Am I Stuck In Telesales?

[chainedtotelesales]

I currently work in telesales selling AARP supp & RX plans as well as AARP Delta dental plans. I've been doing this for 4 years and I'm pretty good at it...I think lol (my best month I sold 126 plans). I'm usually in the top 25 selling agents.

Anyway the company has started messing around with our scorecards and I'm seeing my bonus get smaller and smaller. I usually only get a $900 bonus but with recent changes I'll only be getting a $600 bonus...per month. I also only make a little over $16/hour. But I get to work from home, I get a 4% match on my 401k, and I get to buy UHG stock at a 5% discount. All in all I make right around $40,000/year, not including the stock of course.

I've been talking with the agent manager for my area (Orlando FL) and contemplating going to be a captive independent agent.

My big concern is that I HAVE to contribute to the family bank. My hubs and I owned a dog daycare for 8 years and it took all of our savings, Roth, 401k. We got out of it with our sanity and marriage lol.

I know during AEP I would be pretty busy but do you think the rest of the year would keep money coming in? I am a realist and don't expect to make gobs of money. I just need to make as much as I do now. If I make more, excellent! I just can't afford to make a wrong decision again...the dog daycare was my idea...which would have been a great idea if we didn't open it a year before the economy took a nosedive! lol.

I really appreciate any advice you guys can toss my way.

 

[Bevo]

I currently work in telesales selling AARP supp & RX plans as well as AARP Delta dental plans. I've been doing this for 4 years and I'm pretty good at it...I think lol (my best month I sold 126 plans). I'm usually in the top 25 selling agents.

Anyway the company has started messing around with our scorecards and I'm seeing my bonus get smaller and smaller. I usually only get a $900 bonus but with recent changes I'll only be getting a $600 bonus...per month. I also only make a little over $16/hour. But I get to work from home, I get a 4% match on my 401k, and I get to buy UHG stock at a 5% discount. All in all I make right around $40,000/year, not including the stock of course.

I've been talking with the agent manager for my area (Orlando FL) and contemplating going to be a captive independent agent.

My big concern is that I HAVE to contribute to the family bank. My hubs and I owned a dog daycare for 8 years and it took all of our savings, Roth, 401k. We got out of it with our sanity and marriage lol.

I know during AEP I would be pretty busy but do you think the rest of the year would keep money coming in? I am a realist and don't expect to make gobs of money. I just need to make as much as I do now. If I make more, excellent! I just can't afford to make a wrong decision again...the dog daycare was my idea...which would have been a great idea if we didn't open it a year before the economy took a nosedive! lol.

I really appreciate any advice you guys can toss my way.

Captive independent? This means you'll be independent and have to do your own marketing, but higher comps, but only can sell UHC?

Or do you mean independent where you'll sell other carriers?

 

[jemelton]

Your big problem is going to be prospecting. If you leave, you aren't going to have literally hundreds of people fed to you each month. This is a problem because you will have to pay your own marketing costs to talk to a fraction of those people. The selling is the easy part, the marketing and prospecting is the hard part and that's all being done for you now at your current position.

 

[axeman462]

I currently work in telesales selling AARP supp & RX plans as well as AARP Delta dental plans. I've been doing this for 4 years and I'm pretty good at it...I think lol (my best month I sold 126 plans). I'm usually in the top 25 selling agents.

Anyway the company has started messing around with our scorecards and I'm seeing my bonus get smaller and smaller. I usually only get a $900 bonus but with recent changes I'll only be getting a $600 bonus...per month. I also only make a little over $16/hour. But I get to work from home, I get a 4% match on my 401k, and I get to buy UHG stock at a 5% discount. All in all I make right around $40,000/year, not including the stock of course.

I've been talking with the agent manager for my area (Orlando FL) and contemplating going to be a captive independent agent.

My big concern is that I HAVE to contribute to the family bank. My hubs and I owned a dog daycare for 8 years and it took all of our savings, Roth, 401k. We got out of it with our sanity and marriage lol.

