Insurance Agent Forum

[Danielsp9]

Hello All,
My name is Dan, out of SW Florida. I recently passed my Life, Health, & Variable Annuity Exam and received my precious license. I am a very young and inexperienced business man that has hunger and definitely plenty of bills to pay. I own several businesses online and I recently was interested in the field of insurance.

Found Aflac to be a pretty interesting company and paying fairly well for the amount of premiums written. Now I am being trained by my regional Sales Coordinator (Very Nice Lady) and learning the ropes of the business. Other than giving me some pointers on how to cold call (Which I cannot stand!) there is not much talk about growth and other possibilities of expansion.

I am wondering if Incorporating a business and using insurance sales to grow it would be a good idea. You could call me visionary, but I want to own several businesses in the insurance industry and have other agents work the business for me.

Being as new to the business as I am, I need pointers towards mistakes someone has committed or goals to achieve. Sincerely, I need a mentor because the books on the subject don't really tell you the real story.

I would appreciate any information (as long as you dont try to sell me anything ) given to me.

P.S.: What are my options for sales if I do not want to cold call my prospects. I think cold calling is intrusive and ineffective

[Consultant]

Originally Posted by Danielsp9

Hello All,
My name is Dan, out of SW Florida. I recently passed my Life, Health, & Variable Annuity Exam and received my precious license. I am a very young and inexperienced business man that has hunger and definitely plenty of bills to pay. I own several businesses online and I recently was interested in the field of insurance.

Found Aflac to be a pretty interesting company and paying fairly well for the amount of premiums written. Now I am being trained by my regional Sales Coordinator (Very Nice Lady) and learning the ropes of the business. Other than giving me some pointers on how to cold call (Which I cannot stand!) there is not much talk about growth and other possibilities of expansion.

I am wondering if Incorporating a business and using insurance sales to grow it would be a good idea. You could call me visionary, but I want to own several businesses in the insurance industry and have other agents work the business for me.

Being as new to the business as I am, I need pointers towards mistakes someone has committed or goals to achieve. Sincerely, I need a mentor because the books on the subject don't really tell you the real story.

I would appreciate any information (as long as you dont try to sell me anything ) given to me.

P.S.: What are my options for sales if I do not want to cold call my prospects. I think cold calling is intrusive and ineffective

You have a lot of questions here that need to be addressed.

1st, welcome to the board!

2nd, You are talking about joining Aflac - Aflac like many companies, is what's called - CAPTIVE. Which means you can only sell their products and abide by their strict rules thereby they will give you the tools and maybe even leads.

Many of the most successful people on this board started captive.

I WOULD ADVISE YOU TO SCROLL THROUGH THE LAST FEW MONTHS OF POSTS. MOST HAVE BEEN REPEATED ANSWERS OVER THE YEARS. That being said,

3rd, If you are very serious about having a career in the insurance industry whether it be being a broker, agent, agency, etc - I would suggest you put your time in every aspect of prospecting. How would you train your agents if you never cold called, B2B or had a flyer campaign yourself?

Going alone into the insurance industry as a pure broker may be difficult in the beginning - especially if you don't have a few thousand in the bank towards working your business.

"A true entrepreneur can pay for their mistakes." Moreover, doing cold calling in the beginning makes your appreciate and really consider each clients needs and how to close the sale.

If you are simply just buying a lead for 12 dollars against 3 or 4 other agents at the get go - I would suggest looking into how much you'd look to spending for you to finally obtain the learning the curve. Expensive $$$ learning curve.

To reiterate, search for captive and non captive solutions to your questions. You will find a lot of answers. Hope this helps a little bit.

In summary, I'd go captive or hang out with a successful broker and do cold calls for him and he'd pay you a less commission but lump sum...

[salpro22]

Hello All,
My name is Dan, out of SW Florida. I recently passed my Life, Health, & Variable Annuity Exam and received my precious license. I am a very young and inexperienced business man that has hunger and definitely plenty of bills to pay. I own several businesses online and I recently was interested in the field of insurance.

Congratulations on obtaining your license and welcome to the insurance field.

Found Aflac to be a pretty interesting company and paying fairly well for the amount of premiums written. Now I am being trained by my regional Sales Coordinator (Very Nice Lady) and learning the ropes of the business. Other than giving me some pointers on how to cold call (Which I cannot stand!) there is not much talk about growth and other possibilities of expansion.

How do you want your business to grow? Monetarily? Geographical? Philosophical? I think you get my point. What do you hope to achieve and where do you want to be? Those are the starting points before any solid advice can be given..

I am wondering if Incorporating a business and using insurance sales to grow it would be a good idea. You could call me visionary, but I want to own several businesses in the insurance industry and have other agents work the business for me.

What would cause you to want to own several businesses either than being able to tell people at parties that you own X amount of businesses. The 1st thought that comes to mind my mind when somebody says they own more than 2 businesses is......What is your focus and are you the best? You cannot expect to have the best agents if you yourself are not at the top of your field.

Being as new to the business as I am, I need pointers towards mistakes someone has committed or goals to achieve. Sincerely, I need a mentor because the books on the subject don't really tell you the real story.

