Great feedback here! There is definitely information contained here that needs to understood and taken seriously by both agencies and insurance carriers. Agencies who engage employees with open communication, career pathing and opportunity will thrive. Those that don’t, will curse the “Millennial generation”! Keep up the good work!
Looks like you were thumbed down by Agent. Guy hates Millenials as much if not more than he hates Muslims, Liberals, “the blacks”, and Mexicans. Don’t take it personally, he wants everyone to get off his lawn.
Dan, I didn’t thumb you down for your comments, only Planet the dufus. True story! I was at an outing for agents earlier this week and one of my fellow agents (about 50) had just merged with a very large multi location agency. They had a big meeting with all the branches coming in to the main office. The producers were made up of 20 some things up to 40 some things. He was amazed at how arrogant, self centered and know it all these younger guys were. They all showed a lack of respect for the veterans in the room. My friend said he saw a survey that only 2% of Millenials attend church, which is shocking. No wonder they have the wrong value system. Many on this blog curse, insult and think they know everything and down vote anyone who disagrees.
I don’t think church has anything to do with it. Ever check the attitudes of the older producers towards the younger ones and maybe there is a reason they got that way? Everyone wants to prejudge millennials and believe me it is not fun. Also, younger guys. Where’s the women being recruited? We want to be a part of the conversation too, and until attitudes and hiring practices of the “older” generations change that won’t be happening. Producers of all ages and their managers think women are only good for being CSRs.
Hey Micky, some of these leftist trolls have been busy down thumbing me on their company dime. No wonder they complain about working 50-60 hours a week. If they would do their job and not rob their employer, they might actually get a raise at some point. Everyone knows who they are despite their denials.
May 3, 2016 at 1:49 pm
I. M. Dunn says:
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Last job I had the boss let his buddy drop his pants during several in-office social gatherings. Funny stuff – not!
April 28, 2016 at 9:55 am
Agent says:
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Actually Jessica, it is not the fault of older producers the way the Millenials are. Millenial’s attitudes are formed long before they get in the business. They are brainwashed by liberal professors in college, are Progressive politically and socially, think they know more than anyone else and don’t take constructive criticism well.
How do I know these things? Been there, done that with a couple of hires I made in the past. Despite all our efforts to train them properly, send them to producer development schools, they couldn’t cut it.
I don’t know about other agents, but one of my partners is a woman who started as a producer and worked hard, did the right things and advanced into a position of ownership and a successful career. Being a sales producer is a commitment few men or women are prepared to make, but it can be done.
you don’t see anything wrong condemning 80 million people based off your experience with, what, 3 millenials?
I met 5 people today who are 55 and were part of the KKK. Guess that means all baby boomers are racist white folks!
I also met Ted Kaczynski, Timothy McVeigh, Terry Nichols and Dylann Roof. Whoa, we must ALL be domestic terrorists then!
April 28, 2016 at 12:11 pm
Ron says:
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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More importantly, older generations have been criticizing the younger generations as being lazy for centuries. I would bet the farm that people in their 50s and 60s were labeling the baby boomers in the same fashion when that generation was in their 20s.
I would imagine it is mostly because the next generation always has it easier than the current due to technological and societal advancements.
Kind of ironic when you think about it.
April 28, 2016 at 1:53 pm
Godot says:
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Agent, Jessica didn’t say that the older producers ‘made the millenials the way they are’. Her commentary was about the viewpoint older producers have toward millenials. Maybe some attitudes are based on experience, some are based on arrogance. Either way, it would be great if mentoring and partnerships were stronger across generations.
April 28, 2016 at 2:39 pm
Agent says:
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Sorry to disappoint you young troll, but I have plenty of experience dealing with Millenials. After all, the Millenial trolls on this site which number 20-30 regulars gives a good cross section of the mentality of a lot of them. Also sorry to disappoint you, but I did have one Millenial work out that I hired to be a producer. His personality is 100% better than yours. He accepted my training and seeks my advice all the time on business and has been successful enough that I made him a minority partner. As his volume grows, he will have a bigger stake in the agency. He is quite happy with that arrangement and will be the future of the agency at some point. See, I am not a Millenial hater as you suggest. I just can’t stand one with a terrible insulting attitude that you exhibit every day of the week.
April 28, 2016 at 2:48 pm
Ron says:
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Agent,
Good on you for overlooking a minute characteristic. Glad it worked out for you and the young man.
April 28, 2016 at 2:51 pm
UW says:
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This should be a big tipoff on why insurance, and particularly the agency-side is facing a skills shortage despite an abundance of qualified candidates, because sadly a lot of people in the industry are like Agent.
Imagine a young person getting their foot in the door for low pay and they have to learn the industry, and deal with this totally uneducated, loud-mouthed, racist, sexist, ageist guy. Why would they stay?
Agent clearly discriminates based on age, which is illegal, but I bet if it went to court one day he wouldn’t show the same vigor for government intervention regarding age discrimination that he shows for intervention when it comes to anything he classifies as “price optimization”.
April 28, 2016 at 3:21 pm
the real agent says:
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Hmmm… doesn’t take constructive criticism well? thinks they know everything?? who does this make you think of…….. I wonder?…
April 28, 2016 at 4:11 pm
Godot says:
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Agent, who are you addressing in your insulting diatribe?
April 29, 2016 at 3:01 pm
Jessica says:
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Actually, I am a millennial, I have been in the insurance industry for almost 10 years, and went to a liberal college. Hell I got a degree in Liberal Arts! I can promise you my professors did not brainwash me. They taught to evaluate situation, research what has worked and hasn’t in the past, and not to blindly give respect just because it is ‘due’. But to find those who are worth mentoring and emulating and learn as much as you can from that person. I don’t know anyone who enjoys criticism, but I can tell you that from being young in sports, school, and now work I have had my fair share of it and learned from it, and I am sure I am not the only one.
@Godot I would LOVE to see more mentoring.
May 3, 2016 at 2:27 pm
Agent says:
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I.M., May I ask what part of the country you are from to have abhorrent, unacceptable behavior like you describe? I have been around for a while in this business and never heard of anything like this. Was your boss gay? You mentioned his buddy dropping his pants. This is a sign of no morals, no knowing right from wrong. Surprised they weren’t sued for sexual harassment by the female staffers.
April 27, 2016 at 3:18 pm
Ron says:
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Agent,
So, it is OK for you to accuse others of thumbing down someone else, but not anyone else? Hypocrite!
troll. i’ve told you more than 12 times in 3 weeks i do not vote up or down. will you PLEASE stop incorrectly assigning blame to me on this voting nonsense? pretty please?
April 28, 2016 at 11:57 am
Ron says:
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Agent,
Please provide your proof. If you can’t, then shut up!!
April 28, 2016 at 1:05 pm
Captain Planet says:
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Agent, for the last time, I do not cast a vote out here either like or dislike.
