Impossible to get appointments!

[Iwillmakeit]

It will be nice to get some tips or help instead of arguing about in which side of the forum I will get a better response, thank you

 

[fed up]

Did you reach out to the 2 I offered? Most companies will want to see last years's or 2 years business. Try Auto Owners Insurance as well. Once you land one some others will follow trying to get a piece of your pie.

 

[marindependent]

Frankly, if you are a new agency - I would abandon the idea of getting direct P&C appointments for the first five years. [Yes you will find a carrier here and there] Its not worth the time and effort. [Please trust me, I have been through this]
I highly suggest you shop clusters or aggregators. There is lots of information on this forum on aggregators. Just about every independent agency startup has their favorite.

I would not be where I am now, without my backbone aggregator, period, end of statement.
A good aggregator will supercharge your sales efforts, will give you support and direction on complex situations, allow you to meet other agents in your shoes, provide much broader market access, explain to you the intricacies of running an independent [vs a captive] agency.

The aggregator is the first step, direct appointments is about the tenth.

 

[Iwillmakeit]

But how you deal with the non-compete agreements where they don't let you get direct carriers appointments for 2 years after the contract ends.

 

[fed up]

A non-compete cannot stop you from earning a living, it can only stop you from going after the business that you wrote with the carrier. It should be labeled a non-rollover agreement and you are going to get that if you sign with one carrier or 5. They don't want you to flip your book

 

[Life Hawk]

It will be nice to get some tips or help instead of arguing about in which side of the forum I will get a better response, thank you

Try the FE forum, those guys can give you real and honest feed back.

 

[Warrior]

You may need to get into a cluster or Aggrigator to get into companies. Email me and I'll send you a few cluster/aggrigators that are in your area.

 

[peewee]

You will probably need to join a cluster group - there are many of them out there. You can also check out mynewmarkets.com where carriers advertise looking for production, not all are responsive and not all will give you an appointment without promising them a kidney but some will. You can also join Big I and gain access to a lot of carriers you could not get an appointment with on your own. The cost is $468 a year but well worth it for the access. Some cluster groups have a hefty sign on cost others less, some are free. Do your research because it's not always easy to get out of that relationship later on. Stay away from Farmers - they are captive and have such high prices you cannot make a living if you can make it through the first two years as a reserve. In fact, stay away from all captives - after 24 years I wish I had known then what I know now, but better later than never. Good luck and don't pay any attention to the negative comments they are always to be found in forums.

 

[MASSAGENT1233]

I am a P and C agent active in my State Association MAIA
Since you are in New York you have a great option.
Home | DeForest Group
My buddy has used them in MA since 2008. I have been lucky to by some small agencies and have been able to get my own appointments.
from Website
Do you work with startups?
Yes, we work with agencies of all sizes including startups.

 

[MASSAGENT1233]

buy not by