Read my blog and all the posts on this forum to find out the stupid things that I have done and learned from, as well as other. If somebody hasn't stumbled or met resistance in some form selling insurance they are either unethical or not working hard enough.

P.S.: What are my options for sales if I do not want to cold call my prospects. I think cold calling is intrusive and ineffective

I agree with Consultant's input and will add my own. What information do you base your decision on that cold calling is intrusive and ineffective? Cold calling has worked ever since phones were invented and a sales rep had the bright idea to use that medium to set up an appointment or sell a product.

I don't like to sound like the infamous Bill Clinton and debate the meaning of the word "is", however, sales is 80% psychology and 20% everything else. Your mind creates the belief of what is intrusive and ineffective.

Every time I make a cold call I strongly believe in what I do for a living and how I can help a small business owner. Unfortunately, it seems that the majority of people have this misconception that sales professionals are evil, greedy and manipulative. That probably happens quite a bit, but the world has a way of getting rid of those people.

If it wasn't for sales professionals who make a living by working through resistance, creating common ground and keeping the wheels going, nobody would have a job. All of us would be meandering around the world trying to figure out what we should do until we got hungry again.

Your only other options are to purchase internet leads, B2B marketing and networking, but in a sense, those might also be considered intrusive and ineffective right?

[djs]

I agree with Consultant's input and will add my own. What information do you base your decision on that cold calling is intrusive and ineffective? Cold calling has worked ever since phones were invented and a sales rep had the bright idea to use that medium to set up an appointment or sell a product.

Actually, this is a well known fact. Even Alexander Graham Bell got disrupted while inventing the phone by telemarketers. He didn't have the sense to invent the do not call list at the same time as the phone.

That said, people who don't want to be cold-called will either place their number on the do-not-call list or simply hang up on you. Either way, no big deal, move to the next one.

Also, for clarification, Aflac does have non-captive agreements as well. I know, I had one for a while.

Dan

[al3]

Originally Posted by djs

Actually, this is a well known fact. Even Alexander Graham Bell got disrupted while inventing the phone

Huh? I thought Al Gore invented the telephone... a couple of weeks before he invented the Internet.

I learn something here every day.

Thanks,

Al(ice)

[Consultant]

Originally Posted by djs

Also, for clarification, Aflac does have non-captive agreements as well. I know, I had one for a while.

Dan

Interesting, why did you cancel your non-captive appointment with Aflac? I think it may be in my best interest to look into this further unless you can give a few reasons why not.
?

[2112Greg]

I'm non-captive with Aflac...but while it may be a good company, the scars they have left in the marketplace among businesses are pretty deep. This might also explain why Aflac's captive agent has such incredible turnover.

The reality is that Aflac has burned through almost every company out there (or at least it seems that way when you start talking to businesses about it) and more often than not, it's left a sour taste in the mouths of the business owners - it was a lot of hassle for products that are pretty mediocre when you look at other comparable ones.

The thing Aflac has is name recognition. But the reality, at least as I have experienced it, is that Aflac is a tough nut to crack. About 4 years ago, I considered going captive with them. Glad I didn't. I was also in an office that the manager of believed that Jesus ran the whole show there - that was a major turn off for me. That's another story, however...

Look closely at the turnover for new agents there...I think that speaks loudly.

[Consultant]

Originally Posted by 2112Greg

The reality is that Aflac has burned through almost every company out there (or at least it seems that way when you start talking to businesses about it) and more often than not, it's left a sour taste in the mouths of the business owners - it was a lot of hassle for products that are pretty mediocre when you look at other comparable ones.

The thing Aflac has is name recognition.

Did this sour taste in business owners mouths happen to be the same time worker's compensation blew up?

Name recognition is exactly right - now I won't directly argue with a client, if I can't presuade them to choose another carrier, I don't have any qualms about moving forward witht he duck.

People have asked if I have sold them and I said no and said other companies are better. Better yet, I should work it like health insurance and give them a full market search and let them decide with the tools.

I think I'll go get my appointment this week - Quack!

[TXINSURANCE]

What are my options for sales if I do not want to cold call my prospects. I think cold calling is intrusive and ineffective

What are your options if you don't cold call?

Simple - buy leads and have deep pockets, maybe try to get $20 mil. in venture capital perhaps?

The reason people cold call is it is CHEAP - you can buy leads, but this costs a lot of money and is a hard model to grow on a large scale.

Bottom line the old "it takes money to make money" is very true unless you want to knock on doors, cold call, etc., etc.,

Yes you should INC or LLC - but most agents didn't do this from day 1 - as it is more expensive , more paperwork and other issues.

AFLAC in my opinion is low risk I don't see agents being sued ever - you could get away w/o inc and their sponsored E&O is dirt cheap through NAPA anyhow.

If you "do your own thing" yes you should INC or LLC - unless you want to lose your home potentially (varies by state).

My basic advice I give people is if you are BY YOURSELF and have NO employees or subs - you can get by in the short term without INC or LLC - other than that just do it.

