Talk to me about expansion and adding LOA's

[KandKsmommy]

I just passed my 1st year as an agency owner. My two staff are studying for licensing. I made up a fair LOA contract, ensuring that they are working to build their books (I got screwed as an LOA). They are W2 and get a base pay and some benefits. Once they get licensed, they will get commission splits as well.

My focus has been Medicare and ACA with a tiny bit of life. Now that I have the support, I am working on growth. One employee does taxes, and she will be specializing in Life, LTC, and Annuities (with more than 20 years of tax experience, I feel she will be a great asset to head up the financial planning products). My original employee is going to be taking over my ACA and providing support for me with Medicare.

In hindsight, I probably added a second employee a little earlier than I should have (we anticipated a bigger tax season than we had). I took a cut in what I am pulling from the business, but I am not struggling. I ran my numbers, and between ACA, MAPD, and MS, I have over 850 clients currently.

I added some non-resident states this year for clients who have moved and didn't want to go to another broker. I want to slowly grow in these areas to make it more financially beneficial to have my non-resident.

I am trying to grow to be more of a full-service agency (except no P & C). I want to build my brand. I just don't know if I am on the right track. I am meeting with my FMO to talk growth strategy in July, but I would love to hear from some of you who have grown from the ground up.

For reference, I was a SHIP/CAC from Jan 2018-Dec 2020, LOA from Jan 2021 - April 2024, and Agency owner starting May 2024. So I have been in the industry for a number of years but only a broker for the last few, and I am in a very rural area (3 1/2 hours to the nearest Olive Garden, lol).

 

[FMOadvisor]

Here are some of the strategies that I used to grow my business and brand, maybe they will be useful to you.

Background – I was a P&C agent for about 20 years prior to adding Medicare products in 2008. I had no staff at all and a new baby at that time

• As soon as I saw how huge the opportunity was and how large the renewals were, I talked to EVERYONE I knew about it.
• Other P&C agents were the easiest to recruit and I provided them all with my 1099 from the first year (about 50K in Medicare commissions) to show them that they could easily add Medicare to their P&C business even if they had no staff support.
• Several people went to get their licenses who had no experience at all. Many of them started Medicare as a side job and eventually made it their full-time job – usually over a 3–5-year period.
• Fast forward 17 years later and I have 5 W2 employees and about 130 agents across the country. I am an FMO myself now operating in 47 states and have been for many years.

What helped me grow the most? By far it was NOT having LOA's. Every agent on my team and all my employees are street level agents (or higher). They all own their own books, and they are all paid directly by the carriers for all lines (ACA, Life, Annuities). My W2 employees get the extra benefits of a nice base salary, health insurance and a fully matched 401K. I get the added benefit of not being an accountant, I don't spend my time paying out commissions or collecting chargebacks.

Giving my agents a street level contract was just the first step. I encouraged all of them to recruit their own downlines and their own teams and that was absolutely the key to major growth. A handful of them are SGA's now with their own MGA's, GA's, and street level agents under them. Their success is my success.

Here are a few things that really made a difference in growth:

• Show up to every carrier meeting and cultivate relationships with the Broker Managers in the area. They often have leads or events to give to your new agents. They can also refer new agents to contract with your team
• Have a great upline. Our NMA upline is extremely supportive and they provide most of our technological needs at no cost to us.
• Don't be greedy, elevate your agents to at least a GA level as soon as possible so they can earn overrides even though you will earn less of an override. You will make it up in volume
• Recruit for language skills, and circles of influence if appropriate for your area. We have agents on my team who speak six different languages and bilingual agents tend to be highly successful in their community.
• Hire a marketing person who can manage your website and online presence. We get many leads using Google and Bing ads, and our website always has the latest information posted every week which also draws in leads. FIVERR is great resource for this.
• Look for partnerships with doctors, dentists, and large employers. Show them how you can help them get the coverage that their clients or employees need.
• Utilize and cultivate the unique strengths of agents on your team. Some are great on the phone; others give excellent group presentations. Focus on making them better at the skills that already make them happy and comfortable. Trying to force a crowd shy agent to do a group presentation is a recipe for failure.
• Above all, support your team. Answer the phone and reply to email every day. Set up events to recognize their achievements (like lunches or dinners) and give out awards. Everyone wants to be appreciated for the contributions that they make.

Good Luck!

