looking for feedback/advice please....

[uwalka03]

I don't know the captive side so I can't advise. On the broker side, try starting off as a personal/commercial CSR in a retail or wholesale brokerage, and then work toward controlling a book. You will learn a lot about sales while helping producers, and then something might open up. Check all the larger agencies / brokers in your area for job openings. You have enough experience to warrant an interview, and the CSR jobs are typically salary with some incentives for retention and upselling. As an agency owner the only times I bring on a producer from the outside is if they have an existing book of business. The rest of my producers start in customer service, assisting and learning from the existing producers. The real money is in sales, but if you don't have the time and resources to start your own agency then you can start entry level at an established agency. Good luck.

[bjwestner]

Thank you all very much for your feedback. I really sincerely appreciate it.

I'm passing on the Farmers gig. The rates are not competitive in the area. This means I will not be competitive in the area.

I'm just hoping to find something else/better soon. Thanks again.

BJ

[jackwehoca]

Just a quick addendum here. As D's insurance store said, you seem to be putting a lot of credence in the opinion/advice of the recruiter. "Back in the day" the recruiter would have placed you with Executive Life or any other organization...the recruiter gets paid by placement, so his main motivation is getting you tyo accept anything; his interests do not necessarily coincide with yours.

[bjwestner]

You are correct about the recruiter. In this situation the recruiter worked directly for Farmers. It's moot now since I'm turning it down.

Based on the reserach I've done, I'm better off selling on my own since I will not have a loan and can just use insurance noodle or superior access. By the way, can anyone chime in about using either one of these? I'm thinking of continuing my job search and selling on the weekends to people I can find. This should give me good training and a chance to earn some extra money on the side until I find my new job in the DC area. I was previously only licensed in MD, but today I became licensed in VA, DC, and NJ as well. I'm getting some quotes on e&o for me now......I will be selling P&C and maybe some life/health as well.

Is insurance noodle better than superior access or vise versa? I've been to both sites several times and played around with the demo. It seems that superior will be better as while I'd like to sell some commercial accounts, I'm sure that there will be personal auto/homeowners that I will sell and it seems that superior access is better suited for this? Thanks again for everyones feedback!

[uwalka03]

I would advise against any MGA (managing general agent, which insurance noodle and superior access are) that makes you pay for access to insurance markets.

There are a lot of MGA's out there that will give you access to preferred personal lines, preferred commercial lines, and excess/surplus commercial lines for free. They will sometimes charge a broker fee if you sell the policy, and sometimes not, but if you don't sell atleast you won't be getting taxed every month with a subscription fee.

Another thing, a lot of the subscription MGA's give terrible commissions, like 6%-8%. That is impossible to build an agency on. You can get direct appointments right away for non-standard auto. Most non-standard auto insurers have little to no production requirements and don't care about your experience. From there, you can gain access to direct preferred auto and home carriers in a couple of years. In the meantime, look for MGA's that do not charge subscription fees for your commercial insurance. I have over a million in commercial premium, all through MGA's, and none of them charge any subscription fees, and they all pay 10%-15% commission on new business and renewal. There are even some MGA's that will give you access to home insurance and preferred auto. I am in Cali, so I don't know of any particular ones that would work for you out there, but they are there, just google "insurance MGA in Maryland" or wherever and call them up to see what they offer.

Think about it, how much will the subscirption fee MGA's care about getting quotes to you on time, or really trying to service your customers, if they are getting $100-$200 a month off of you regardless?

Also, why not get a job with a broker first, learn the ropes, and then go out on your own? You are looking for a job anyways, right? I don't know anyone successful in this business who said "hey, I have never sold insurance, so I am going to open an agency." All the designations and insurance theory in the world cannot teach you how to sell insurance, let alone how to open and grow a successful agency, you must learn from someone who has done it before. Also, the cost alone to run a startup agency is atleast $2,000 per month if you want to even appear legit (rating systems, managements systems, E and O, motor vehicle record service, Business insurance, office rent, phone, internet, mail, advertising etc). You can't just sell insurance from the trunk of your car. But by working for another broker (not a captive, like farmers) you will learn the different markets that are competitive in your area, how to sell, how to service, and you will make relationships with other people in the industry, in particular insurance carrier reps, that can help you in the future. Hope this helps.

