Aggregators

[jwwells1962]

Has anyone worked with ASNOA ?
I would be greatly interested in your experience.

[mightyquinn]

If they are like other aggregators who charge your for their services or to be a member, they are a rip off. We work with a couple of small wholesale shops that are highly efficient where the principals have strong long time relationships with some of the large wholesalers. We send our submissions to the small shop who by linking in with the larger wholesalers have the ability to access tons of markets.
We are always paid 10% or more commission because the small shops don't have to take a large cut of the commission because they do not need that type of margin and they transact a large volume very efficiently with state of the art proprietary technology.
Best part of doing this? No annual fee. No piecework fees. No reduced commissions to us. Very personal super service and as the retail agent, we are not held to huge volume requirements as many large wholesalers require. Find a shop in your area like the one with whom we work and you will be very surprised.

[jwwells1962]

If anyone has information to share, positive or negative on
SIAA or SmartChoice or ASNOA, I would be interested in hearing from you.
I have been captive my entire career, 15 years with one carrier and 15 with another.
Finally decided to set up my own shop.
Any steering suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance for your responses.

[BADTROUT]

If anyone has information to share, positive or negative on
SIAA or SmartChoice or ASNOA, I would be interested in hearing from you.
I have been captive my entire career, 15 years with one carrier and 15 with another.
Finally decided to set up my own shop.
Any steering suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance for your responses.

First off, I think its a wise move you are making by considering independence! I think the contracts will tell you all that you need to know. Having built an aggregator myself, I can tell you I have dissected many of the aforementioned contracts and many other than the ones you mentioned. The devil is in the details.

1. What happens if you decide to leave? Look for that in the contract... if you do, do they charge you a fee? Is there a non-compete? Are you held in any way hostage to the contract, unable to contact your clients, or contract with carriers even after you have parted ways?

2. Bonus... Almost all carriers have some sort of profitability bonus they offer their top agencies... do you get a piece of that? If so, how much and when?

3. Do you get dedicated relationships with the carrier and direct underwriting access, or do you have to submit literally everything?

4. Do you have the option to obtain your own E&O, or are you lumped into a huge group policy where you dont have many options for your coverage?

5. Commission... Many ag's will get overrides from their carriers... do you get a share of that or are you on a flat commission schedule?

6. Training, do they have leadership that can offer guidance for you and your agency when needed... not forced.

7. Do you get to use your own agency name, or are you just a branch?

I could go on an on because in some of the contracts I have read I have seen:

$60K startup fee (unreasonable)
15 year contracts (the average U.S. marriage lasts 8.2 years)
2 year restrictions for contacting/soliciting clients (I'm sorry good neighbor I can't help you for 15 more months)
up to 7 year restrictions on direct contracts with carriers (why not 6 years? Seriously, what's one more year going to do?)

Get a contract from them all, take each point through the contract, and I would bet you find flaws in all of them, but you will get an idea of who is the best fit for you... and one more thing, contact the President of each one... not the marketing guy, and see who has time to talk to you. If they don't have time for you, call me.

[pageltd]

Whatever you do, insist on direct underwriter access.

[BADTROUT]

Absolutely!

[NCInsuranceAgent]

I think it is important to be honest with yourself about what type of Agent you are, what type of Agency you want to have, and what your long-term plans/goals are for your business. The biggest mistake that I see Agents make is that they fall into the trap of being short sighted and looking for the path of least resistance. I think this is reflected in the number of “options” there are in the market place today that play to the transactional nature our industry has taken.

I focused on a few things when making my decision:
1) Who paid me my commission? If it wasn’t coming directly from the company, I eliminated them from my list. Ownership and the equity I could build was extremely important to me, and unless the commission was paid to me by the carrier, I didn’t own anything other than my client relationship.
2) What did the partner know about my market? Where they active in that market? I wanted my relationships to be with the carriers and reps that were local to me. I didn’t want to deal with a company rep out of another State. I also wanted to the support of a partner that had history of success in the market also.
3) What was the partner’s philosophy on carrier access? Was it volume or PIF based. I want to avoid transactional relationships, I wanted competitive products, but I didn’t want to fall into the trap of being with an Aggregator that was there to help me complete an order. I wanted to create long lasting partnerships with my companies that would allow me to build long term relationships with my clients.
4) What did they offer outside of carrier options? I have the goal of employing 10 Agents/CSR’s, and I wanted to be able to compete for talent in the marketplace above my weight class. I needed to be able to offer potential employee’s the ability to grow their career in my Agency.
5) Transparency was also extremely important. Nothing is free in this world, no matter what they tell you.

I think it is important to also talk with current members that have worked with that partner in similar situations. I found that the Agents I spoke to were honest about what the pro’s and con’s where.

There is no perfect situation out there, if there was, there wouldn’t be so many different choices. There are however different tiers as far as depth and quality of relationships. You ultimately get what you pay for.

I am happy to talk about my experience with my partner if you want to contact me directly.

[molder101]

I am happy to talk about my experience with my partner if you want to contact me directly.

I don't see a way to contact you, NCInsuranceAgent. Is it possible you can reach out to me briefly? 856-451-9531, ask for Mike S.

Thanks!

[Mikerob7]

We've been with ASNOA for ~6 years and have been very happy with them.

[mightyquinn]

Curious as to what state you are in and what ASNOA has brought to the table for you.