April 28, 2016 at 4:12 pm
Michael says:
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Agent, plenty of people dislike what you have to say, not just Ron, Planet, and Confused. Not everyone has the time to sit and refresh the screen so they can give you a thumbs down.
April 29, 2016 at 8:48 am
confused says:
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^ this ^
April 28, 2016 at 1:27 pm
Captain Planet says:
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Agent finished with, ” Many on this blog curse, insult and think they know everything and down vote anyone who disagrees.”
I’d like to point you to the sentence he started with, “Dan, I didn’t thumb you down for your comments, only Planet the dufus.” I think ‘dufus’ qualifies as an insult. Hypocrisy much, Agent?
the real, it should be required reading and viewing for all Millenials to look up Alexis Bloomer on Google and hear what she has to say about Millenials and she is one.
Big Jim, you see it the same as I. As an agency owner, I have been dealing with these issues for 30 years. I probably get 20 emails a week with company changes in personnel, changing technology, rate changes, appetite changes in Commercial, Personal Lines changes etc. We also see the revolving door with underwriters, marketing reps, mergers of companies with new people to deal with. Some of the changes are positive, but much is also negative.
Some astute observations by relatively young agents. One negative thing I’d comment on. The revolving door in regards to insurance markets and their constantly evolving appetites. This can be avoided if the agents adopt smart buying habits. Stay away from “hot” markets who happen to have the best prices or terms at a certain point in time, but will not be sustainable. And go to the more stable markets with a more stable staff which may not have the best price in town, but are more likely to back up their deals over the long term. It involves some selling skills which go beyond getting “the best deal” and may involve some extra work, but then you avoid some of the volatility. Unfortunately there are a large number of agents (young and old) which take the path of least resistance and then complain about the mess they then find themselves in.
Dave, I am not sure there are stable markets out there these days. My #1 carrier was also stable for many years, we didn’t see a lot of rate fluctuation and we put a lot of good business with them. In 2014, they went off the deep end decided to take a lot of rate, re-tiered, re-scored all at the same time. That managed to run a lot of good business off for them. We went from a healthy growth rate to almost no growth in one year. They finally apologized and said they went too fast too soon and gradually went back to a more stable approach. Some actuary said it would be a good idea and the actuary was very, very wrong.
More importantly than what the actuary said was that an executive OK’d the rates and the state approved them. Actuaries are foot soldiers, not decision makers. Maybe someday you will take the time to learn more about the insurance industry than sales pitches and word tracks.
Ron, I recommend that you take another course and learn something about agency management instead of actuarial tables which are the scourge of the industry. Actuaries sell their ideas to management and if management is too stupid, they approve it. Prime example is Price Optimization which is in trouble in a number of states. No wonder all the scrutiny. Those foot soldiers as you call them are idiotic.
yay! now management is stupid too, not just those dumb actuaries! is there any position within this industry besides your role that you won’t insult? are claim adjusters and SIU departments stupid too? what about appraisers, they’ve got to be idiots also, right? do you have ANY respect for any job in this industry besides people who do exactly what you do?
April 28, 2016 at 7:58 am
Ron says:
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Agent,
When have I ever commented on agency management? Unlike you, I am self aware of my limitations and do not pretend to be an expert on topic of which I am not.
You need to speak less and listen more when it comes to insurance pricing and how the process works.
April 28, 2016 at 2:40 pm
UW says:
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Agent, how exactly do you think insurance companies should estimate risk in order to set a price for their policy? You’ve made it clear you don’t believe in probability and statistics for doing this (nor do you understand them).
Also, why are you in favor of almost total government regulation when it comes to the pricing methods used by insurance companies, but complain non-stop when government is involved in anything else?
April 29, 2016 at 2:21 pm
Godot says:
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Regurgitating the same verbal vomit, Agent? How difficult is it for you to understand that insurance as a whole is a business based on statistics and actuarial information?! And please stop repeating the same crap about Price Optimization, Predictive Modeling, etc., etc. How do you believe that companies develop their rates? Pull the numbers out of a bingo basket? Get some new songs!
April 27, 2016 at 4:34 pm
Just a mom says:
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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Dave,
The revolving door of underwriters happens in the stable markets as well. Hartford/Travelers/Chubb….we have underwriter and/or marketing changes at a minimum of annually even on these long time stable markets.
But overall, the list of pros and cons is the same with all producers, age has nothing to do with.
Actually I don’t know if I put Hartford and Travelers in the category of stable staff and appetite. I’m actually in the E&S space and I see the likes of them getting in and out of our space all the time, along with their staff. Chubb I agree has always been a stable underwriting company and a place people liked to spend their whole career. Not sure how the merger with ACE will impact that.
Godot and Confused, try to focus if you can. I know that is hard to do in a fit of rage. The article is still about young agents, what they like and don’t like about the insurance business. We know you are not agent’s by your language. Bug off. If you were to apply to be a young agent in my office, the first thing I would give you is a “Personality Test” that carriers recommend before hire. Both of you would fail immediately because of a poor attitude and no sales personality traits.
I focused on your post which was nothing more than an insult filled rant. There’s nothing worthwhile to respond to unless I want to trade insults with you, which I won’t do. Enjoy your weekend.
Oh, Agent, you are such good comic relief. If reading someone’s post allows another to be able to tell every characteristic, etc. about a person, yours speaks volumes. You are obviously a very unhappy man.
Godot, I am a lot happier in life than you, Confused, UW, Planet, Ron and a few others I can name. You are all very angry and unhappy and show it all the time on this blog. To show your anger, you downvote me 58 or more times since I disagree with your agenda.
May 2, 2016 at 3:04 pm
Godot says:
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Agent, yes, your happiness really shines through in your posts and attitude, etc. Whatever. And I didn’t down-vote you. It’s just not that important to me – it’s an insurance blog – not really anything to get that excited about. As mentioned before, there are plenty of people who find some of the things you say ridiculous. I only read your stuff for the laughs.
May 2, 2016 at 3:05 pm
confused says:
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except for less vitriolic nonsensical agent posts on IJ, i couldn’t ask for anything else to make me happier in life!
May 2, 2016 at 3:30 pm
Agent says:
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Godot, have you ever had counseling for your Anger Management issues? I’m pretty sure that your cohorts haven’t since they continue to rant on every story. I would bet that none of you are “Agents” and are just the office help that blogs all day robbing your employer of work time. Don’t give me any more of your stories about how unfair your boss is making you work 50-70 hours a week.
May 2, 2016 at 3:47 pm
Godot says:
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Geez, Agent – you are truly an idiot. I have no anger management issues. I don’t get angry over your posts – that’s not worth my time. I get a good laugh out of your anger and attitude. I think it’s sad. And thankfully, as the owner of your own business, you are only cheating yourself and your partners. I’m not robbing time from anyone. And yes, I’ve been an agent for many, many years. You are such a blow-hard. Again, not angry, just humored. And I’m sure that your office personnel would be pleased to know that they’re just considered ‘the office help’ while you spend the amount of time you do on this blog, TownHall, and PropertyCasualty 360. I never gave you a story about how unfair it is that I work 50-75 hours a week – you make stuff up and just spew venom all the time. You make me laugh and shake my head at the same time.
