

[Newby]

How are they able to offer this stuff at their prices? How do claims not kill them?

They don't offer much advancing so they eliminate one of the largest costs that FE companies have, bad debt write offs.

They are also a small not for profit fraternal with a very small staff.

We will find out soon when we can start adding additional agents again but I'm told that when they do take on select new agents in 2016 they must be very clean on credit history and there will likely be zero advancing of commissions.

Nice company to have but most FE agents could not cash flow with no advances.

 

[gymguy]

They don't offer much advancing so they eliminate one of the largest costs that FE companies have, bad debt write offs.

They are also a small not for profit fraternal with a very small staff.

We will find out soon when we can start adding additional agents again but I'm told that when they do take on select new agents in 2016 they must be very clean on credit history and there will likely be zero advancing of commissions.

Nice company to have but most FE agents could not cash flow with no advances.

That makes sense. However, how can bad debt roll ups be a problem for any carrier? All but a handful use distribution channels for their business acquisition. Therefore, individual agents who have roll debt, send it to their IMO not the carrier. Are you saying that large imos rolling debt to the actual carrier is a prevalent problem that carriers face?

 

[goillini52]

Thanks! I had trouble before finding that on their website.

No problem...I just looked on FexQuotes.

 

[WholeLife]

Since I make more money by writing KSKJ than I did before I had them I can't follow your logic.

Why are you contracted with if you hate on them so much?

KSKJ pays 100% and they do not pay commission on their very high $50 policy fee. Write a 600 AP policy and you get $550 which nets to only 91.67% commission.

Write a 120% company that pays on the policy fee and you get $720 cimmission, or $170 more per case.

Multiply that by 300 cases per year and you leave $51,000 in commissions on the table writing KSKJ.

Not to mention their low commission advance cap, slow policy issue, the fact that they do not mail the policy until a week or so after first draft, their requirement that the agent deliver all policies, and their limited selection of draft dates.

Writing only KSKJ would put a newer agent out of business within a few months. There's no way a newer agent could cash flow his business writing only them.

Yes, I agree that there is a place for KSKJ. Price buster and certain health conditions are appropriate. But, why would anyone write them unless they absolutely needed to?

 

[OttoGraf]

KSKJ pays 100% and they do not pay commission on their very high $50 policy fee. Write a 600 AP policy and you get $550 which nets to only 91.67% commission.

Way to back up w facts. That's what's good about this place!

 

[jdeasy]

KSKJ pays 100% and they do not pay commission on their very high $50 policy fee. Write a 600 AP policy and you get $550 which nets to only 91.67% commission.

Write a 120% company that pays on the policy fee and you get $720 cimmission, or $170 more per case.

Multiply that by 300 cases per year and you leave $51,000 in commissions on the table writing KSKJ.

Not to mention their low commission advance cap, slow policy issue, the fact that they do not mail the policy until a week or so after first draft, their requirement that the agent deliver all policies, and their limited selection of draft dates.

Writing only KSKJ would put a newer agent out of business within a few months. There's no way a newer agent could cash flow his business writing only them.

Yes, I agree that there is a place for KSKJ. Price buster and certain health conditions are appropriate. But, why would anyone write them unless they absolutely needed to?

Since I'm as earned anyway that doesn't concern me. Since I deliver policies anyway, that doesn't concern me either.

The draft dates is not an issue and I don't chose to make it one.

As for the other math, I've already been over that with you several times.

First off, I don't have that many 120% contracts. And the ones I do won't take many of the people that KSKJ will take. So how does that matter on the commission? Oh goody, I could have made more if they would have taken that person they wouldn't! That's some sound business advice right there.

Let's just compare to your goto. I believe you to be on 110% but I might be wrong. They pay on the policy fee but they pay on the annual rate instead of the modal rate so that's almost a wash on the policy fee.

So you will make 10% more by writing them over KSKJ. OK, fine for insulin dependent and such. The person pays about the same and you make 10% more. What if that person is not on insulin? Then could get select. You are putting the person in a higher priced plan. But you do make more money. And that's this discussion.

But it's also a personal discussion and you are responding to my statement of making more money with KSKJ. Before KSKJ I would have put that healthy person on your goto companie's FU. They also don't pay on the same $50 policy fee, they still pay on the annual amount and it's 85% commission. Therefore I made more money by using KSKJ.

Then let's ask if the person has COPD. Before I wrote very few of those because people didn't want to pay Trans standard rates or UP2's rates or Equitable's rates. Now I write quite a bit of COPD because I can get them a competitive rate. Again, I make more money because I'm writing business that I previously would not have written.

