Agents Marketers | The Free Agent Marketing Guide

Right Place, Right Time, Wrong Carrier.

Knowing who the good guys are is just as important as anything else in insurance. Just because one carrier has the best rates hands down doesn't mean that you're doing the best thing for your client or yourself for that matter. You may be celebrating a good production week on a Friday afternoon only to find that Monday morning everything went south.

Submitting twenty-five applications is not a bad week's effort. Finding out that your favorite carrier declined 17 of them says you need to find another favorite carrier. Some carriers are more reasonable than others. If your carrier is not accepting at least 85% of your good clean business then you need to switch in a hurry.

Declinations for your client look bad and are bad. No commissions in your EFT are just as bad. Do the right thing for your client first. Get them through a company that wants their business.

That's The Highest Commission Rate I Ever Lost Money On.

Comparing each of the carriers on commissions is like comparing pickles, tomatoes and Fig Newtons. Just because they offer you a higher commission doesn't mean it's all going into your pocket. Many of the major medical plans will have an association part of the policy that is included in the premium when you design the policy.

Guilty By Association.

The association allocation of the monthly premium can represent sometimes 30 to 50%. Just because the monthly premium is $350 doesn't necessarily mean that it's all commissionable. You may only be paid on $200 of that. Some companies pay on the association part and some don't. Keep this in mind when you are looking at your commission statements and tracking down your EFT deposits. It's good to know that in advance. If you find that it's the same company turning down most of your cases then the decision to switch just got a little easier, didn't it?

No Reservations.

The fact that that a few clients cancel their policies after just a few short months is purely that. A fact. Sometimes after they purchase a policy a friend of a friend that knows somebody that has a friend in the business will intervene. They may put them into a real horror of a policy to save them $14 and 32 cents per month and is tragic on paying claims. Realize that this will happen to you and keep some money in reserve for this.