April 27, 2016 at 4:04 pm
Joe says:
Hot debate. What do you think?
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So seriously, you are touting CHURCH as a measure of value in the young pioneers of our industry? Let me guess…. are you from Texas? (Or somewhere close?)
Joe,
How perceptive of you. He’s in Longview, actually. Along with Millenials, Muslims, “the blacks”, Mexicans, and Liberals, I forgot to mention he also hates homosexuals and North Easterners (mainly New Yorkers). Perhaps if my post wasn’t hidden, you wouldn’t need to see his church comment to know, given all his hatred, he must be from Texas. The guy lives on fear and Fox News. Stay tuned, he’ll be sure to provide you hours of entertainment out here.
I will say one good thing about him, he is very loving of his wife. And Agent, I do hope she is doing better.
I think Church/Religion does play a role in the moral values of the younger people. Families who regularly attend church learn morals at a young age. It doesn’t matter what religion it is, but the stories teach morals and values. It is sad that people are getting away from religion. I think this has an effect on how crime keeps growing and getting more horrific.
Go ahead and make jokes about Priests, and try to say radical islam counts as religion.
Mickey, good one. You are 100% correct. If young people don’t learn morals, values and what is right and what is wrong, they end up like many we see on this blog as little Progressive trolls who spout off all the wrong things. This is why they will never be in sales in the agency business whether it is captive or Independent. If they started spouting off their nonsense to a company rep or a customer, they would be quickly shown the door.
Plus, church is a good source of prospects – at least the koffee klatches (or “Postum” klatches as the case may be)in addition to Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions, Elks, Masons,E Clampus Vitus…
Hmmmm, good question. Well, I figure a Christian insurance agent (but probably not a Christian baker)would likely sell to an atheist, so I suppose an atheist would probably not have any problem selling to a Christian, Moslem, or Buddhist. As to where an atheist goes instead of church, I speculate: probably a movie, a ballgame, an ACLU meeting, a picnic or a Unitarian gathering.
May 3, 2016 at 5:55 pm
nomesaneman says:
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April 29, 2016 at 9:06 am
Captain Planet says:
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Joe,
How perceptive of you. He is in Longview, actually. Along with Millenials, Muslims, “the blacks”, Mexicans, and Liberals, I forgot to mention he also hates homosexuals and North Easterners (mainly New Yorkers). Given all his hatred, he must be from Texas. The guy lives on fear and Fox News. Stay tuned, he’ll be sure to provide you hours of entertainment out here.
I will say one good thing about him, he is very loving of his wife. And Agent, I do hope she is doing better.
What I find interesting is, with the exception of dislikes #6 and #7, I’m not seeing much of a difference in these lists from when I joined the industry in 1986 and throughout my career.
I am a “Gen-X”er. I have lived my entire life with certain attributes subscribed to my generation. Most of which have proven themselves to be false. “Millennial’s” are seeing the same stereotyping. I am so very tired of the generalizing. People are different. They act and react in ways that are individual to their upbringing which can vary greatly even within the same family (ask my brothers).
My role as a trainer in both the Retail and Insurance sectors has exposed me to a great cross-section of people. Some of the hardest working people I know are Millennial’s, some of the most entitled happen to be Baby Boomers. Enough already.
A good portion of any industry is getting ready to retire at any time and yes, the insurance industry is seeing this at a higher percentage than others. Perhaps the goal of continued growth would be to work attract the attitudes and skill sets we want, not the age group.
Alicia, I believe we’re all different. And that no matter what age group there are a wide variety of types of people and lines of thinking in each. But I have to admit from what I see in the media in the younger generation there is a greater sense of entitlement than I’ve ever seen before. I understand it may not be a very scientific sample, but one sample that is pretty scientific are the million upon millions of voters behind the likes of Bernie Sanders promising trillions of dollars of “free” stuff to all. And the largest number of them are the Millennials. Granted, you may not be one of them, but many of your brethren are and rightly or wrongly you’re getting painted with the same brush. I will tell you as fact, most of the baby boomers are not buying the entitlement stuff Bernie is selling and far more of your generation is.
I have been a trainer for 25+ years. My experience of training hundreds of people of varying age, background, education, and overall goals is what I rely on – not politically motivated studies paid for by their own special interest groups.
Again, I am personally tired and finished with the generalities. I could certainly generalize and say that those of a certain age are luddites, but I know a few 20 something’s that do not embrace the internet age.
Those I work with are judged on their individual attitude and performance, not by the actions of those in their age group.
I would certainly hope that is how we are all evaluated, in business and elsewhere.
Alicia, here is a good question. Have you been out in the field selling insurance for some of the past 25 years? If not, how have you been training new agents on the profession? I suspect that you have been training CSR’s or other office trainees. I do commend you for judging people based on attitude and performance. Attitudes of some on this blog are not helpful in putting business on the books. More going out the back door than coming in.
Yes, I “sold” insurance for 9 years in addition to training responsibilities. However, I am not a sales person as my (personal and current professional) belief is that sales follow service. I’ve never “sold” a policy. I have provided coverage, education, and risk management. There is a difference. When I was “selling” insurance, this attitude put more business on the book than many of my fellow sales persons.
May 2, 2016 at 2:16 pm
Agent says:
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Alicia, someone in sales learns how to make calls, prospect, solicit accounts in order to “sell” the product. I think it might be difficult to service an account unless coverage was sold first. Good service, advice, education, risk management are good things and helps retain good accounts. I don’t think any successful sales person is an order taker or depends on call ins for success.
April 28, 2016 at 3:45 pm
Agent says:
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Dave, did I miss something here or is the article about Young Agents pros and cons about the business, what they like and what they don’t like? Some of these posters have no clue what an agent is or what he/she does to make a living. My first manager when I was a young producer laid it all out for me. He said, here is what you have to do to have a job and be successful. It was all up to me to accept the training and implement the plan, bring business in and then sell it and get the name on the bottom line with a check.
You are right about the entitlement issue and these people are not suited to sales. Perhaps technical jobs they are good at, but not sales.
Bernie Sanders has had the same message for 30+ years. And, he isn’t promising free stuff at all. He is going to ask for more in taxes to pay for it, see Denmark for an example. God forbid everyone be given an actual opportunity to succeed in this great country of ours.
I couldn’t agree more. Understanding the motivations of different types of people is important and necessary when running a business. However, artificially creating a divide between workers based on age groupings is in no way productive or helpful in any way. Improved technology has not changed our fundamental human psychology. There are going to be hard workers and lazy people in all sections of the workforce.
If anything the greatest impact that I have seen technology make is increased transparency tipping the scales to more balanced and fair workplace for individuals. It is just that any change, even good change, can be difficult for people (myself not excluded) and will never uniformly benefit everyone.
knowall, I have no idea what you are driving at with State Farm. Captives are a completely different animal than Independent Agents who represent many markets.
