January 16, 2009
An anonymous independent agent posted a responce to my comment: “My advice: if you want to work in sales, find a more lucrative profession.”
His experience:
I own an independent agency and my renewal premium is approximately 6 million, generating over $1 Million in commission annually. Your points may have some validity, but there are not many sales jobs that I’m aware of that provide: A)RENEWALS, B)GROWTH OPPORTUNITY, C)BUSINESS CONTINUATION
Please point out a sales job that in your mind would be as or more rewarding. Many of my friends are in real estate and financing, and they are busting their hump non-stop to keep bringing in new clients while I work on my tan at the golf club.
Yes, I have been in business almost 20 years. However, I started as a scratch agent with nothing. Sorry to come across as rude on my post, but your advice on finding a better sales job irritated me.
Here is my advice on how to grow your agency quickly, and closely mirrors my own experiences.
1)Start at a captive company, but make sure it’s one where you are salaried and not paid on a “loan.” You’ll learn the ins and outs of auto/home policies, and get good training on life/di/ltc sales.
2) Join NAIFA and be actively involved. Meet other successful agents and take some professional courses.
3) After you feel you have your feet solidly on the ground, start making the move to the independent world. Start your own agency, but don’t pick a name like “John Smith Insurance Agency.” Choose a name that you can create a brand around if you decide to get bigger or open franchise agencies.
4) Partner with an existing successful agency that has a good loss ratio and lots of carrier appointments. See if he will work out an arrangement to bring you on in return for a cut (10-15%). The agreement should call for his cut to reduce as your book grows. I had a break-point at $1 Mil, 2 Mil, etc… At $4 Million I could completely split on my own and owe him nothing. With enough good business on the books you’ll have no problem getting your own appointments.
5) Hire agents underneath you to sell and CSR’s to service clients.
How to get this big quick? Buy LOTS of leads when you start at the captive carrier. Most will co-op the cost of the leads or pay for them entirely. Keep these leads in your own database.
Once you are on the independent side, your odds of placing every piece of business you quote are around 9 out of 10. Work your existing leads as well as buy new ones. When you write new clients, make sure to send thank you’s, BDay cards, Christmas, etc… and don’t be afraid to ask for referrals. You should set a goal to get at least 1 referral out of every 2 new clients you write.
My average annual premium is about $1800 per year for auto/home, so to write $50,000 per month in new premium, you only need to write about one new client per day to hit that goal. You’ll also pickup life and commercial opportunities along the way.
If you’re working 8-10 hour days, you have 8-10 hours to find ONE PERSON to write. Not that difficult to avg 5-10 per week.
As you get bigger you should hire other agents that can use your agency name to write business. Offering them their own book at 15% cut like you had is a good starting point. Just be careful about who you hire.
I found this site accidentally the other day. The idea of finding a better sales job blows my mind and caused me to make a post.
Thanks for the input anonymous .. drop me a note if you’d like your agency link posted.
Who would you reccomend buying the leads from? Would you target P&C or Health?
Looking at starting my own agency in WI through a broker. No Ins. Sales but 20 years of outside B2B sales.
Thanks,
Randy
I’m fresh out of college and I come from a family of three active Farmer’s Insurance agents. I’m currently working as a producer under my father. What next few steps are entirely crucial for me? Also, how can I learn the quickest? I’m currently working under a roof off all three agencies, but feel as though I’m not learning enough as quickly as I’d like to. I’m extremely determined to build a rock-solid foundation of my own cliental as soon as possible.
Well, if your licensing and appointments are in order, I’d say there is nothing quite like experience. Get started meeting people and writing business. Sales is a numbers game, you quote a percentage of the people you meet, you sell a percentage of the customers you quote. You’ll need to figure out how to meet enough people.
Make sure you learn to use your father and brothers for what they have: experience and credibility. Some grey hair goes a long way in this business. Remember, a split of some commission is better than 100% of no commission
As a captive or semi-captive agent, an important concept I learned when I was new was this:
Sell policies your companies want to you to sell, don’t chase business your companies don’t want. I wasted alot of time trying to write business my companies where not interested in.
Next, learn good business practices from the get go. Insurance polices are legal contracts; if your paperwork is not spot on, you’re flirting with trouble. Do it right and don’t cut corners. I’ve never met a 30 year agent with sloppy paperwork.
Finally, follow good, successful (and positive) people around and see what they’re doing. After you’ve seen successful people do their thing, don’t be afraid to incorporate what works for you and make it your style. Be creative in your approaches, use what works and discard what doesn’t. Find your own groove in marketing and sales.
Good luck, and take some joy in your work.