 

[FMOadvisor]

I just passed my 1st year as an agency owner. My two staff are studying for licensing. I made up a fair LOA contract, ensuring that they are working to build their books (I got screwed as an LOA). They are W2 and get a base pay and some benefits. Once they get licensed, they will get commission splits as well.

My focus has been Medicare and ACA with a tiny bit of life. Now that I have the support, I am working on growth. One employee does taxes, and she will be specializing in Life, LTC, and Annuities (with more than 20 years of tax experience, I feel she will be a great asset to head up the financial planning products). My original employee is going to be taking over my ACA and providing support for me with Medicare.

In hindsight, I probably added a second employee a little earlier than I should have (we anticipated a bigger tax season than we had). I took a cut in what I am pulling from the business, but I am not struggling. I ran my numbers, and between ACA, MAPD, and MS, I have over 850 clients currently.

I added some non-resident states this year for clients who have moved and didn't want to go to another broker. I want to slowly grow in these areas to make it more financially beneficial to have my non-resident.

I am trying to grow to be more of a full-service agency (except no P & C). I want to build my brand. I just don't know if I am on the right track. I am meeting with my FMO to talk growth strategy in July, but I would love to hear from some of you who have grown from the ground up.

For reference, I was a SHIP/CAC from Jan 2018-Dec 2020, LOA from Jan 2021 - April 2024, and Agency owner starting May 2024. So I have been in the industry for a number of years but only a broker for the last few, and I am in a very rural area (3 1/2 hours to the nearest Olive Garden, lol).

 

[DonP]

Good luck .

Here are some of the strategies that I used to grow my business and brand, maybe they will be useful to you.

Background – I was a P&C agent for about 20 years prior to adding Medicare products in 2008. I had no staff at all and a new baby at that time

• As soon as I saw how huge the opportunity was and how large the renewals were, I talked to EVERYONE I knew about it.
• Other P&C agents were the easiest to recruit and I provided them all with my 1099 from the first year (about 50K in Medicare commissions) to show them that they could easily add Medicare to their P&C business even if they had no staff support.
• Several people went to get their licenses who had no experience at all. Many of them started Medicare as a side job and eventually made it their full-time job – usually over a 3–5-year period.
• Fast forward 17 years later and I have 5 W2 employees and about 130 agents across the country. I am an FMO myself now operating in 47 states and have been for many years.

What helped me grow the most? By far it was NOT having LOA's. Every agent on my team and all my employees are street level agents (or higher). They all own their own books, and they are all paid directly by the carriers for all lines (ACA, Life, Annuities). My W2 employees get the extra benefits of a nice base salary, health insurance and a fully matched 401K. I get the added benefit of not being an accountant, I don't spend my time paying out commissions or collecting chargebacks.

Giving my agents a street level contract was just the first step. I encouraged all of them to recruit their own downlines and their own teams and that was absolutely the key to major growth. A handful of them are SGA's now with their own MGA's, GA's, and street level agents under them. Their success is my success.

Here are a few things that really made a difference in growth:

• Show up to every carrier meeting and cultivate relationships with the Broker Managers in the area. They often have leads or events to give to your new agents. They can also refer new agents to contract with your team
• Have a great upline. Our NMA upline is extremely supportive and they provide most of our technological needs at no cost to us.
• Don't be greedy, elevate your agents to at least a GA level as soon as possible so they can earn overrides even though you will earn less of an override. You will make it up in volume
• Recruit for language skills, and circles of influence if appropriate for your area. We have agents on my team who speak six different languages and bilingual agents tend to be highly successful in their community.
• Hire a marketing person who can manage your website and online presence. We get many leads using Google and Bing ads, and our website always has the latest information posted every week which also draws in leads. FIVERR is great resource for this.
• Look for partnerships with doctors, dentists, and large employers. Show them how you can help them get the coverage that their clients or employees need.
• Utilize and cultivate the unique strengths of agents on your team. Some are great on the phone; others give excellent group presentations. Focus on making them better at the skills that already make them happy and comfortable. Trying to force a crowd shy agent to do a group presentation is a recipe for failure.
• Above all, support your team. Answer the phone and reply to email every day. Set up events to recognize their achievements (like lunches or dinners) and give out awards. Everyone wants to be appreciated for the contributions that they make.

Good Luck!