I suspect it’s working out pretty well. I believe one of the goals State Farm has by doing this, other than creating diversity in the agent force, is to focus these newer agents on other areas of the business. I agree with a previous poster – it’s not really about age, there’s great talent out there in every age group.
SW, yes, we have observed what State Farm has been doing for some time. They have focused on Financial Services, making car loans while neglecting their P&C core business. We have been picking up a lot of their business, particularly with all the bad publicity they got when they refused for nearly 10 years to refund overcharges in premium to their policyholders. They finally had to pay up belatedly.
Great article on pros/cons and very similar to what all agents say not just the Younger agents. What surprises me is all the negativity in the comments section. As a young agent or person considering getting in to this field of insurance – I would look at the comments and think I am not getting a support system to help me succeed. We as “older” agents need to support them, guide them and train them to uphold the ethics and values needed to be successful agents of the future. Now BACK to the article – I think another BIG ‘CON’ that was not listed is the constant barrage of negativity all agents are subjected to from the P.A.s, Attorneys, Media, etc… on how horrible the insurance companies are. The other problem is FRAUD. We need to be advocates for our industry and educate everyone about how fraud effects their rates.
Part of our job as agents is to educate consumers and anyone who will listen about how insurance works, instead of them learning from their neighbor, the internet and my favorite “I know this guy who said “
I’m glad that the every day insurance customer won’t read most of these comments or they would think they were buying insurance from children. Selling insurance comes with a huge responsibility especially the larger premium commercial cases. There are many agents/ brokers that make more than doctors and lawyers, so start acting like it and maybe you will do a better service to your customers. This forum smells of Geico agents.. Which equates to a low wage and IQ to match.. Grow up!!!
CL, if you were as handy with the mouse as the Progressives on this site, you would upvote it 60 or more times while downvoting the opposition by the same amount.
martin, Hmm, I didn’t think of GEICO agents as a reason of their immature hateful remarks. It could be true, but I believe a majority of them are broker office help who couldn’t sell anything to the public in either Personal or Commercial Lines. You are right, they are children and should be ashamed of themselves.
It’s adorable that you do not realize that you are one of the people to which Martin was referring.
You are one the very few people on this blog that actually sells insurance directly to the customer. In addition, GEICO agents do not make nearly as much as doctors and lawyers, but independent agents do.
Ron, we know you aren’t in sales since you admitted that you tried it for a short while, wasn’t suited to it (Shocker) and went on to doing other things. You don’t have the personality or the drive to bring in business and put it on the books. My guess is that you are an order taker. That is why you are perfectly happy sitting in your cubicle and pontificating on every subject on this forum.
You said, “Ron, we know you aren’t in sales since you admitted that you tried it for a short while, wasn’t suited to it (Shocker) and went on to doing other things.”, which means that Martin was not referring to me.
I find it hysterical that you do not see any irony in your post. When do you find time to sell anything while you are posting more than anyone else on this blog? Must be nice to have your minimum wage minions doing all the work while you reap the rewards.
May 5, 2016 at 11:28 am
Agent says:
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Ron, before I forget it, congratulations on your new job with GEICO in Buffalo. I understand they are expanding by 100 jobs and you got one of them. Man those headphones and get to work spreading the good news of Uncle Warren.
Since it has not happened for you yet, I am guessing at least another 20 years.
May 3, 2016 at 11:54 am
Agent says:
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Ron, you are a bold faced liar of the first magnitude. No wonder you voted for Obama twice since you like all the lies he has been telling for almost 8 years. Yes, you admitted you didn’t like sales when you first tried it. Why am I not surprised? Are you going to deny failing at sales yet again?
agent – try to focus if you can. I know that is hard to do in a fit of rage. The article is still about young agents, what they like and don’t like about the insurance business
We certainly know that you, UW & Ron are very ill suited to be “agents” in the insurance business. If a company was stupid enough to fund a producer development program for you, they would be throwing their money away. The personality test would probably give you away as unsuitable for sales.
glad someone got the reference. figured that was the best reply to stop the barrage of insults spewing from agent’s mouth, at least until it happens on another article.
May 3, 2016 at 6:40 pm
Actu says:
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Go away dummy. Every person you mentioned makes you look like a fool over and over again. You’re in a city of 80000 people, peddling tiny policies, totally ignorant about insurance, and act like you are making huge deals and selling billions of dollars of product. Go somewhere else because you’re ruining this site.
I’m worried about your already disturbing mental health when Trump loses.
I recently changed careers after almost 40 years in the business. The people at the agencies I worked for just got meaner and crueler and the foul language, abusive behavior by superiors and the hysterics exhibited by the other staff – just plain wore me out.
I.M., sorry for your experience. Changed careers after 40 years in the business? Why did you wait so long to get out? We don’t put up with that behavior at our agency. Owners, managers, CSR’s all get along well and do their job.
Dave, I know a number of agents around the state and we often see each other at conventions, seminars, company meetings, outings and are able to bounce ideas off of each other on Agency management, hiring of producers, staff etc. We all agree that we have to be very cautious making these decisions since it can be very costly to make a mistake. Even a good producer doesn’t break even on production for a couple of years even with the training they receive. Every one of them including me give them a Personality Test to see if they qualify for sales. Before I started doing that, I took a chance on a couple of young guys and got hit in the wallet pretty bad on advances in salary, benefits and they just weren’t going to make it at all. The one I did test and had positive results is now an agency partner. There is definitely a correlation on personality traits. Good ethics, morals, personality and being raised right by parents goes a long way in being successful.
Is this article the result of a survey that was sent out a few months ago geared toward young agents? I remember receiving something like that via email. As a young agent, I was interested what other young agents opinions are regarding their career path. Perhaps they are unrelated, either way… I began to read the comments because I was hoping for a little more information, only to be completely shocked and disappointed at what was being said and how people, who I can assume are insurance professionals are responding to one another. It was really just…sad… and that still does not encompass the rude, vulgar, ill spirited, negative…. it’s just not good folks. Is this how you would address your customers? or the attitude in which you would handle their business?
Darci, welcome to the blog of Progressives vs Conservatives which permeates every article IJ publishes. The rude ugly posts are by people not in insurance sales and frankly I have no idea how they got a job in this industry. This seems to be a product of how they were brought up and the education they received. Arrogant, insulting behavior is their mantra.
And yes, Darci, if you stick around long enough, you’d find that Agent is the worst of them. I stayed off this site for months hoping that he finally be gone. But, alas, with his last breath he’ll still spew his hot air … He is The King Of Trolls … I’ll go and hibernate for awhile, but I’ll have to keep checking in on Captain, and Ron, and Confused and all the other truly evolved human beings on here.
Darci, we will let you make up your own mind about who speaks the truth on this article. These dudes think it is cute to change monikers at the drop of a hat to spew their filth. The so called evolved mentioned are not even in insurance sales. They are unsuitable for it due to their personalities. Hard to believe they even have jobs in the insurance business.
