State Farm / Team Member

[rolox1]

Its just like anywhere else. There are good SF agents and bad SF agents. Keep in mind that home office puts requirements on types of plans sold, so that really pushes the agents to sell life, DI or whatever.

I think if you are trying to break into the biz, this is a great way to start. You can see what works,doesn't work and most importantly, whether or not you are suited to the business.

My best piece of advice to people who are looking at becoming a "team member" and actually sell, is look for agents who have been around more than 3 (preferably 5) years. Then you are learning from a successful agent. Not just another person thrown against the wall, in the hope that they would stick.

My advise....DO NOT work for a TICA. I did for about three months. Worst work experience I ever had. The agent expected the staff to do EVERYTHING (sales/service/CLEAN THE OFFICE). We always had to be on time and all the standards that are expected in business practice while she comes in late everyday, leaves early at least once a week, disappears for hours at a time a few times a month without telling anyone where she is going or when she will be back. Agent did not keep up with bank deposits and refused to have petty cash on hand to make change for customers. I could go on for hours.

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Working for an established older contract agent, what could one expect working as a tram member?

You can get expect a more stable environment. If the agent has been around for 20+ years then you won't be forced to constantly meet sales goals. P&C goals aren't bad but the life, disability and bank products suck. I didn't like having to push credit cards and vehicle loans. Newer agents are required to sell much more.

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Doing all the work (for peanuts) while the agent hides in the back...

Were you there hiding in the corner? How did you know? LOL

 

[richardroma]

Heaven forbid rolox that you had to be at work ON TIME! The business owner who is taking the risk deserves to decide when, how, where etc she wants to do. It's her business. If you could produce you'd be worth something. My tm avg about 60k a year as salespeople. And I tell them they're responsible for anything from sweeping the rug to talking to 10million dollar client.

 

[rolox1]

Are you a State Farm agent? Sorry but I am not going to pay for leads and mass mailings and schmoozing clients if all I make is a $10 flat commission on p&c with zero on renewals. BTW also zero benefits. I should feel sorry for the agent? Yeah right. Sales with zero CSR support BTW.

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Forgot to mention I now work for an independent agent who has been in the business for 30+ years. Much better work environment. They are also in on time everyday, treat staff with respect and actually deal with clients instead of hiding. Someone who actually cares about the business and makes a great living and still involved after all these years, not some two bit hack who opens a business and puts next to nothing in it and wonders what's wrong.

 

[wwgsrevo]

There are good agents and bad agents, some pay well, some dont. It all depends if you have a fair agent. I was paid $500/week, 10% on raw new auto, 6% on new home/renters, 10% life, 10% health, $25 per bank product open. I sell about 30-40 autos, 25-35 home/renters, 6-7 life, 1-2 health per month, I make about 40-45k/yr with this, which is pretty fair in my opinion. As long as I'm making this range, it should be ok as a team member. You have to remember that you're an apprentice basically, and that if you do multi-line well, you can become eligible to be an agent in the next 3-4 years. It will take that long to be comfortable being an agent because thats how long it usually takes for someone to be fully polished to take on the responsibility of being an agent. I've worked as a team member for 1 year now, I started with a TICA agent. First few months he paid me half of what I was getting, then he realized pay was too little to motivate me, so he decided to adjust my commissions, and there goes the sales. So in my opinion, as an agent, you have to pay your team members in a way that they can at least make 40k and up without overworking themselves. if all your sales team member makes is 30-35k/yr and making you a shiiiit ton of sales, then you will probably burn through a lot of employees, and state farm agents know how costly and time consuming it is to hire and train a new team member, takes forever to find the right candidate and also takes forever for the team members to get up to speed, etc.

 

[rolox1]

She reached out to me. Promised me the leads would be great. I used to work for a seasoned SF agent who retired. The agent changed the commission structure 3 times in 3 months finally settling on 10 flat commission per auto/fire. Zero benefits. Had to work every other Saturday. Working 6 days a week for crap is no fun. The SF premiums in this area are generally noncompetitive. In some cases almost twice what prospects currently pay for same coverage not to mention another SF agent less than 1/8 mile away. 5 SF agents in the same town.

 

[dawson12]

There are good agents and bad agents, some pay well, some dont. It all depends if you have a fair agent. I was paid $500/week, 10% on raw new auto, 6% on new home/renters, 10% life, 10% health, $25 per bank product open. I sell about 30-40 autos, 25-35 home/renters, 6-7 life, 1-2 health per month, I make about 40-45k/yr with this, which is pretty fair in my opinion. As long as I'm making this range, it should be ok as a team member. You have to remember that you're an apprentice basically, and that if you do multi-line well, you can become eligible to be an agent in the next 3-4 years. It will take that long to be comfortable being an agent because thats how long it usually takes for someone to be fully polished to take on the responsibility of being an agent. I've worked as a team member for 1 year now, I started with a TICA agent. First few months he paid me half of what I was getting, then he realized pay was too little to motivate me, so he decided to adjust my commissions, and there goes the sales. So in my opinion, as an agent, you have to pay your team members in a way that they can at least make 40k and up without overworking themselves. if all your sales team member makes is 30-35k/yr and making you a shiiiit ton of sales, then you will probably burn through a lot of employees, and state farm agents know how costly and time consuming it is to hire and train a new team member, takes forever to find the right candidate and also takes forever for the team members to get up to speed, etc.

wwgsrevo-If you are doing that kind of production monthly and are only making $40-45k a year, you are getting hosed big time. That production would make you at least $60k working for a good independent agent. Plus you could sell a ton more business that State Farm is unable to write.

 

[wwgsrevo]

wwgsrevo-If you are doing that kind of production monthly and are only making $40-45k a year, you are getting hosed big time. That production would make you at least $60k working for a good independent agent. Plus you could sell a ton more business that State Farm is unable to write.

Its an okay trade off to learn the world of insurance. I came into it knowing nothing about insurance, but after a year I am much more polished and can sell p/c life and health much better. I did consider becoming independent early on, but I realized that state farms agency program is just as good. plus, in MN, I beat a ton of indy brokers rates all the time.

 

[HegemonFinancial]

State Farm is a good place to start if you want to get your licenses and get a "basic" idea of how a multi-line agency works. Unfortunately, you will most likely be "selling" life insurance as a bundle with auto, and in turn will turn the flagship 5 Year / $50,000 State Farm term life product into a commodity, just like auto insurance. Chances are, you will never have the chance to learn to sell life insurance properly, since a State Farm agency is based only on numbers ("app count").

You will never really make much money as a State Farm team member, but for a younger person, they can make a decent living... $25k-$35k.

And believe me... Most State Farm agents that have started in the last 10 years do NOT make much money. In fact, it's a debt factory. Usually, the team members make more money than newer agents. So sad...