Everyone says follow this forum it will help find a good company. Everytime you look on here someone is bashing this company or that company. So how does that help you? It confusing the hell out of me. You don't know what company to pick. You think you found one and look on here and see it being bashed.
Resigned from Bankers Life
- Thread starter Indy007
- Start date
Everyone says follow this forum it will help find a good company. Everytime you look on here someone is bashing this company or that company. So how does that help you? It confusing the hell out of me. You don't know what company to pick. You think you found one and look on here and see it being bashed.
This is a fair point, but remember that every company will have its issues. I've done a lot of reading on these boards since I joined, and there's a great deal of gold here. If a newbie were to follow three steps they'd be helping themselves quite a bit:
1. Starting off it's best to work captive, in my opinion, because of the product training, sales training, marketing training and exposure to the systems, compliance and regulations issues you absolutely have to know for the long run.
2. Research the company and its lead products. New York Life approaches things differently than does Met Life, but they're both very good companies. If you're more comfortable with Whole Life and higher end clients, NYL may be your choice. You'd also look at Mass Mutual, Northwestern and Guardian. Met Life would in general be a step down in terms of quality of clients, but the pool of prospects is bigger. Understand the companies, research them, understand what they focus on and who their target market is, find three or four that fit you and what you want to do.
3. Interview with at least three, because -- and here's where newbies make a big mistake -- the quality of your training will depend in large part to your manager(s) at your location. So Mass Mutual might be a better bet in your town than Northwestern, but in the next town over NYL may be better for you. This isn't easy, you have to try to talk to agents, you have to have the guts to drill the manager during the interview, but it's worth it.
I would add one thing that might get some pushback here: Once you've done your research and made your choice, drink the Kool Aid. No system is perfect, so pick the best one for you and commit to it 100%. Yes, keep your eyes open to the negative, but drink the Kool Aid. Those who dwell on the negative (and every company will have the negative, as does being independent) are handicapping themselves. This job can be difficult enough. Choose it, run with it.
My two cents.
.
- 7,066
First identify the specific product you want to sell.
The decision as whether or not to go captive or independent is going to depend on the product. For example, if you want to work the senior market with Med Supps and MA/PDP plans it is imperative that you be independent. You will starve being a captive agent.
I would suggest that you stay away from insurance agencies if you want to enter the senior market. Many new agents refer to agencies as companies. They are not insurance companies, MOO is an insurance company. Bob's Discount Insurance is an agency.
Agencies will require you to assign your commissions. That will be the kiss of death for an agent. Never assign your commissions regardless of what you think they are promising, leads, back office support, training or washing your car every Friday, etc. You will get screwed.
Bankers Life, a captive company, is definitely a company you do not want to consider for all of the multiple reasons that have been stated in many different threads. There are other captive companies and you should stay away from them as well just because they require the agent to be captive and do not permit the agent to sell for other companies as well.
Most of the other companies are okay that you can contract with as an independent agent. You may see an agent bitching about a company but many times it has to do with issuing a policy and many times it is because the agent didn't complete the app correctly. Take comments like that with a grain of salt.
If you have more questions that I can answer give me a call, 573.544.4091.
TDK
Expert
You are doing the right thing by honoring your do not compete clause. Many companies (not sure about Bankers) are willing to spend a fortune to send a message that their business will be protected.
- 152
While I've found this forum helpful in a very large part of my decision making process at this juncture of life, I can understand the confusion, also.
I've been criticized, I've been prasied for some of my comments here, and that is fair. One's perception is usually as one sees truth. That is how we turn prospects into customers, influencing their perception.
Competition is something to welcome. Where competition is good business will be strong. But where busines is good fly by night shady competition, co.'s and agents, will also be active. That is why, regardless of product or business, I never buy from salesman or company whose practice is to bash/bad mouth their competitors.
I found training to be very lacking in insurance early in life. I also learned that fairness from middle management (Dist. Mgrs. Branch mgrs. etc) was something that I could not expect.
After staying away from the ins. biz for 25+years a friend of mine influenced me to come to work for his ag'y. I refused the co. training (1 week) and asked for 1 day of product training. After 5 hours or so on a Fri, he said that since you only want product knowledge that is all I have. Unbeknowst to me by 6pm I had the co record for number of apps written in one house. A Stranger's house. No biggy to me, but it was to them. (Ag'y and co.)
But experience is what determines my perception and perception influences my sense of the truth.
Within 3 weeks I was retraining all agents in the ag'y. I was given a 5% raise in commission with no overwrites (told that since I was the newbie, those "seasoned" objected to my receiving overwrites.) I accepted thinking that it was possible that I might get invited to become at least a minor partner. Their were two partners involved.