What’s your point? Do you really think I take the fact that I am not suited for sales as an insult? Do you honestly believe that sales is the only worthwhile job in our industry?
At least I know the insurance industry and how it works, not just how to regurgitate talking points from the carriers in order to convince people to hand over money.
Ron, I direct you back to the title of the article. I couldn’t care less if you couldn’t make it in sales. Agents are the hunters and you are the gatherer. You like to spout off like you know something and you know nothing as evidenced by who you voted for in the last two Presidential elections. Get lost!
Great feedback here! There is definitely information contained here that needs to understood and taken seriously by both agencies and insurance carriers. Agencies who engage employees with open communication, career pathing and opportunity will thrive. Those that don’t, will curse the “Millennial generation”! Keep up the good work!
Looks like you were thumbed down by Agent. Guy hates Millenials as much if not more than he hates Muslims, Liberals, “the blacks”, and Mexicans. Don’t take it personally, he wants everyone to get off his lawn.
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I don’t think church has anything to do with it. Ever check the attitudes of the older producers towards the younger ones and maybe there is a reason they got that way? Everyone wants to prejudge millennials and believe me it is not fun. Also, younger guys. Where’s the women being recruited? We want to be a part of the conversation too, and until attitudes and hiring practices of the “older” generations change that won’t be happening. Producers of all ages and their managers think women are only good for being CSRs.
We always try to recruit women. They accept less salary!
(sarcasm)
Hey Micky, some of these leftist trolls have been busy down thumbing me on their company dime. No wonder they complain about working 50-60 hours a week. If they would do their job and not rob their employer, they might actually get a raise at some point. Everyone knows who they are despite their denials.
Last job I had the boss let his buddy drop his pants during several in-office social gatherings. Funny stuff – not!
Actually Jessica, it is not the fault of older producers the way the Millenials are. Millenial’s attitudes are formed long before they get in the business. They are brainwashed by liberal professors in college, are Progressive politically and socially, think they know more than anyone else and don’t take constructive criticism well.
How do I know these things? Been there, done that with a couple of hires I made in the past. Despite all our efforts to train them properly, send them to producer development schools, they couldn’t cut it.
I don’t know about other agents, but one of my partners is a woman who started as a producer and worked hard, did the right things and advanced into a position of ownership and a successful career. Being a sales producer is a commitment few men or women are prepared to make, but it can be done.
you don’t see anything wrong condemning 80 million people based off your experience with, what, 3 millenials?
I met 5 people today who are 55 and were part of the KKK. Guess that means all baby boomers are racist white folks!
I also met Ted Kaczynski, Timothy McVeigh, Terry Nichols and Dylann Roof. Whoa, we must ALL be domestic terrorists then!
More importantly, older generations have been criticizing the younger generations as being lazy for centuries. I would bet the farm that people in their 50s and 60s were labeling the baby boomers in the same fashion when that generation was in their 20s.
I would imagine it is mostly because the next generation always has it easier than the current due to technological and societal advancements.
Kind of ironic when you think about it.
Agent, Jessica didn’t say that the older producers ‘made the millenials the way they are’. Her commentary was about the viewpoint older producers have toward millenials. Maybe some attitudes are based on experience, some are based on arrogance. Either way, it would be great if mentoring and partnerships were stronger across generations.
Sorry to disappoint you young troll, but I have plenty of experience dealing with Millenials. After all, the Millenial trolls on this site which number 20-30 regulars gives a good cross section of the mentality of a lot of them. Also sorry to disappoint you, but I did have one Millenial work out that I hired to be a producer. His personality is 100% better than yours. He accepted my training and seeks my advice all the time on business and has been successful enough that I made him a minority partner. As his volume grows, he will have a bigger stake in the agency. He is quite happy with that arrangement and will be the future of the agency at some point. See, I am not a Millenial hater as you suggest. I just can’t stand one with a terrible insulting attitude that you exhibit every day of the week.
Agent,
Good on you for overlooking a minute characteristic. Glad it worked out for you and the young man.
This should be a big tipoff on why insurance, and particularly the agency-side is facing a skills shortage despite an abundance of qualified candidates, because sadly a lot of people in the industry are like Agent.
Imagine a young person getting their foot in the door for low pay and they have to learn the industry, and deal with this totally uneducated, loud-mouthed, racist, sexist, ageist guy. Why would they stay?
Agent clearly discriminates based on age, which is illegal, but I bet if it went to court one day he wouldn’t show the same vigor for government intervention regarding age discrimination that he shows for intervention when it comes to anything he classifies as “price optimization”.
Hmmm… doesn’t take constructive criticism well? thinks they know everything?? who does this make you think of…….. I wonder?…
Agent, who are you addressing in your insulting diatribe?
Actually, I am a millennial, I have been in the insurance industry for almost 10 years, and went to a liberal college. Hell I got a degree in Liberal Arts! I can promise you my professors did not brainwash me. They taught to evaluate situation, research what has worked and hasn’t in the past, and not to blindly give respect just because it is ‘due’. But to find those who are worth mentoring and emulating and learn as much as you can from that person. I don’t know anyone who enjoys criticism, but I can tell you that from being young in sports, school, and now work I have had my fair share of it and learned from it, and I am sure I am not the only one.
@Godot I would LOVE to see more mentoring.
I.M., May I ask what part of the country you are from to have abhorrent, unacceptable behavior like you describe? I have been around for a while in this business and never heard of anything like this. Was your boss gay? You mentioned his buddy dropping his pants. This is a sign of no morals, no knowing right from wrong. Surprised they weren’t sued for sexual harassment by the female staffers.
Agent,
So, it is OK for you to accuse others of thumbing down someone else, but not anyone else? Hypocrite!
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troll. i’ve told you more than 12 times in 3 weeks i do not vote up or down. will you PLEASE stop incorrectly assigning blame to me on this voting nonsense? pretty please?
Agent,
Please provide your proof. If you can’t, then shut up!!
Agent, for the last time, I do not cast a vote out here either like or dislike.
Agent, plenty of people dislike what you have to say, not just Ron, Planet, and Confused. Not everyone has the time to sit and refresh the screen so they can give you a thumbs down.
^ this ^
Agent finished with, ” Many on this blog curse, insult and think they know everything and down vote anyone who disagrees.”
I’d like to point you to the sentence he started with, “Dan, I didn’t thumb you down for your comments, only Planet the dufus.” I think ‘dufus’ qualifies as an insult. Hypocrisy much, Agent?
but 98% attend their local Mosque…. most be some sort of relationship there….
the real, it should be required reading and viewing for all Millenials to look up Alexis Bloomer on Google and hear what she has to say about Millenials and she is one.
Yes, Alexis Bloomer… The real professional and expert on all Millenials. She really is the go-to source of reason and logic.
No concern of technology disruption?
Jeffrey – Can you please expand a little on what you mean? Thank you.
Sounds like young agents have the same pros and cons as older agents!
