How do you get appointed with Mega? I want to see their brochures and rates so that I can better inform clients of how bad they suck. I tried calling, and they said you have to be a captive agent. Is this true, or was she just misinformed?
If you want their brochures just call Mega and tell them to mail them to you. At first they'll just want to direct you to a local UGA division. Tell them you tried that but they only want to send out an agent and refuse to mail out brochures. I got mine in the mail when I told the rep on the phone that I'd contact the Maryland Insurance Administration and let them know a health insurance company is refusing to send me requested information. I got the brochures about four days later. I have every right in the world to know what my competitors are offering.
Okay so I stumbled on this sight while I was searching for some Mega info. I am a relatively new agent with NASE (less than 6 months). Ya'll are really hard on this company and I am certianly not so daft that I don't know about the trouble they have been in. When I was researching the company I always chalked it up to bad agents, disgruntled former agents, or people pushing inadequate policies just to make the sale.
Basically I am not here to defend Mega. I am not really in a position to since I am still pretty new to the industry.
My only question is that if I like this line of work and would like to stay in it, where else could I get my start? I am doing pretty well here but am not averse to going elsewhere. I like the independence and am not bothered at all by making phone calls, chasing leads etc. Again I am doing fairly well where I am.
Just thought I'd ask you folks. I look forward to hearing what you have to say.
It really depends on what your goals are... If you are looking to specialize in a certain area, let us know, and maybe we can make some recommendations for you.
There are much better alternatives than being a captive agent with MEGA. You've gotten your feet wet and have learned the industry. Now go independent, get appointed with all the major, reputable carriers in your state. Then you will be working for your client, not an insurance company. MEGA's plans have too many holes in them and their commissions are lower than industry standard.
Ya'll are really hard on this company and I am certianly not so daft that I don't know about the trouble they have been in. When I was researching the company I always chalked it up to bad agents, disgruntled former agents, or people pushing inadequate policies just to make the sale.
As for being hard on them, I'll never give a pass to the company that taught me to sell plans that covered misc. hospital expenses on an 80/20 basis up to 8K max., while telling people that misc. expenses are "usually the smallest portion of a hospital bill". Do more internet research (I was with MEGA in 1998 before I had internet access) and find enough hospital bills that people have actually been stuck with and you'll see why they get grilled so hard. Offhand, I cannot think of a company with worse coverage. The fair market value of a plan like that would be about 1/4 or less of what a good major medical plan costs, but everyone knows it doesn't save anywhere near that much. The most I ever saved anyone was about 30% and I exposed them to the real risk of bankruptcy in doing so.
It is definitely a case of inadequate policies. I blame the training and the company not the agents. There are some scumbag agents out there that have been in the business for many years, become aware of MEGA pitfalls, and continue to sell it as if it's the best thing out there for the client. Yet, most of the agents are new to the industry and truly don't know anything beyond what they're taught in training. Ask around and find out what people did before they starting selling for MEGA. I guarantee you you're not going to find that people left Prudential to sell MEGA.
BTW, do they still have a plan that offers major medical type coverage with no stop loss? When I was there, they did have such a plan (although poor drug coverage) but it was usually not price competitive with most other plans on the market.
My only question is that if I like this line of work and would like to stay in it, where else could I get my start? I am doing pretty well here but am not averse to going elsewhere. I like the independence and am not bothered at all by making phone calls, chasing leads etc. Again I am doing fairly well where I am.
I would really urge you to look elsewhere, because it seems you actually have the ability to make this work if you've lasted this long.
Look in the yellow pages for your nearest major metro area and find a large independent operation that carries a number of companies, what people would sometimes call a broker house. In Pittsburgh, there is an agency call Arms Insurance www.armsins.com that trains independent agents for a number of different companies. There are a couple of similar operations, although smaller. Look and see what you can find.
I certainly was not expecting so many responses so quickly. Thanks.
You know being an independent agent would be great but I do not know that I have the capitol to strike it on my own right now. It seems intuitive that it would be easier to make sales when you can tell a potential client that you are independent and represent several different companies. However, generating those initial leads may take more money than I can pony up. Any experiences yÂ’all can share on how much this has cost some of you?
Perhaps finding an independent broker (or a broker house) out there is the way to go. Probably won't be making too many changes before the end of the year but again I think this may be a good time to start looking
BTW, do they still have a plan that offers major medical type coverage with no stop loss?
Yes, Care One ValueÂ…sort of. There are limits on the amount they will pay out. So there is a coinsurance max but once you reach the limit the benefit ends.
You know being an independent agent would be great but I do not know that I have the capitol to strike it on my own right now. It seems intuitive that it would be easier to make sales when you can tell a potential client that you are independent and represent several different companies. However, generating those initial leads may take more money than I can pony up. Any experiences yÂ’all can share on how much this has cost some of you?
I'm not indy and I'm not full-time yet and not working much now, but I would recommend you find a good source of companies (or company--though there isn't much that's good in captive health) and preferably one with training. Then, you work it out of your home to start with, just like guys do with MEGA. Don't invest a ton in marketing, but instead rely on elbow grease. Pound the pavement. When you get rolling, look for a small office at that point.
When you get rolling, look for a small office at that point.
why.........
You wouldn't have to. It's not necessary by any means. H&L you certainly can work out of your home on an ongoing basis.