I know during AEP I would be pretty busy but do you think the rest of the year would keep money coming in? I am a realist and don't expect to make gobs of money. I just need to make as much as I do now. If I make more, excellent! I just can't afford to make a wrong decision again...the dog daycare was my idea...which would have been a great idea if we didn't open it a year before the economy took a nosedive! lol.

I really appreciate any advice you guys can toss my way.

I own an insurance agency in Clermont, about 30 min west of you. I regularly train newly independent agents.
If you are interested in taking a peek at what the independent side of the business is like, give me a call in the morning. I don't mind taking a few minutes to explain how it works, and what you can expect.
352-217-1000

 

[entrep1776]

My big concern is that I HAVE to contribute to the family bank. My hubs and I owned a dog daycare for 8 years and it took all of our savings, Roth, 401k. We got out of it with our sanity and marriage lol.

I just can't afford to make a wrong decision again...the dog daycare was my idea...which would have been a great idea if we didn't open it a year before the economy took a nosedive! lol.

I really appreciate any advice you guys can toss my way.

I started a construction business. It failed. very bad for me financially. I take much smaller risks these days that don't put food on the table at risk.

Any way your company might let you do it part time while keeping other job? I try things out on smaller scale. if it doesn't work still have what I had. gl

also easier said than done but having money in the bank helps me sleep better. everyone i know that is wealthy (not necessarily rich) is very frugal. 3 month emergency fund?

 

[chainedtotelesales]

bevo: Yes I can only sell UHC supp/rx/advantage plans but I am able to sell anyone else's life/disability/FE insurance. I'm actually going to talk with NYL tomorrow to see if I can hook up with them too, not sure how they feel about me also selling UHG plans yet. I know that I will have to do my own marketing etc but I also know that I will be fed leads by the agent manager when they come in and I can be installed in a kiosk (apparently they have kiosks for UHC around here in places).

axeman462: thank you so much for that offer! I think I have a pretty good idea about the commission structure. I was surprised that advantage pays more than supp plans. I'm much more comfortable with the supp plans but recently trained on advantage plans for a pilot that ran with my company. The pilot, by the way, was a disaster. I took 2 calls in FIVE months! Disastrous for the company, but I was guaranteed a $1200 bonus while it went on so it wasn't bad. Netflix and I had a nice long relationship.

entrep1776: I would LOVE to be able to keep my current job and try this part time but my company won't allow it. They consider it a conflict of interest. Which is totally bizarre to me. "Hey I'm really good at selling your plans and I want to do it part time on my day off and on weekends" "no sorry you can't we don't want you making more money for us" Crazy.
I totally relate to taking less risks now. I was the one to always jump head first into anything/everything. You only live once, may as well try it...what's the worst that can happen? Well depleting all of our savings and retirement weighs heaving on the guilt button and I am really hesitant to leave my current position because of it. I just don't like seeing what is happening to my $$$ with my current job.

The pressure not to f this up is huge.

 

[J.R.]

I currently work in telesales selling AARP supp & RX plans as well as AARP Delta dental plans. I've been doing this for 4 years and I'm pretty good at it...I think lol (my best month I sold 126 plans). I'm usually in the top 25 selling agents.

Anyway the company has started messing around with our scorecards and I'm seeing my bonus get smaller and smaller. I usually only get a $900 bonus but with recent changes I'll only be getting a $600 bonus...per month. I also only make a little over $16/hour. But I get to work from home, I get a 4% match on my 401k, and I get to buy UHG stock at a 5% discount. All in all I make right around $40,000/year, not including the stock of course.

I've been talking with the agent manager for my area (Orlando FL) and contemplating going to be a captive independent agent.

My big concern is that I HAVE to contribute to the family bank. My hubs and I owned a dog daycare for 8 years and it took all of our savings, Roth, 401k. We got out of it with our sanity and marriage lol.

I know during AEP I would be pretty busy but do you think the rest of the year would keep money coming in? I am a realist and don't expect to make gobs of money. I just need to make as much as I do now. If I make more, excellent! I just can't afford to make a wrong decision again...the dog daycare was my idea...which would have been a great idea if we didn't open it a year before the economy took a nosedive! lol.