I don’t see how this list would be any different for the 40+ age group which I’m in.
Big Jim, you see it the same as I. As an agency owner, I have been dealing with these issues for 30 years. I probably get 20 emails a week with company changes in personnel, changing technology, rate changes, appetite changes in Commercial, Personal Lines changes etc. We also see the revolving door with underwriters, marketing reps, mergers of companies with new people to deal with. Some of the changes are positive, but much is also negative.
Some astute observations by relatively young agents. One negative thing I’d comment on. The revolving door in regards to insurance markets and their constantly evolving appetites. This can be avoided if the agents adopt smart buying habits. Stay away from “hot” markets who happen to have the best prices or terms at a certain point in time, but will not be sustainable. And go to the more stable markets with a more stable staff which may not have the best price in town, but are more likely to back up their deals over the long term. It involves some selling skills which go beyond getting “the best deal” and may involve some extra work, but then you avoid some of the volatility. Unfortunately there are a large number of agents (young and old) which take the path of least resistance and then complain about the mess they then find themselves in.
Dave, I am not sure there are stable markets out there these days. My #1 carrier was also stable for many years, we didn’t see a lot of rate fluctuation and we put a lot of good business with them. In 2014, they went off the deep end decided to take a lot of rate, re-tiered, re-scored all at the same time. That managed to run a lot of good business off for them. We went from a healthy growth rate to almost no growth in one year. They finally apologized and said they went too fast too soon and gradually went back to a more stable approach. Some actuary said it would be a good idea and the actuary was very, very wrong.
Agent,
More importantly than what the actuary said was that an executive OK’d the rates and the state approved them. Actuaries are foot soldiers, not decision makers. Maybe someday you will take the time to learn more about the insurance industry than sales pitches and word tracks.
Ron, I recommend that you take another course and learn something about agency management instead of actuarial tables which are the scourge of the industry. Actuaries sell their ideas to management and if management is too stupid, they approve it. Prime example is Price Optimization which is in trouble in a number of states. No wonder all the scrutiny. Those foot soldiers as you call them are idiotic.
yay! now management is stupid too, not just those dumb actuaries! is there any position within this industry besides your role that you won’t insult? are claim adjusters and SIU departments stupid too? what about appraisers, they’ve got to be idiots also, right? do you have ANY respect for any job in this industry besides people who do exactly what you do?
Agent,
When have I ever commented on agency management? Unlike you, I am self aware of my limitations and do not pretend to be an expert on topic of which I am not.
You need to speak less and listen more when it comes to insurance pricing and how the process works.
Agent, how exactly do you think insurance companies should estimate risk in order to set a price for their policy? You’ve made it clear you don’t believe in probability and statistics for doing this (nor do you understand them).
Also, why are you in favor of almost total government regulation when it comes to the pricing methods used by insurance companies, but complain non-stop when government is involved in anything else?
Regurgitating the same verbal vomit, Agent? How difficult is it for you to understand that insurance as a whole is a business based on statistics and actuarial information?! And please stop repeating the same crap about Price Optimization, Predictive Modeling, etc., etc. How do you believe that companies develop their rates? Pull the numbers out of a bingo basket? Get some new songs!
Dave,
The revolving door of underwriters happens in the stable markets as well. Hartford/Travelers/Chubb….we have underwriter and/or marketing changes at a minimum of annually even on these long time stable markets.
But overall, the list of pros and cons is the same with all producers, age has nothing to do with.
Actually I don’t know if I put Hartford and Travelers in the category of stable staff and appetite. I’m actually in the E&S space and I see the likes of them getting in and out of our space all the time, along with their staff. Chubb I agree has always been a stable underwriting company and a place people liked to spend their whole career. Not sure how the merger with ACE will impact that.
Godot and Confused, try to focus if you can. I know that is hard to do in a fit of rage. The article is still about young agents, what they like and don’t like about the insurance business. We know you are not agent’s by your language. Bug off. If you were to apply to be a young agent in my office, the first thing I would give you is a “Personality Test” that carriers recommend before hire. Both of you would fail immediately because of a poor attitude and no sales personality traits.
I focused on your post which was nothing more than an insult filled rant. There’s nothing worthwhile to respond to unless I want to trade insults with you, which I won’t do. Enjoy your weekend.
Oh, Agent, you are such good comic relief. If reading someone’s post allows another to be able to tell every characteristic, etc. about a person, yours speaks volumes. You are obviously a very unhappy man.
Godot, I am a lot happier in life than you, Confused, UW, Planet, Ron and a few others I can name. You are all very angry and unhappy and show it all the time on this blog. To show your anger, you downvote me 58 or more times since I disagree with your agenda.
Agent, yes, your happiness really shines through in your posts and attitude, etc. Whatever. And I didn’t down-vote you. It’s just not that important to me – it’s an insurance blog – not really anything to get that excited about. As mentioned before, there are plenty of people who find some of the things you say ridiculous. I only read your stuff for the laughs.
except for less vitriolic nonsensical agent posts on IJ, i couldn’t ask for anything else to make me happier in life!
Godot, have you ever had counseling for your Anger Management issues? I’m pretty sure that your cohorts haven’t since they continue to rant on every story. I would bet that none of you are “Agents” and are just the office help that blogs all day robbing your employer of work time. Don’t give me any more of your stories about how unfair your boss is making you work 50-70 hours a week.
Geez, Agent – you are truly an idiot. I have no anger management issues. I don’t get angry over your posts – that’s not worth my time. I get a good laugh out of your anger and attitude. I think it’s sad. And thankfully, as the owner of your own business, you are only cheating yourself and your partners. I’m not robbing time from anyone. And yes, I’ve been an agent for many, many years. You are such a blow-hard. Again, not angry, just humored. And I’m sure that your office personnel would be pleased to know that they’re just considered ‘the office help’ while you spend the amount of time you do on this blog, TownHall, and PropertyCasualty 360. I never gave you a story about how unfair it is that I work 50-75 hours a week – you make stuff up and just spew venom all the time. You make me laugh and shake my head at the same time.
So seriously, you are touting CHURCH as a measure of value in the young pioneers of our industry? Let me guess…. are you from Texas? (Or somewhere close?)
Joe,
How perceptive of you. He’s in Longview, actually. Along with Millenials, Muslims, “the blacks”, Mexicans, and Liberals, I forgot to mention he also hates homosexuals and North Easterners (mainly New Yorkers). Perhaps if my post wasn’t hidden, you wouldn’t need to see his church comment to know, given all his hatred, he must be from Texas. The guy lives on fear and Fox News. Stay tuned, he’ll be sure to provide you hours of entertainment out here.
I will say one good thing about him, he is very loving of his wife. And Agent, I do hope she is doing better.
I think Church/Religion does play a role in the moral values of the younger people. Families who regularly attend church learn morals at a young age. It doesn’t matter what religion it is, but the stories teach morals and values. It is sad that people are getting away from religion. I think this has an effect on how crime keeps growing and getting more horrific.
