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InsuranceMktgman
Guest
My company is a Life Insurance/Annuity IMO-MGA. We frequently help captive agents go independent. Here are some thoughts.
- It is common for agents to work out of their homes when they first make the transition. Put some time and money into creating a solid branded marketing presence instead of into office rent.
- Search out and find an affordable shared executive suites office complex in which to meet clients for when you need to meet them face to face. Most executive suites will let you rent a space on an hourly basis until you can afford to rent from them on a monthly basis. This is a great way to keep costs low and to still project an established image.
- I can only speak for the financial services side of the business, but work with an MGA that will lift as much of your admin load as possible. For instance, part of our services is that other than taking taking the actual application, we do all of your back end support. Example: quote generation, creation of sales presentations, application scrubbing, ordering and managing Parameds, APS', chasing underwriters. All you do is take the app and deliver the policy. We do everything else. By working with us or a similar company, you probably won't have to hire an office administrator and you can spend all of your time in front of the clients selling.
- Online quoting - most life IMO's today offer online quoting with engines like ipipeline.com. We are no exception.
- Training and support. Working for a captive agency is very different than being independent. We help to coach, mentor and train our agents to help them make that transition. I suggest working with a similar company so that you can get some guidance and not have to figure this all out on your own.
I hope that my suggestions have been somewhat helpful.
All the best,
Daniel
Life Insurance Training
Oregon Medicare
- It is common for agents to work out of their homes when they first make the transition. Put some time and money into creating a solid branded marketing presence instead of into office rent.
- Search out and find an affordable shared executive suites office complex in which to meet clients for when you need to meet them face to face. Most executive suites will let you rent a space on an hourly basis until you can afford to rent from them on a monthly basis. This is a great way to keep costs low and to still project an established image.
- I can only speak for the financial services side of the business, but work with an MGA that will lift as much of your admin load as possible. For instance, part of our services is that other than taking taking the actual application, we do all of your back end support. Example: quote generation, creation of sales presentations, application scrubbing, ordering and managing Parameds, APS', chasing underwriters. All you do is take the app and deliver the policy. We do everything else. By working with us or a similar company, you probably won't have to hire an office administrator and you can spend all of your time in front of the clients selling.
- Online quoting - most life IMO's today offer online quoting with engines like ipipeline.com. We are no exception.
- Training and support. Working for a captive agency is very different than being independent. We help to coach, mentor and train our agents to help them make that transition. I suggest working with a similar company so that you can get some guidance and not have to figure this all out on your own.
I hope that my suggestions have been somewhat helpful.
All the best,
Daniel
Life Insurance Training
Oregon Medicare