I really appreciate any advice you guys can toss my way.

Congrats on rocking out 126 plans! That's awesome. I assume that's the total apps you processed including Medigap, RX and Dental, right?

As for your decision to go forward, it sounds like you prefer the security of being captive vs independent. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that choice. If you want to make at least $40 g notes a year then make sure you account for all variables going forward with another captive agency and READ THE CONTRACT!

On a side note, what is stopping you from training your husband to sell insurance on the off-hours? It's apparent that you're a closer and it's a win-win scenario. You have the security of a J O B, while building a side income. YMMV

 

[Todd King]

bevo: Yes I can only sell UHC supp/rx/advantage plans but I am able to sell anyone else's life/disability/FE insurance. I'm actually going to talk with NYL tomorrow to see if I can hook up with them too, not sure how they feel about me also selling UHG plans yet. I know that I will have to do my own marketing etc but I also know that I will be fed leads by the agent manager when they come in and I can be installed in a kiosk (apparently they have kiosks for UHC around here in places).

axeman462: thank you so much for that offer! I think I have a pretty good idea about the commission structure. I was surprised that advantage pays more than supp plans. I'm much more comfortable with the supp plans but recently trained on advantage plans for a pilot that ran with my company. The pilot, by the way, was a disaster. I took 2 calls in FIVE months! Disastrous for the company, but I was guaranteed a $1200 bonus while it went on so it wasn't bad. Netflix and I had a nice long relationship.

entrep1776: I would LOVE to be able to keep my current job and try this part time but my company won't allow it. They consider it a conflict of interest. Which is totally bizarre to me. "Hey I'm really good at selling your plans and I want to do it part time on my day off and on weekends" "no sorry you can't we don't want you making more money for us" Crazy.
I totally relate to taking less risks now. I was the one to always jump head first into anything/everything. You only live once, may as well try it...what's the worst that can happen? Well depleting all of our savings and retirement weighs heaving on the guilt button and I am really hesitant to leave my current position because of it. I just don't like seeing what is happening to my $$$ with my current job.

The pressure not to f this up is huge.

Don't limit yourself to one company. That's not being independent. I suggest you contact David (Axeman). He can help you in so many ways.

 

[sman]

bevo: Yes I can only sell UHC supp/rx/advantage plans but I am able to sell anyone else's life/disability/FE insurance. I'm actually going to talk with NYL tomorrow to see if I can hook up with them too, not sure how they feel about me also selling UHG plans yet. I know that I will have to do my own marketing etc but I also know that I will be fed leads by the agent manager when they come in and I can be installed in a kiosk (apparently they have kiosks for UHC around here in places).

Rule of thumb when going independent, don't count on ANYONE to provide you with leads. I've seen this over and over from FMO/IMO's. Spend some time reading through the forum and you'll see agent after agent telling their stories about how they were promised leads and it never worked out. When independent, you can only count on yourself for leads. The biggest challenge in this business is getting in front of (whether by phone or in person) enough qualified people to sell your product. Do you have a plan in place to generate leads?

The other challenge you MAY have is whether or not your current management will release you. Meaning, your UHC contract. You definitely want to know for sure if you leave your current employment whether or not you can continue selling UHC products under a new FMO/IMO. If your current management won't release your contract, then you are out of luck on selling UHC for a while.

 

[entrep1776]

Rule of thumb when going independent, don't count on ANYONE to provide you with leads. I've seen this over and over from FMO/IMO's. Spend some time reading through the forum and you'll see agent after agent telling their stories about how they were promised leads and it never worked out. When independent, you can only count on yourself for leads. The biggest challenge in this business is getting in front of (whether by phone or in person) enough qualified people to sell your product. Do you have a plan in place to generate leads?

Now that you say leads and only relying on yourself I do see that pattern in many posts. What do you think is best plan for generating leads? (I'm strongly considering supplements)