Go ahead and make jokes about Priests, and try to say radical islam counts as religion.
Mickey, good one. You are 100% correct. If young people don’t learn morals, values and what is right and what is wrong, they end up like many we see on this blog as little Progressive trolls who spout off all the wrong things. This is why they will never be in sales in the agency business whether it is captive or Independent. If they started spouting off their nonsense to a company rep or a customer, they would be quickly shown the door.
Do you mean like the good morals and values of Dennis Hastert?
Plus, church is a good source of prospects – at least the koffee klatches (or “Postum” klatches as the case may be)in addition to Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions, Elks, Masons,E Clampus Vitus…
nomesaneman, where do Atheist agents go for a good source of prospects? Would they try to sell to a Christian or avoid them altogether.
what a dumb question
Hmmmm, good question. Well, I figure a Christian insurance agent (but probably not a Christian baker)would likely sell to an atheist, so I suppose an atheist would probably not have any problem selling to a Christian, Moslem, or Buddhist. As to where an atheist goes instead of church, I speculate: probably a movie, a ballgame, an ACLU meeting, a picnic or a Unitarian gathering.
Joe,
How perceptive of you. He is in Longview, actually. Along with Millenials, Muslims, “the blacks”, Mexicans, and Liberals, I forgot to mention he also hates homosexuals and North Easterners (mainly New Yorkers). Given all his hatred, he must be from Texas. The guy lives on fear and Fox News. Stay tuned, he’ll be sure to provide you hours of entertainment out here.
I will say one good thing about him, he is very loving of his wife. And Agent, I do hope she is doing better.
Really very helpful post. We actually got to know about the pros and cons. And also about how do young Insurance agents think about it.
What I find interesting is, with the exception of dislikes #6 and #7, I’m not seeing much of a difference in these lists from when I joined the industry in 1986 and throughout my career.
I am a “Gen-X”er. I have lived my entire life with certain attributes subscribed to my generation. Most of which have proven themselves to be false. “Millennial’s” are seeing the same stereotyping. I am so very tired of the generalizing. People are different. They act and react in ways that are individual to their upbringing which can vary greatly even within the same family (ask my brothers).
My role as a trainer in both the Retail and Insurance sectors has exposed me to a great cross-section of people. Some of the hardest working people I know are Millennial’s, some of the most entitled happen to be Baby Boomers. Enough already.
A good portion of any industry is getting ready to retire at any time and yes, the insurance industry is seeing this at a higher percentage than others. Perhaps the goal of continued growth would be to work attract the attitudes and skill sets we want, not the age group.
Alicia, I believe we’re all different. And that no matter what age group there are a wide variety of types of people and lines of thinking in each. But I have to admit from what I see in the media in the younger generation there is a greater sense of entitlement than I’ve ever seen before. I understand it may not be a very scientific sample, but one sample that is pretty scientific are the million upon millions of voters behind the likes of Bernie Sanders promising trillions of dollars of “free” stuff to all. And the largest number of them are the Millennials. Granted, you may not be one of them, but many of your brethren are and rightly or wrongly you’re getting painted with the same brush. I will tell you as fact, most of the baby boomers are not buying the entitlement stuff Bernie is selling and far more of your generation is.
I have been a trainer for 25+ years. My experience of training hundreds of people of varying age, background, education, and overall goals is what I rely on – not politically motivated studies paid for by their own special interest groups.
Again, I am personally tired and finished with the generalities. I could certainly generalize and say that those of a certain age are luddites, but I know a few 20 something’s that do not embrace the internet age.
Those I work with are judged on their individual attitude and performance, not by the actions of those in their age group.
I would certainly hope that is how we are all evaluated, in business and elsewhere.
Alicia, here is a good question. Have you been out in the field selling insurance for some of the past 25 years? If not, how have you been training new agents on the profession? I suspect that you have been training CSR’s or other office trainees. I do commend you for judging people based on attitude and performance. Attitudes of some on this blog are not helpful in putting business on the books. More going out the back door than coming in.
Yes, I “sold” insurance for 9 years in addition to training responsibilities. However, I am not a sales person as my (personal and current professional) belief is that sales follow service. I’ve never “sold” a policy. I have provided coverage, education, and risk management. There is a difference. When I was “selling” insurance, this attitude put more business on the book than many of my fellow sales persons.
Alicia, someone in sales learns how to make calls, prospect, solicit accounts in order to “sell” the product. I think it might be difficult to service an account unless coverage was sold first. Good service, advice, education, risk management are good things and helps retain good accounts. I don’t think any successful sales person is an order taker or depends on call ins for success.
Dave, did I miss something here or is the article about Young Agents pros and cons about the business, what they like and what they don’t like? Some of these posters have no clue what an agent is or what he/she does to make a living. My first manager when I was a young producer laid it all out for me. He said, here is what you have to do to have a job and be successful. It was all up to me to accept the training and implement the plan, bring business in and then sell it and get the name on the bottom line with a check.
You are right about the entitlement issue and these people are not suited to sales. Perhaps technical jobs they are good at, but not sales.
Bernie Sanders has had the same message for 30+ years. And, he isn’t promising free stuff at all. He is going to ask for more in taxes to pay for it, see Denmark for an example. God forbid everyone be given an actual opportunity to succeed in this great country of ours.
Alicia,
I couldn’t agree more. Understanding the motivations of different types of people is important and necessary when running a business. However, artificially creating a divide between workers based on age groupings is in no way productive or helpful in any way. Improved technology has not changed our fundamental human psychology. There are going to be hard workers and lazy people in all sections of the workforce.
If anything the greatest impact that I have seen technology make is increased transparency tipping the scales to more balanced and fair workplace for individuals. It is just that any change, even good change, can be difficult for people (myself not excluded) and will never uniformly benefit everyone.
Doesn’t State Farm divide retiring agents among new agents? how is that working out
knowall, I have no idea what you are driving at with State Farm. Captives are a completely different animal than Independent Agents who represent many markets.
Doesn’t State Farm dole out the accounts to mutiple newbies when the agents retire? How is that working?
I suspect it’s working out pretty well. I believe one of the goals State Farm has by doing this, other than creating diversity in the agent force, is to focus these newer agents on other areas of the business. I agree with a previous poster – it’s not really about age, there’s great talent out there in every age group.
SW, yes, we have observed what State Farm has been doing for some time. They have focused on Financial Services, making car loans while neglecting their P&C core business. We have been picking up a lot of their business, particularly with all the bad publicity they got when they refused for nearly 10 years to refund overcharges in premium to their policyholders. They finally had to pay up belatedly.
Great article on pros/cons and very similar to what all agents say not just the Younger agents. What surprises me is all the negativity in the comments section. As a young agent or person considering getting in to this field of insurance – I would look at the comments and think I am not getting a support system to help me succeed. We as “older” agents need to support them, guide them and train them to uphold the ethics and values needed to be successful agents of the future. Now BACK to the article – I think another BIG ‘CON’ that was not listed is the constant barrage of negativity all agents are subjected to from the P.A.s, Attorneys, Media, etc… on how horrible the insurance companies are. The other problem is FRAUD. We need to be advocates for our industry and educate everyone about how fraud effects their rates.