Then we have cases that KSKJ will take level that others will not. I can name very quickly 3 cases I've written in the last couple months that I went back to once I got KSKJ. All 3 of those are over $125/mo cases. They were people I met with and couldn't get them level coverage and didn't write them anything. Not at any commission. Now I've ben able to get all 3 level coverage. That certainly made me more money.

Add in that I don't write GI. I refer those to MoO because I never had anything I could write that was comparable to what they could get from MoO. Since having KSKJ I've written 4 modified plans that would have been referred to MoO. That's money I would not have made.

Then besides the money there's something I say all the time, or for the last couple of years anyway, I want to work with companies that make my job easier, not harder. KSKJ makes my job easier. Then there's the good will. They are a Christian fraternal. I live in the bible belt. People here really like that they are a Christian company.

Still, all of that is pretty much worthless if the rates weren't like they are. I'm giving people a great value and my refferals have increased since I've added KSKJ. I've always gotten quite a bit of referrals and maybe it's just a coincidence that they are up since I started using KSKJ in July? But they are up.

I was with EFES for 5 years. My top contract was 100%. I guess I struggled through years. I should be able to climb this gigantic mountain that some see? Maybe because it looks like a downhill run to me?

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Way to back up w facts. That's what's good about this place!

That's not really facts, that's playing with numbers. on a $100/mo it's 96% true commission.

You can do that stuff all day. They do not pay on the $50 policy fee. Not everyone offers 100% contracts with them. I know of one IMO that was offering 80%.

They don't cut commissions on the older ages.

They are looking at paying on the policy fee. I don't know what the naysayers will say then but I'm sure they will find something.

But even with that negativity, he's going on their trip anyway.

 

[Rearden]

John - all of the above is true. But the reality is virtually every agent requires an advance to self-finance leads, much less his lifestyle.

Even writing 25% of your business with KSKJ will reduce precious cash flow. And cash flow is king to the new producer who is of lesser skill, has no renewals, no referral prowess, and is at greater financial exposure to poor production weeks than a tenured agent like yourself.

Where KSKJ makes the most sense for the new agent is for business you otherwise couldn't get with a higher-paying, bread-and-butter type of carrier.

 

[jdeasy]

John - all of the above is true. But the reality is virtually every agent requires an advance to self-finance leads, much less his lifestyle.

Even writing 25% of your business with KSKJ will reduce precious cash flow. And cash flow is king to the new producer who is of lesser skill, has no renewals, no referral prowess, and is at greater financial exposure to poor production weeks than a tenured agent like yourself.

Where KSKJ makes the most sense is for business you otherwise could get with a higher-paying, bread-and-butter type of carrier.

I suppose that's right. Right now KSKJ has a $3000 advance cap per month. I don't know how many "new" agents are bumping up against that each month.

But I'm not talking about a new agent or an old agent. I'm talking about me.

I said I make more money because I have KSKJ than I did before. I don't give a crap if anyone else writes KSKJ.

And then there's another point, I'm not going to use them, or any company, for my difficult cases and then turn around and place my healthy clients with another company. I believe you reward the company that works with you on tough cases with the ones that aren't tough.

There was a guy from one of the FE companies at our Indy meeting that basically suggested that we do just that. He was being questioned about their stance on insulin users and on taking the DE card.

He said he understood there were better companies for insulin users and we should just use them. He said he understood there was a need for DE acceptance but they had pretty much decided to not take them and we should just use other companies for them. Then he went on to say we should use his company for the healthy clients with checking accounts.

That way of thinking just goes against everything I believe. Why wouldn't you put your "good" clients with the company that's helping you with the difficult cases?

 

[WholeLife]

That's not really facts, that's playing with numbers. on a $100/mo it's 96% true commission.

No JD, it's not playing with numbers at all. The facts I gave ARE THE EXACT FACTS based on the 600 AP example that I illustrated, which I believe to be close to the national average AP for FE. My example also compares to a full 120% carrier with a commissionable policy fee, not Trinity/FBL, which is the carrier that you are referring to in your rebuttal. So, it is clearly YOU who are playing with the numbers that I gave and taking my scenario out of context.

I understand that you have your reasons for writing all of your business with KSKJ, and that's fine by me. For the reasons I stated I would NOT however find doing so to be sage advice for 95% of agents, especially newer agents who do not have established cash flow.

 

[Iwillpay]

I suppose that's right. Right now KSKJ has a $3000 advance cap per month. I don't know how many "new" agents are bumping up against that each month.

But I'm not talking about a new agent or an old agent. I'm talking about me.

I said I make more money because I have KSKJ than I did before. I don't give a crap if anyone else writes KSKJ.

100% of $100,000 api is $100,000 FYC

110% of $80,000 api is $ 88,000 FYC.

I say this to say if you can place more business with kskj than with other carrier then it is a no brainer.