[William Graham]

uwalka03

is gving very good advice - We have not dealt with Superior Acess but from agents I have talked to they complain about slow turn around time & the lack of the ability to bind

When I left Farmers we went IA with SIAA membership- but we were committed to a full time operation with full knowledge that it would be about 3 years before we would break even. From everything you have said the best advice is to look at working part time as a producer -- you might check out if there is an agressive IA looking to grow where you live now & start on with them & maybe look towards opening an agency in your home area as a principal in partnership with your IA in NJ after you have paid your dues/proven yourself.

[bjwestner]

uwalka3 and William Grant: Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it. I agree 100% that the best bet would be to find an IA to get on with and I am actively searching for that now. Unfortunately I have not found anyone yet that I've applied to that has called me (agency wise). Knowing what I know from working for 11 plus years, reading online, and talking to people, starting my own agency is nuts and I am not considering it. I feel bad for some that come on to various forums that clearly have less experience than I even have and are talking about starting their own agency.

As for getting appointed with anyone, I do not see that happening unless I find a job in an agents office or something. That's why I brought up using an MGA if I decided to sell on the side. The reason I would consider doing this is because I would learn a lot, make some money, and also possibly make myself more marketable to an agency to bring me on potentially.

I had the 7th person from AFLAC call me today....once I found out where the lady was from I thanked her for the call and stated I was not interested. I was as nice as possible and she asked why? I explained that I am not interested in going that route (i.e. AFLAC, Bankers Life, etc.) from my reserach.

Thanks again for all the advice and feedback from everyone. I will be sure to update this post once something eventually happens as too many times there are posts on these boards that don't get updated and leaves me anyway wondering what ever happened.....

BJ

[jackwehoca]

I commend your due diligence on finding the right situation, using wholesalers, aggregators, etc.
One big RED FLAG; ..."selling on the weekends to people I can find." The insurance industry in not a flea market, yet that is how you may be perceived, doing something on a part-time basis, weekends only. Say you find the "perfect" prospect that needs, wants, and can pay for the various insurance products. What happens if he needs to get in touch with you on a Tuesday but you are busy with your other employment or out driving around-don't think you will keep him as prospect/client for very long.
The more i read these posts and replies the more I am getting the impression that you are not really in a qualified position to be selling; I know I would not want to deal with someone who is out there testing the waters at my expense (literally). No offense, but it seems that you are using the "throw enough crap at the wall and some of it will stick" approach.
As they say on Shark Tank, for that reason "I'm out" as far as advice. Develop a "Career GPS Device" (no such animal) so that you have a clearer idea of what you want to do-would be nice if they really had one!

[bjwestner]

When I was saying people on the weekends, I was referring to the vast network of friends/family I have. I was not planning on writing $1m of business from that or anything....I would just help them try to save money and making sure they had adequate coverage as well as addressing their risks....

[Blondie2]

uwalka03 is giving very good advice about joining an IA as a CSR and learning the ropes. Many of our producers started out as such and worked their way into sales. In fact, the top-selling producer in our office started in the mail room! With your designations and experience you shouldn't have any problem. Good luck!

[amckirahan]

Having been with Farmers for over 16 years on the management side, I would steer you away from this captive agency relationship, especially with the new agency contract. As for wholesalers, MGAs, etc............there is really no "free lunch" out there. Some charge membership or subscription fees, some charge broker fees, there are varying levels of commission splits and some have a "non-compete" preventing you from moving your book to a carrier(s) that you have placed policies with, through them, for up to two years.

It is true that you can get appointments with some non-standard carriers but, do you really want to build a non-standard book for the first two to three years and hope for standard carrier contracts once you have some volume and experience. Most standard carriers will shy away from a book of non-standard business. So, it really makes sense to use a wholesaler/MGA to gain access to markets that you can't get on your own.

