I don’t who you are, that’s funny right there. They have themselves backed into a corner. They’ve ticked off most of the EA’s and IA’s that I know. Now they think they’ll dictate to IA’s what to do, what to sell, what they’ll be paid,and when they can go to the bathroom. I recently sold my stock because they’re just not in market anymore, I mean look at companies like Geico and Progressive that have bumped them out of where they once were. They can talk all they want about “relationships” and “partnerships”. They should have sized down when they left Sears and Roebuck.
They continue to try and spin non-sense to their captive agents. They’re shifting higher newer commission and taking away a chunk of renewal commission. Basically, write more business and make less money. It’s a short term play to jack up the stock price. Eventually, policyholders and stockholders will suffer when renewals continue to drop and recruitment of new agents dry up. You don’t hear any of the executives taking pay cuts, but that’s what they expect the majority of their sales force to do. Its a nightmare and typically corporate spin
.
It seems to me that it really does not pay to be an exclusive agent for Allstate. Your much more likely to be successful going independent because you can still sell their product but offer your client other alternatives.
I’ve been on both sides of the fence. Allstate Agency Owner 25 years. Independent 12 Yrs. NOT even close.
If you are looking to be a scratch Allstate Agency, DO NOT drink the Kool Aid as 1000’s have. Failure rate is absolutely HUGE ! 1000’s of ex Allstate Agents around the country have gone Independent and knocked it of the park. Ex Allstate Agents know how to do Insurance !!! They now have the respect they deserve, minus the stress ,anxiety that Allstate Creates in agency force.
Allstate and State Farm have been doing this for years. “Here, we have opened up the opportunity to SELL MORE, so we will just relieve you of those pesky renewal commissions that seem to take up your time.”
Ask ANY former captive insurance agent (now euphemistically known as a “producer”) that is now an independent WHY they are an independent. I’m one of them. Although there are typically dozens of reasons, they usually gravitate to two: I want to sell what I want without being obligated to sell their high-cost financial products, and I want to be able to offer choices and contrasting policies. Every single executive and manager of a captive company fails to understand that. Every one of them. Of course, they are drawing a paycheck without selling ANY of their product. NONE of them have ever sold anything. The only corporate execs that sold insurance are LONG GONE. Either independent themselves or out of the industry. Perfect example: the last corporate meeting that I attended was focused on our “new” contract that was “the most competitive in the industry.” It was higher new business commission (by a very few percentage points), lowered renewals which DISAPPEARED if you didn’t sell exceptionally high amounts of life insurance. I quickly canvassed a cross section of top performers from years past, and their numbers in those years would have produced at least 35% less income. I asked point the executive who designed the new contract if he had EVER sold a financial product to a client or if he had ever worked in a commission based occupation. He literally stared at me for a few seconds before asking ME what that had to do with anything? I was gone within three months, they had 50% turnover in less than a year, and he was fired. Last we heard, he was the new marketing VP for Circuit City…..about 18 months before they filed for Chapter 7.
Insurance Journal, STOP inviting these idiots to spout their opinions.
I don’t who you are, that’s funny right there. They have themselves backed into a corner. They’ve ticked off most of the EA’s and IA’s that I know. Now they think they’ll dictate to IA’s what to do, what to sell, what they’ll be paid,and when they can go to the bathroom. I recently sold my stock because they’re just not in market anymore, I mean look at companies like Geico and Progressive that have bumped them out of where they once were. They can talk all they want about “relationships” and “partnerships”. They should have sized down when they left Sears and Roebuck.
They continue to try and spin non-sense to their captive agents. They’re shifting higher newer commission and taking away a chunk of renewal commission. Basically, write more business and make less money. It’s a short term play to jack up the stock price. Eventually, policyholders and stockholders will suffer when renewals continue to drop and recruitment of new agents dry up. You don’t hear any of the executives taking pay cuts, but that’s what they expect the majority of their sales force to do. Its a nightmare and typically corporate spin
.
It seems to me that it really does not pay to be an exclusive agent for Allstate. Your much more likely to be successful going independent because you can still sell their product but offer your client other alternatives.
I’ve been on both sides of the fence. Allstate Agency Owner 25 years. Independent 12 Yrs. NOT even close.
If you are looking to be a scratch Allstate Agency, DO NOT drink the Kool Aid as 1000’s have. Failure rate is absolutely HUGE ! 1000’s of ex Allstate Agents around the country have gone Independent and knocked it of the park. Ex Allstate Agents know how to do Insurance !!! They now have the respect they deserve, minus the stress ,anxiety that Allstate Creates in agency force.
Allstate and State Farm have been doing this for years. “Here, we have opened up the opportunity to SELL MORE, so we will just relieve you of those pesky renewal commissions that seem to take up your time.”
Ask ANY former captive insurance agent (now euphemistically known as a “producer”) that is now an independent WHY they are an independent. I’m one of them. Although there are typically dozens of reasons, they usually gravitate to two: I want to sell what I want without being obligated to sell their high-cost financial products, and I want to be able to offer choices and contrasting policies. Every single executive and manager of a captive company fails to understand that. Every one of them. Of course, they are drawing a paycheck without selling ANY of their product. NONE of them have ever sold anything. The only corporate execs that sold insurance are LONG GONE. Either independent themselves or out of the industry. Perfect example: the last corporate meeting that I attended was focused on our “new” contract that was “the most competitive in the industry.” It was higher new business commission (by a very few percentage points), lowered renewals which DISAPPEARED if you didn’t sell exceptionally high amounts of life insurance. I quickly canvassed a cross section of top performers from years past, and their numbers in those years would have produced at least 35% less income. I asked point the executive who designed the new contract if he had EVER sold a financial product to a client or if he had ever worked in a commission based occupation. He literally stared at me for a few seconds before asking ME what that had to do with anything? I was gone within three months, they had 50% turnover in less than a year, and he was fired. Last we heard, he was the new marketing VP for Circuit City…..about 18 months before they filed for Chapter 7.
Insurance Journal, STOP inviting these idiots to spout their opinions.