[exofficio]

Daniel,
I'm in the same boat as yourself, but happen to be on the east coast of So FL. I've set up an LLC and am working out an agreement with an established agency that does mostly Group Health. I did the LLC mostly to separate my business expenses and begin to insulate assets/property/investments. However, as a one man or family business, the LLC does not really separate your personal and business assets... that comes later if/when your LLC operates as something substantially different from a sole proprietorship which would make the corporate veil more legitimate (not a lawyer, but that's my understanding from speaking to one).

If you'd like to bang out some ideas, feel free to send me an email. I certainly don't have all the answers, but it might be helpful to have a sounding board or somebody to compare notes with as we progress in this business... I know it would be helpful to me

Best wishes!

[Delta76]

What are my options for sales if I do not want to cold call my prospects. I think cold calling is intrusive and ineffective

Dan-

Unless something in your head changes quickly, you will fail out of this business in record time. Nothing wrong with that, it's not for everyone. If you work for AFLAC, you won't survive in the beginning without some cold calling. If you work for a career life agency, they most likely will discourage cold calling, but you will have to get referrals from people who don't want to give them to you. Either way, you have to promote yourself and do uncomfortable things until they become comfortable.

As far a getting agents under you, that's the last thing you should be thinking about. Too many people try to get people under them so they can get "something for nothing." The agents will quickly figure this out if you even get that far and will be gone fast. What can you offer them if you can't give them direction on how to succeed in the business?

In my limited opinion, from reading your first post, you have a negative view of salesman. Either change that or don't become a salesman. I have a feeling that you would be better suited in a different business. This is not a get rich quick business.

[Danielsp9]

First I would like to thank everyone for taking the time to provide your opinion.
Sorry I have been cold calling all week! (Believe it or not) With my district coordinator. I realized that the only way I will get the word out of me being in business is if I got out there and tell people. I have also been catching up on the latest marketing techniques by reading several books on the subject.

I have to say that everyone's opinion about cold calling has its truth, I did figure out that if I decided to do ANYTHING other than cold calling it would cost me major bucks. So my new approach is to forget the common misconception on the salesman like some of you said to do and to approach my customers in a more passive way. Over the course of this week I learnt so much that it has opened my eyes to what cold calling achieves, even thought I still believe that there are other simpler, cost effective ways to reach your customer WITHOUT buying useless leads! Direct marketing and creating a brand ( me ) in my town will improve my chances of that dumb duck commercial actually doing some good and having people look for me. I do realize achieving this requires months and months of cold calling and informing the people of my town that I even exist.

I also figured out that the last of my worries should be getting people to start working under me.

Also figured out that I really love this business/industry and I have to be honest, it makes me feel like an amazing person when someone comes to me and asks for my advise on how to protect their family's future.

I also saw the "light" if you will, when it comes to what my customers are really buying. They dont buy insurance, they buy their families futures. Insurance is based on the probability that a plan might go sour! This will help me alot in my coming weeks of training.

FYI: My District and I hit about 70 business offices and got about 10 businesses on board to let us present our product to their employees.
I have big goals so I am hoping to reach and close at least 24 of those employees. ( about 24,000 dollars in premiums written ).

When it comest to my idea of having several companies, I see my life as a lake where it needs to have multiple rivers of income for it to be full of water ($$$$) and stay that way. I really could care less about other people's opinion or my status for owning "several companies".
The only reason why I focus so much on the incorporation factor is TAXES! Taxes drain our pockets so much that I really do not want to work extra hard for Mr. Prez to spend my money on something we really dont need ( NOT getting into politics in this forum lol). Incorporating is by far the only way to avoid the stupid income taxes and slip more money into my pocket.
Do not call me greedy, simply call me ambitious.

Thanks to all. If you need aflac in SW Florida region make sure you call me up. Or even if you know someone that lives here, let me know. I can give you some amazing vacations

PS I KNOW THIS IS NOT A GET RICH QUICK BUSINESS... But I figure if I try different things and work harder/play less and be nicer I can probably be more successful than most aflac people... Its worth a try and its better than an hourly job!

[Consultant]

Bravo! You are really coming to your own in one short week.

Just remember to keep the great moments and put them in your pocket. When you hit certain roadblocks it will be your life saver (no joke) to keep on pushing.

With that attitude and focus I can see you going far. I really enjoyed your reflection at the weeks end of "doing things others don't do".

Keep us posted on your progress - Have a great weekend!

[rgc6789]

Dan:

I was in the Insurance Industry for a few years in the IT department. But, I felt it necessary to get my license in order to better service the agents I worked with, so I did it. Trained as if I was going to be an agent (cold calling, going to homes, closed 100 or so leads). However, I am a software consultant at the end of the day.

Through the years I've ventured off here and there into other businesses. I can tell you one thing that I think is universal across any industry. Stay focused and do what you know and love. I tried owning pizza shops among other things, but lost money on all of them. When it comes to IT though, that's what I love and that's what I'm successful at.

I understand your thought process of multiple income streams, but there are ways to do that within the Insurance Industry without getting sidetracked.

So, what I ultimately learned is "Do what you know and enjoy" and stay focused.