I've seen your info before and you seem sharp . Aren't you worried what happens with the pending cms lawsuit moving forward to ax admin overrides and marketing funds? What about the justice dept lawsuit targeting marketing money bribes to the big call centers from Some big carrriers ? Mapd carriers under immense profit pressures . It just seems naive to me that carriers won't start at least attacking these massive overrides and marketing money they'e paying fmo's . And possibly lower agent comp . I think it's being blind to think agents and fmo's aren't going to suffer along with carriers and Medicare members . It's just feels like a massive gold rush as agency's recruiting 1000's of loa agents to sell over the phone . 2026 aep and what happens will be interesting

 

[KandKsmommy]

Thank you for the helpful advice FMOadvisor

I provide very good benefits and a flexible work environment. Their base pay exceeds most other employers in my area. I plan to offer incentive trips starting next year and I do bonuses.

They have ownership of their books and should they choose to leave I will sign them over. My hope is to provide a workplace that you don't want to leave.

I love being a broker and I want to train others so that everyone can get the extra assistance we provide. I have grown my business by going above and beyond with helping to apply for grants, prescription assistance, premium assistance, etc.

I don't want clients to worry or feel pressured. I want them to understand how their insurance works and I want to make sure they can get the care and medications they need.

DonP I have no desire to get to call center level and quality. I am diversifying the business with the additional focus on other products lines. Medicare and ACA are my passion.

I could not get commercial insurance before Obama Care because of all of my pre-existing medical conditions. I know what it feels like to skip appointments and medications because they are unaffordable. I had a Patient Financial Advocate assist me with getting help programs because after 2 years with no treatment or meds I was in severe congestive heart failure at 24. I feel my work is paying it forward.

I started helping in a hospital setting as a Patient Financial Advocate and I got trained in Medicare because I was seeing all of my patients getting tricked into MAPD because they were sold on the OTC or DVH and told no no they were just getting added benefits not changing insurance.

I saw patients struggle to get medications and face multiple hospitalizations as a result. I left the hospital when they wanted to discontinue the patient assistance program I had started. I can now continue to offer those services and more. I want to grow so I can help more people.

 

[sbg_ben]

I just passed my 1st year as an agency owner. My two staff are studying for licensing. I made up a fair LOA contract, ensuring that they are working to build their books (I got screwed as an LOA). They are W2 and get a base pay and some benefits. Once they get licensed, they will get commission splits as well.

My focus has been Medicare and ACA with a tiny bit of life. Now that I have the support, I am working on growth. One employee does taxes, and she will be specializing in Life, LTC, and Annuities (with more than 20 years of tax experience, I feel she will be a great asset to head up the financial planning products). My original employee is going to be taking over my ACA and providing support for me with Medicare.

In hindsight, I probably added a second employee a little earlier than I should have (we anticipated a bigger tax season than we had). I took a cut in what I am pulling from the business, but I am not struggling. I ran my numbers, and between ACA, MAPD, and MS, I have over 850 clients currently.

I added some non-resident states this year for clients who have moved and didn't want to go to another broker. I want to slowly grow in these areas to make it more financially beneficial to have my non-resident.

I am trying to grow to be more of a full-service agency (except no P & C). I want to build my brand. I just don't know if I am on the right track. I am meeting with my FMO to talk growth strategy in July, but I would love to hear from some of you who have grown from the ground up.

For reference, I was a SHIP/CAC from Jan 2018-Dec 2020, LOA from Jan 2021 - April 2024, and Agency owner starting May 2024. So I have been in the industry for a number of years but only a broker for the last few, and I am in a very rural area (3 1/2 hours to the nearest Olive Garden, lol).

Did you acquire that many clients in one year or did you bring some over form when you were a LOA? Are many of them local to your very rural area? I'm also curious about how you acquired those clients..

It sounds like you are doing great to me, best of luck to you on expanding.

 

[KandKsmommy]

Did you acquire that many clients in one year or did you bring some over form when you were a LOA? Are many of them local to your very rural area? I'm also curious about how you acquired those clients..

It sounds like you are doing great to me, best of luck to you on expanding.

So I actually had to buy my LOA BOB. When I signed on the deal was I would work my butt off to build my book and that the boss would sign it over if they wanted to retire or leave the business. I work 70-80 hours a week every AEP and 40-60 the rest of the year. I had a base plus commission split. I requested to be salary (but did not know I was not being paid our states minimum). When it came time to sign things over, instead of following our agreement, I was forced to buy them out.

