Cluster Help for Independent.

[txh]

I am currently P&C licensed looking to start a independent agency with just myself starting out. I currently own 2 restaurants and do have the funds to start this and would not need it to make a profit at first- but as always, the sooner the better. Could someone please help me out with info on clusters. I have zero experience selling insurance, are there any clusters that will take an agency with this experience? I know I will get bashed for this but I do not plan to work for anyone else, not even starting off after already being self employed. I have sold real-estate out of college and plenty of jobs cold-calling before entering the food industry. My wife would run the restaurants until we could potentially sell one when the time comes that I can turn a profit with the agency. Any help on entry level clusters or any other information you believe would help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

 

[shawnmwalker]

TXH,

In the spirit of transparency Premier has a program.

There are a lot of good Clusters out there. Do your homework. Clusters range from Good, Better, and Best.

Clusters must deliver on four main categories or they are not providing their number one client (The Agent) what they should.

Qualitative: (Hard to define. Call 20-30 of the groups agents and try to define as well as you can. Don't call the agents they tell you to call, find a list of their agents online and call at random. This takes time so maybe do this with your finalists.)

1. Transparency- Open lines of communication regarding all the additional compensation the group is receiving.
2. Carrier alignment- the access you need to succeed. Access the correct way.
3. Training and support- This one should carry a lot of weight to you given your lack of experience in the industry. And sadly too many groups fail to build out this resource/ deliverable to the new agent. (Which is crazy, because even if a group brings on nothing but former captives and existing agents (Which is a large % of what we bring on, there is still a significant learning curve to Independence) A % of our new agents are Newly licensed agents. We control that %.


Quantitative:
4. The Contract-

Lots of agents take a look at the contract and jump. Take the time to vet out the other three prongs. #1 mistake of agents as they prospect groups. They go with the Quantitative variables and don't vet the hard to define qualitative variables. I am no fool, the quantitative makes up 80% of the decision, but make sure you get a great understanding of the other 20%.

Give me a call, lets talk about what you are looking for and what is right for you. May be a franchise. May be a group with backend service center (Lose significant % of the commission). Call me, lets talk... Then, I'll point you a few directions.

 

[AverageJoe]

TXH, In the spirit of transparency Premier has a program. There are a lot of good Clusters out there. Do your homework. Clusters range from Good, Better, and Best. Clusters must deliver on four main categories or they are not providing their number one client (The Agent) what they should. Qualitative: (Hard to define. Call 20-30 of the groups agents and try to define as well as you can. Don't call the agents they tell you to call, find a list of their agents online and call at random. This takes time so maybe do this with your finalists.) 1. Transparency- Open lines of communication regarding all the additional compensation the group is receiving. 2. Carrier alignment- the access you need to succeed. Access the correct way. 3. Training and support- This one should carry a lot of weight to you given your lack of experience in the industry. And sadly too many groups fail to build out this resource/ deliverable to the new agent. (Which is crazy, because even if a group brings on nothing but former captives and existing agents (Which is a large % of what we bring on, there is still a significant learning curve to Independence) A % of our new agents are Newly licensed agents. We control that %. Quantitative: 4. The Contract- Lots of agents take a look at the contract and jump. Take the time to vet out the other three prongs. #1 mistake of agents as they prospect groups. They go with the Quantitative variables and don't vet the hard to define qualitative variables. I am no fool, the quantitative makes up 80% of the decision, but make sure you get a great understanding of the other 20%. Give me a call, lets talk about what you are looking for and what is right for you. May be a franchise. May be a group with backend service center (Lose significant % of the commission). Call me, lets talk... Then, I'll point you a few directions.

What PL carriers do Florida agents have?