A few comments have referenced Superior Access (SAIS) and, in the interest of full disclosure, I am the National Sales Director with SAIS. Turn around times are a relevant measure. We do not provide an instant, bindable quote. In most cases, we turn around requests the same day depending on when submitted. Any suggestions that we are not motivated to provide superior service because we charge a fee are ludicrous. And, we pay higher commissions to our Superior Members. With the monthly fee, you have access to comparative raters, over 50 carriers plus 3 E&S brokers. We have thousands of agents across the USA using our services. I would be more then happy to discuss our program with you and, if interested, give you the first month free to try us out. I can be reached at amckirahan@sais.com. I wish you the best of luck with your agency and know that we can help you get started and grow.

[bjwestner]

update - I have several interviews this week! One with Nationwide and one with an IA. I'm really hoping the one with the IA works out but the Nationwide program sounds good as well (compared to Farmers at least).

I've also been contacted by State Farm, Mutual of Omaha, and American Fidelity. Had a phone interview with American Fidelity on Friday and it went well. Hopefully I'll be called for an in person interview.

[bjwestner]

Having been with Farmers for over 16 years on the management side, I would steer you away from this captive agency relationship, especially with the new agency contract. As for wholesalers, MGAs, etc............there is really no "free lunch" out there. Some charge membership or subscription fees, some charge broker fees, there are varying levels of commission splits and some have a "non-compete" preventing you from moving your book to a carrier(s) that you have placed policies with, through them, for up to two years.

It is true that you can get appointments with some non-standard carriers but, do you really want to build a non-standard book for the first two to three years and hope for standard carrier contracts once you have some volume and experience. Most standard carriers will shy away from a book of non-standard business. So, it really makes sense to use a wholesaler/MGA to gain access to markets that you can't get on your own.

A few comments have referenced Superior Access (SAIS) and, in the interest of full disclosure, I am the National Sales Director with SAIS. Turn around times are a relevant measure. We do not provide an instant, bindable quote. In most cases, we turn around requests the same day depending on when submitted. Any suggestions that we are not motivated to provide superior service because we charge a fee are ludicrous. And, we pay higher commissions to our Superior Members. With the monthly fee, you have access to comparative raters, over 50 carriers plus 3 E&S brokers. We have thousands of agents across the USA using our services. I would be more then happy to discuss our program with you and, if interested, give you the first month free to try us out. I can be reached at amckirahan@sais.com. I wish you the best of luck with your agency and know that we can help you get started and grow.

Thanks for the response. I've read quite a bit about your company online. Some of it good and some not so good. Maybe you could answer a few questions for all of us?

1. What is the average turnaround time from an agent submitting the information and a commerical lines quote coming back? What is the average on personal lines?

2. Will you be supporting an instant quote any time in the future? I think I read somewhere that insurance noodle is doing this now on some business.

3. On personal lines, what are the parameters usually for a risk that will not be accepted? I understand that this is a case by case basis, but I've ready that many not quite perfect risks have been rejected while they were far from going to the residual market.

4. What is the average turnaround time for your customer service folks to return an agents calls? Are all calls returned?

Thanks,

[William Graham]

BJ

for what is worth -- of all the companies you mentioned --- State Farm is the best opportunity on a captive side -- SF also tends to make agency opportunities available to its employees -- so you might think about taking your current skills set to State Farm to begin with -- It has been many years since I checked it out but I think SF is looking for a $50 to $100K commitment/investment by the agent to open or assume an agency - I believe the employees tend to cash in their retirement to fund the agency start up costs.

[bjwestner]

BJ

for what is worth -- of all the companies you mentioned --- State Farm is the best opportunity on a captive side -- SF also tends to make agency opportunities available to its employees -- so you might think about taking your current skills set to State Farm to begin with -- It has been many years since I checked it out but I think SF is looking for a $50 to $100K commitment/investment by the agent to open or assume an agency - I believe the employees tend to cash in their retirement to fund the agency start up costs.

Thanks Mr. Graham. Owning my own State Farm question will not happen as long as the current AA05 contract is in place.

I've done my research on that and know that for most it's financial suicide. I would be open to working for an agency owner however.