My first year as a SHIP/CAC I worked with like 50 people, second year 100, third year 150. My clients who were with me as SHIP/CAC followed me when I became a broker, so I got a head start.

I grew organically from there and technically will be in my 8th AEP this year if you count my years as a SHIP/CAC.

90 percent of my business is in the immediate area, and our valley has around 15,000 residents total. The majority of our population is older. I now have clients in a few other states as well (ME clients that moved and their friends).

My success is a result of having a great working relationship with all of the local providers and pharmacies. I offer patient assistance to everyone regardless of their status as a client. I help with applications for all kinds of assistance that helps take the pressure off the providers (yes, I could refer them to Prescription Hope, but why have them pay when I can do it). This has also resulted in providers and hospital systems downstate sending referrals, because they heard we offer help.

I highly suggest taking the advocate courses on needymeds.org and getting familiar with grant foundations like Healthwell.

I struggle with feeling like I am not doing enough. I need to stop watching YouTube videos with the get rich quick guys, lol.

 

[sbg_ben]

So I actually had to buy my LOA BOB. When I signed on the deal was I would work my butt off to build my book and that the boss would sign it over if they wanted to retire or leave the business. I work 70-80 hours a week every AEP and 40-60 the rest of the year. I had a base plus commission split. I requested to be salary (but did not know I was not being paid our states minimum). When it came time to sign things over, instead of following our agreement, I was forced to buy them out.

My first year as a SHIP/CAC I worked with like 50 people, second year 100, third year 150. My clients who were with me as SHIP/CAC followed me when I became a broker, so I got a head start.

I grew organically from there and technically will be in my 8th AEP this year if you count my years as a SHIP/CAC.

90 percent of my business is in the immediate area, and our valley has around 15,000 residents total. The majority of our population is older. I now have clients in a few other states as well (ME clients that moved and their friends).

My success is a result of having a great working relationship with all of the local providers and pharmacies. I offer patient assistance to everyone regardless of their status as a client. I help with applications for all kinds of assistance that helps take the pressure off the providers (yes, I could refer them to Prescription Hope, but why have them pay when I can do it). This has also resulted in providers and hospital systems downstate sending referrals, because they heard we offer help.

I highly suggest taking the advocate courses on needymeds.org and getting familiar with grant foundations like Healthwell.

I struggle with feeling like I am not doing enough. I need to stop watching YouTube videos with the get rich quick guys, lol.

Interesting, thanks for sharing. I always like hearing other peoples stories. I will need to look into this prescription hope thing. I have a client who was told it would be $800 to pick up their Prolia from the pharmacy. It looks like it is on prescription hopes website. So maybe I should send them to that site, if they could get it for $60 they would be incredibly happy.

I will look into the needymeds.org and Healthwell thing as well. Do you have any ideas for resources when people ask you about Medicaid or ways to learn more about Medicaid? I'm in MI.

 

[KandKsmommy]

Interesting, thanks for sharing. I always like hearing other peoples stories. I will need to look into this prescription hope thing. I have a client who was told it would be $800 to pick up their Prolia from the pharmacy. It looks like it is on prescription hopes website. So maybe I should send them to that site, if they could get it for $60 they would be incredibly happy.

I will look into the needymeds.org and Healthwell thing as well. Do you have any ideas for resources when people ask you about Medicaid or ways to learn more about Medicaid? I'm in MI.

 

[KandKsmommy]

So I would pull Prolia up on Needymeds and offer to help with the application. It will save her the $60 a month and you will have your biggest cheerleader if she gets approved. It cost you nothing but time to do the application and working with her provider to get their part filled out will make you look good in their eyes and get you referrals.

As for Medicaid, from the looks of it MI Bridges has a lot of helpful info https://newmibridges.michigan.gov/s/isd-help-learning-tools?language=en_US

It also lists community partners that help with benefit navigation. I would suggest reaching out to a local one and asking if they can help you understand the program more. I am sure they will be more than happy to help you learn more.

I don't know the ins and outs of every Medicaid program in my state because there are so many, but I took our local training years ago to address the main ones I deal with. I also help with those applications because it results in referrals from my local DHHS.

I do 0 traditional marketing, and I do not buy leads. I get out in my community and sponsor things like charity walks. I get swag from my carriers, and I make up bags for the local food banks and homeless organizations. You need to differentiate yourself and show the community why they should come to you and not Joe down the street.