Insurance Agent Forum

[jxv6440]

I am a couple of days from my 1 month birthday in the insurance biz and have a question for all you veterans. Are there any advantages to joining a general agency versus getting appointed directly with the carriers? In my specific situation I am working with Mutual of Omaha and would like to be able to offer health ins if the opportunity comes up and some agents are recommending CIMS(Comprehensive Integrated Marketing Systems) as the easy way to get set up to offer the health plans.

I was wondering what you think and if there are any pros or cons of going thru CIMS or should I be looking into getting directly appointed with Blue Cross or other carriers

Thanks

[somarco]

What is so odd about your post is, at one time MOO was the premier GA for major med insurance. They eventually disbanded the GA, offered their products on a brokerage basis, then abandoned the major med business completely.

Marlon Perkins is rolling over in his grave as I type . . .

I have worked with IMO's, GA's and direct.

I am direct with BX, KP, Time,Aetna Coventry & GR.

BX is the only one that treats me like a red haired step child.

I work with an IMO for World.

The health IMO's I have used in the past are production driven. If you are not placing $100k in AP they have no time for you.

Going direct gives me access to most folks for service issues.

IMO's have good training on marketing issues. Some have lead systems.

Carriers have no clue when it comes to marketing.

I don't require a lot of support on marketing or lead generation, so I don't really need an IMO. In fact, most of them get in the way and are just another unnecessary step.

A rookie would probably feel different.

[Frank Stastny]

Originally Posted by somarco

I don't require a lot of support on marketing or lead generation, so I don't really need an IMO. In fact, most of them get in the way and are just another unnecessary step.

A rookie would probably feel different.

I go direct when ever possible. If you find an IMO, FMO or whatever that is offering a higher than "street level" commission for the first year they are usually drastically cutting back on the renewal commission you would receive by going direct with the company. I said usually.

A lot of them talk about all the "support" they provide. CoughBS, Cough.

Most of us got into this business to be totally uncontrolled by others. I want it to stay that way and not have some pencil neck behind a desk telling me how much to write or what products to use.

I have not found the training they offer to be that great. Actually I have not found anything they offer to be that useful to me. If a client has a problem, I want to be the one who takes care of it. Your client is going to be loyal to the person who helps them when they have a problem. Why would I want that person to be anyone else except me?

I can and prefer to send the apps to the company myself. I don't want others to send my apps in and have all of that information about my clients. You know they are going to make a copy of the app.

Their "leads" are just usually direct mail responses and old ones that have already been worked by other agents. I really don't consider those to be an actual "lead".

Although I do agree with Somarco, I may feel totally different if I was a new agent.

[jxv6440]

Thanks for all the information provided so far!

I would love to hear more if anyone else out there has an opinion... especially the agents licensed in CA.