Part of our job as agents is to educate consumers and anyone who will listen about how insurance works, instead of them learning from their neighbor, the internet and my favorite “I know this guy who said “
I’m glad that the every day insurance customer won’t read most of these comments or they would think they were buying insurance from children. Selling insurance comes with a huge responsibility especially the larger premium commercial cases. There are many agents/ brokers that make more than doctors and lawyers, so start acting like it and maybe you will do a better service to your customers. This forum smells of Geico agents.. Which equates to a low wage and IQ to match.. Grow up!!!
Martin – I am very disappointed that I can only “like” your comment one time.
CL, if you were as handy with the mouse as the Progressives on this site, you would upvote it 60 or more times while downvoting the opposition by the same amount.
martin, Hmm, I didn’t think of GEICO agents as a reason of their immature hateful remarks. It could be true, but I believe a majority of them are broker office help who couldn’t sell anything to the public in either Personal or Commercial Lines. You are right, they are children and should be ashamed of themselves.
Agent,
It’s adorable that you do not realize that you are one of the people to which Martin was referring.
You are one the very few people on this blog that actually sells insurance directly to the customer. In addition, GEICO agents do not make nearly as much as doctors and lawyers, but independent agents do.
Ron, we know you aren’t in sales since you admitted that you tried it for a short while, wasn’t suited to it (Shocker) and went on to doing other things. You don’t have the personality or the drive to bring in business and put it on the books. My guess is that you are an order taker. That is why you are perfectly happy sitting in your cubicle and pontificating on every subject on this forum.
Agent,
You said, “Ron, we know you aren’t in sales since you admitted that you tried it for a short while, wasn’t suited to it (Shocker) and went on to doing other things.”, which means that Martin was not referring to me.
I find it hysterical that you do not see any irony in your post. When do you find time to sell anything while you are posting more than anyone else on this blog? Must be nice to have your minimum wage minions doing all the work while you reap the rewards.
Ron, before I forget it, congratulations on your new job with GEICO in Buffalo. I understand they are expanding by 100 jobs and you got one of them. Man those headphones and get to work spreading the good news of Uncle Warren.
2,800 + 2,700 + 100 = 5,600
5,600 beats 4,000, right?
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/east/2016/05/03/407270.htm/?comments
Ron, So when is this “Old enough to know better supposed to kick in with you”?
Agent,
Since it has not happened for you yet, I am guessing at least another 20 years.
Ron, you are a bold faced liar of the first magnitude. No wonder you voted for Obama twice since you like all the lies he has been telling for almost 8 years. Yes, you admitted you didn’t like sales when you first tried it. Why am I not surprised? Are you going to deny failing at sales yet again?
i hope ron does not feed the troll.
agent – try to focus if you can. I know that is hard to do in a fit of rage. The article is still about young agents, what they like and don’t like about the insurance business
We certainly know that you, UW & Ron are very ill suited to be “agents” in the insurance business. If a company was stupid enough to fund a producer development program for you, they would be throwing their money away. The personality test would probably give you away as unsuitable for sales.
Yeah, well, you know, that’s just, like, your opinion, man.
-TD
The Dude makes an appearance on IJ – I love it!
“I’m just going to go find an ATM.”
glad someone got the reference. figured that was the best reply to stop the barrage of insults spewing from agent’s mouth, at least until it happens on another article.
Go away dummy. Every person you mentioned makes you look like a fool over and over again. You’re in a city of 80000 people, peddling tiny policies, totally ignorant about insurance, and act like you are making huge deals and selling billions of dollars of product. Go somewhere else because you’re ruining this site.
I’m worried about your already disturbing mental health when Trump loses.
I can explain it to you, but I can’t understand it for you!
I recently changed careers after almost 40 years in the business. The people at the agencies I worked for just got meaner and crueler and the foul language, abusive behavior by superiors and the hysterics exhibited by the other staff – just plain wore me out.
I.M., sorry for your experience. Changed careers after 40 years in the business? Why did you wait so long to get out? We don’t put up with that behavior at our agency. Owners, managers, CSR’s all get along well and do their job.
40 years is a long career. Hopefully most of it was good for you.
Dave, I know a number of agents around the state and we often see each other at conventions, seminars, company meetings, outings and are able to bounce ideas off of each other on Agency management, hiring of producers, staff etc. We all agree that we have to be very cautious making these decisions since it can be very costly to make a mistake. Even a good producer doesn’t break even on production for a couple of years even with the training they receive. Every one of them including me give them a Personality Test to see if they qualify for sales. Before I started doing that, I took a chance on a couple of young guys and got hit in the wallet pretty bad on advances in salary, benefits and they just weren’t going to make it at all. The one I did test and had positive results is now an agency partner. There is definitely a correlation on personality traits. Good ethics, morals, personality and being raised right by parents goes a long way in being successful.
Is this article the result of a survey that was sent out a few months ago geared toward young agents? I remember receiving something like that via email. As a young agent, I was interested what other young agents opinions are regarding their career path. Perhaps they are unrelated, either way… I began to read the comments because I was hoping for a little more information, only to be completely shocked and disappointed at what was being said and how people, who I can assume are insurance professionals are responding to one another. It was really just…sad… and that still does not encompass the rude, vulgar, ill spirited, negative…. it’s just not good folks. Is this how you would address your customers? or the attitude in which you would handle their business?
Darci, welcome to the blog of Progressives vs Conservatives which permeates every article IJ publishes. The rude ugly posts are by people not in insurance sales and frankly I have no idea how they got a job in this industry. This seems to be a product of how they were brought up and the education they received. Arrogant, insulting behavior is their mantra.
And yes, Darci, if you stick around long enough, you’d find that Agent is the worst of them. I stayed off this site for months hoping that he finally be gone. But, alas, with his last breath he’ll still spew his hot air … He is The King Of Trolls … I’ll go and hibernate for awhile, but I’ll have to keep checking in on Captain, and Ron, and Confused and all the other truly evolved human beings on here.
Darci, we will let you make up your own mind about who speaks the truth on this article. These dudes think it is cute to change monikers at the drop of a hat to spew their filth. The so called evolved mentioned are not even in insurance sales. They are unsuitable for it due to their personalities. Hard to believe they even have jobs in the insurance business.
Agent,
What’s your point? Do you really think I take the fact that I am not suited for sales as an insult? Do you honestly believe that sales is the only worthwhile job in our industry?
At least I know the insurance industry and how it works, not just how to regurgitate talking points from the carriers in order to convince people to hand over money.
Ron, I direct you back to the title of the article. I couldn’t care less if you couldn’t make it in sales. Agents are the hunters and you are the gatherer. You like to spout off like you know something and you know nothing as evidenced by who you voted for in the last two Presidential elections. Get lost!