The partner that influenced me to come aboard 3 yrs later died of leukemia, the last partner demonstrated quickly that he did not care for or about me or his ex partners widow. MORE SOUR GRAPES. I left the ag'y, co., and the ins business again.(oh, my raise got me to whopping 65% on life ins.)
But now again 25+ years later, life has dealt my household some drastic changes to confront which means I will probably return to work. Not crying, I'm actually looking forward to it. What could I do - why not insurance? Or why insurance, is now the second question?
Go back to "business is good" principle. Where that is the case, the greedy individauals are sooo attracted. They infect agencies, companies and countries even. So, I've shopped myself again. Offers vary as much as 30 percentage points in commission.
This brings us right back to Frank's point. Look out for promises unkept. I had a better realtionship with the underwriter at the co. than the GA. Why? probably because I was writing biz. Evidenced by I was getting approvals on cases that the "seasoned" agents of the ag'y did not get approved. Was that right? Probaby not, but the motivation of those approvals was probably greed. I was producing more, but then my numbers softened the co.'s risk, thus ....
Bottom line.......as I learned selling vac's "If t'is to be, it's up to me!'" "Keep It Simple Salesman"
But to be fair to those in the past that I seem critical of, at the bottom line I have to own my part, too. I made the decisions to go to work, I decided to stay for 5%, etc etc etc. Ultimately the responsibility belonged to me. AND, even the "bad and the Greedy" helped teach me about principle and the value of having them.
Profit from experience, or as Dad said "The school of hard knocks."
I've been criticized, I've been prasied for some of my comments here, and that is fair. One's perception is usually as one sees truth. That is how we turn prospects into customers, influencing their perception.
Competition is something to welcome. Where competition is good business will be strong. But where busines is good fly by night shady competition, co.'s and agents, will also be active. That is why, regardless of product or business, I never buy from salesman or company whose practice is to bash/bad mouth their competitors.
I found training to be very lacking in insurance early in life. I also learned that fairness from middle management (Dist. Mgrs. Branch mgrs. etc) was something that I could not expect.
After staying away from the ins. biz for 25+years a friend of mine influenced me to come to work for his ag'y. I refused the co. training (1 week) and asked for 1 day of product training. After 5 hours or so on a Fri, he said that since you only want product knowledge that is all I have. Unbeknowst to me by 6pm I had the co record for number of apps written in one house. A Stranger's house. No biggy to me, but it was to them. (Ag'y and co.)
But experience is what determines my perception and perception influences my sense of the truth.
Within 3 weeks I was retraining all agents in the ag'y. I was given a 5% raise in commission with no overwrites (told that since I was the newbie, those "seasoned" objected to my receiving overwrites.) I accepted thinking that it was possible that I might get invited to become at least a minor partner. Their were two partners involved.
The partner that influenced me to come aboard 3 yrs later died of leukemia, the last partner demonstrated quickly that he did not care for or about me or his ex partners widow. MORE SOUR GRAPES. I left the ag'y, co., and the ins business again.(oh, my raise got me to whopping 65% on life ins.)
But now again 25+ years later, life has dealt my household some drastic changes to confront which means I will probably return to work. Not crying, I'm actually looking forward to it. What could I do - why not insurance? Or why insurance, is now the second question?
Go back to "business is good" principle. Where that is the case, the greedy individauals are sooo attracted. They infect agencies, companies and countries even. So, I've shopped myself again. Offers vary as much as 30 percentage points in commission.
This brings us right back to Frank's point. Look out for promises unkept. I had a better realtionship with the underwriter at the co. than the GA. Why? probably because I was writing biz. Evidenced by I was getting approvals on cases that the "seasoned" agents of the ag'y did not get approved. Was that right? Probaby not, but the motivation of those approvals was probably greed. I was producing more, but then my numbers softened the co.'s risk, thus ....
Bottom line.......as I learned selling vac's "If t'is to be, it's up to me!'" "Keep It Simple Salesman"
But to be fair to those in the past that I seem critical of, at the bottom line I have to own my part, too. I made the decisions to go to work, I decided to stay for 5%, etc etc etc. Ultimately the responsibility belonged to me. AND, even the "bad and the Greedy" helped teach me about principle and the value of having them.
Profit from experience, or as Dad said "The school of hard knocks."
Even more important, when you honor the terms of the contract you signed, you are being a person of your word.
And don't worry, two years will fly by, and then you're free to go to town on their business
- 16,880
Does overwrites mean the same as overrides?
If this is the same ex BLC agent I know, she is one of 6 they have decided to make an example of - absolutely huge writer. She had a huge target on her the day she left there, but there is more to the story, a lot more. She got screwed from every single direction, basically because she was listening to stupid schmucks. Consult an attorney, and one that will actually back you up if anything happens!And in the case of Bankers, an attorney that is also licensed in IL.