The only benefits are I think it adds a little prestige and occasional walk-in traffic. There is also the lack of distractions at home when you're in an office. If I had a family, I could never get anything done working at home. One of the guys I went through the initial NYL training with specifically requested office space (a small cubicle) because his wife and daughter won't leave him alone when he tries to do work at home.
Who says you need a major capital investment to go independent? There are plenty of opportunties out there where you get leads at a minimal cost, or in some cases free. I'm not here to recruit so I won't be passing along contact info, but we cover the cost of leads (self generated by direct mail) and my agents never cut me a single check the entire time they are with me. They buy business cards, but even those come from an online vendor. What's the catch? Our contract is lower than what you normally get as an independent. You show me a guy bragging about his 100% contract and I'll show you an agent on a much lower contract running circles around him and getting more real dollars in his/her check because he has quality appointments.
If you are VERY self-disciplined, you can go for that bigger contract and do your own mailings, but it is a lot to keep humming week in and week out, and you need to be very good with time management and capital management. Many people end up caught in a viscous cycle where they don't have the funds to send out this week's mail, so that means they are setting up a bad week about 2-3 weeks from now when the leads are light, which generates another bad paycheck somewhere down the road, which sets up another week of light mail... well, you get the picture. It can be done though and you can find your highest earning potential in this very hands on approach.
I'll watch for your posts and as you get closer to something specific I'd be happy to share my thoughts, for what they're worth. I'm generally pretty secure with my agents' territories and I don't mind sharing some ideas or my experience.
I totally agree with that post. I get a lot of "top commission" hunters when I post ads. A lot of these guys are just appointment collectors. They're appointed with 25 companies and write next to nothing - but will be more than happy to chew up your time with training.
When anyone wants to bust my balls over a top contract I want to know what their proven marketing plan is. No GA or MGA can give out a top contract along with free leads. It's understood in this industry that if you want top contracts you're a proven producer who generates your own leads.
When I first started hiring I use to slober over agents who would call me and all they had to do was simply ask for top contract and I gave it to them. Then I saw an odd pattern - tons of hours spent training them and zero production coming in. Why? You nailed it right on the head: zero money for marketing and unwilling to generate they're own leads through some form of cold calling.
Just imagine graduating from college with an engineering degree at 24 years old. You sit down on your first interview and they say starting pay is $45,000. You reply "yeah, but I've done some research and you have engineers making $120,000 a year here - so that's were I want to start."
My line is always "why are you negotiating your contract level instead of how much money you want to make?" They are usually a bit baffled and think I'm the one being dense until I ask them how much business they can write a week on their own and how much they can write a week running my leads. If I'm lucky they say they don't know how much they would write with me since they have never run my leads. That gives me the opening to say "Exactly. So for all you know, my contract level is offering you a doubling of your income. How about you let me paint you that picture? I'd hate to see you walk away from a chance to double your income (at least) because you got hung up on the wrong number." If in the end they still want that 100% contract, I'll give it to them, but they are on their own. I have probably 30 or more guys on those contracts and I might see one or two apps a month TOTAL from that group! When I've touched base with them to see what they are up to, I usually find out they are overly diversified. They are trying to write health, annuities, life, identity theft protection - you name it. They are also appointed with piles of companies on beautiful contracts. If they were honest, they would tell me they are barely making ends meet, frustrated that they can't get penetration in any one market, can't keep up with changes in products, never have the right paperwork with them, and can't figure out anyone's underwriting. And through all that inefficiency they will tell me how they are doing the right thing for the client. Hah! But make no mistake about it; they can tell you about how to get a nice 115% contract somewhere.
Look at things from this perspective folks. With F&G I was on their Alaska cruise, the Tucson trip and I'm already 168% qualified for the Greece cruise (as a GA) and guess what? You are hard pressed to find writing agents on these things. I'll have approximately 9 of my agents with me in Greece and that's something I'm proud of. I have quite a few more who are writing enough business to qualify but they came into the game too late since there are only 8 months left of the 18 month contest period. Guess who definitely won't be there? All those guys that told me how insulting my contract offer was who have nice fat contracts. And please spare me the line about their combined volume being enough to qualify them for any trip with any company - but they choose not to be contest whores. Okay, sure.
As a new person on this forum I shouldn't pick any fights, but I saw a post from Sti where he showed the long list of companies he is appointed with. He may be the exception and do quite well, but there is no reason to need that many carriers, even with the many flavors of annuities and life products out there. You can cover some serious ground with 5 or 6 life companies, with a few of them also having good annuity products, and then another 2 or 3 Annuity companies to round out the product options. The rest are nothing more than resume Bling. Check that list 2 years from now and see how many appointments are still active.
When agents hold my feet to the fire for a top contract my terms are that training starts when they have their first potential client. And I never hear from them again. At least I don't waste countless hours of training on someone who just wants to collect appointments.
I'm not actually in health at all, so I can't help you there. I've sold Life, Annuities, Med Sup and LTC in the past, but am presently involved exclusively in life as an agency, although we may start blending annuities into the mix.
Thanks for the welcome! I have agents in many states and for right now I don't wish to drop clues about who I am. Having read through quite a few posts, I'm trying to avoid the "my way is better than your way" argument and would just like to lend my personal experience to certain threads where I think I can offer something new to the mix of opinions. For a forum like this to get big membership, it needs to be promoted through viral marketing and what GA is stupid enough to send his agents to a site where there are recruiters on the prowl? So I don't want to contribute to that predatory environment and I will remain anonymous and do my part in making this an exchange of information and ideas.
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