| Hi, I came across your site as I started to do research on Farmers and what it takes to become an agent. I met a recruiter for Farmers and so far he's been pretty straight with me on everything that's expected for this position or at least I think he has. He told me to take it on as something part-time and to not make it a full-time thing or quit my job to do it. I thought that was pretty good advice of someone who genuinely wants you to test the waters first and not someone who's out to scam you. Anyway, he also told me that my only costs in being an insurance agent for Farmers would be the cost of getting licensed which is about $168 for the online classes for property and casualty and the cost of taking the test to be licensed. Then later on after I start doing a few auto and fire quotes, I could move on to life quotes which is where he said the money is.
Mod: Had to poke in right here because we all know the LIFE INSURANCE card has to be played as often as possible by all DM's and recruiters. The real money for them is in life insurance, not you. Your bread and butter is auto and home. If you choose to do so, commercial can be decent too. Life insurance is a waste of time. Dont even bother selling it. Learn about it, but dont sell it. Knowledge is power. Make sure you run everything they tell you through the True/Not True meter, dont get brainwashed.
The only cost I would really incur would be advertising fees in getting my name out there and letting people know I'm an agent.
Mod: If it were that easy, why wouldnt everyone want to be an Insurance Agent? Advertising is expensive. Cards are cheap though. The key here is, spend nothing on advertising. Buy cards and go talk to people. Learn how to do it and take that and apply it to your future business dealings, even if it isnt in insurance.
So, my questions are as follows...Has he been straight with me so far?
Mod: Honestly, not too bad. But I dont know the whole story. Ask the following in an email and do let us know what they say back!
- How much money can I expect to make per year in years 1-5 if i were to do this full time?
- How much money should I expect to invest including all expenses in my first 12 months, 24 months, 36 months, 48 months, 60 months?
- How much will my office expense be in my first 12 months, 24 months, 36 months, 48 months, 60 months?
- What is the failure rate of Reserve Agents in your district? Or how many of them graduate to be a Career Agent?
- How many Career Agents graduate to become a Full Time Agent?
- What is the Average Career Agent commission payout in your district per year?
- What is the average Full Time Agent Commission earned per year?
- How many average "Policies" are there per agent?
- What is the average amount of premium per policy?
- What new business commissions will I paid for each type of policy? Auto, Fire, Home, Term/Whole/Universal/Variable Universal Life?
- What residual or renewal commissions will I paid for each type of policy? Auto, Fire, Home, Term/Whole/Universal/Variable Universal Life?
- For what reasons can my career agent contract be cancelled?
I really don't want to pursue this as a career. In other words I don't want to be a full-time agent with my own office, district..etc. I just want an opportunity to do something extra on the side and that's it. I want to be a middleman for Farmers and nothing more. I really do not wish to invest anymore money or time than what it takes to get licensed and to get my name out there. Am I being realistic in expecting this? What's the difference between doing this @ Farmer's as opposed to any other insurance agency, say State farm for example. Would it be better time and money spent for me if say I were to do this for them?
Mod: Part time on a perminant basis. No, its a bad idea. Because Farmers has requirements. But you should use them for some training for a few months and leave. State Farm and Allstate are going to have different requirements. We're not sure about their programs at all. The best thing you could do is get a little training and decide if you even want to do it. Dont shell out any cash for now, just sit and listen to what they have to say. The do have some good education on things. Farmers, being one of the most difficult products to sell, if they can teach you how to sell that, you will be able to sell other insurance like wildfire.
As you can tell, I'm not very experienced with the insurance industry at all but from what I've read online it seems that Farmer's model is a scam and I'm just trying to figure out what makes their model different than other insurance agencies. They seem just as reputable as the others. Or is the whole insurance industry itself a scam? and I'm referring to working for them of course not as a consumer which is a whole other story. It just seems to me that insurance is a product that people need to purchase whether they'd like to or not, it's not like it's something you really have to push on them. So therefore I see as a good opportunity for me to make some extra money on the side. But if the unethical things that Ive read of online about Farmers are in fact true and if this is the way the insurance company itself works then perhaps I should look elsewhere. Just wanted to get your feedback on this and I'm hoping you could clear things up for me a bit more. Any info. would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Alan
Mod: The Farmers model is different from other captive companies like State Farm and Allstate etc. because:
- Farmers requires that you have NO PRIOR INSURANCE EXPERIENCE. The other companies are opposite.
- Farmers is always hiring new agents, other companies hire what they need
- Farmers needs new agents because it uses the "burn your friends and family" approach to doing business. Then passes those accounts on to the real agents in the district that make the money.
DM's love people that come on and wash out of the Reserve Program because it always means free policies to bait the other agents into writing more life insurance for them.
Email the list of 12 questions and let us know what they respond with!
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