Imagine a shoe store that only sells even number sizes. Unfortunately, you wear a size 9. The salesperson, who may or may not be honest, will try to tell you that they have something "close enough" for what you need. You try on the shoes and they are either too big or too small. The salesperson is limited in what he or she can sell, so they are going to try to get you to purchase what they have on hand.
In the insurance world, we have captive and independent agents. Captive agents typically are contracted to work with one company (unless that company has an agreement with another carrier) and are not allowed to shop around with other carriers. Typically, these are companies that carry your home and auto, but not always.
Why would an agent want to be captive? One reason is that you only need to learn one set of products, so you don't get spread too thin. Also, the company will normally provide supplies, office space and other perks, like training meetings and coaching. Sometimes they will even offer a salary or a draw for the first few months. This is great for a new agent trying to get their feet wet in the business. The downside is that the commissions are lower. A lot lower.
On the other hand, an independent agent works on their own, paying for their own overhead and making larger commissions. But the offerings to the client are much more expansive, as these agents can shop around literally hundreds of companies to find the "shoe" that fits the clients precise needs.
I knew a couple of agents years ago that ran a captive office. They loved to talk trash about whole life insurance, mainly because their company didn't carry it. I'm not a huge fan of whole life, but there are times when it fits the bill, so I make sure I have a couple of good carriers at my disposal when I need it. These two didn't have that luxury, as they only sold term and universal life.
Don't get me wrong, some of my favorite people do well as captive agents. And when I show them what I can offer my clients they usually look surprised. Few of them offer indexed universal life, so when I explain to them how it works I get mixed reactions, from slight envy ("I wish we offered that") to outrage ("This is obviously a horrible product or we would sell it!").
An older agent once summed it up as follows. "Captive agents work for a company that can fire them. Independent agents work for the client and can fire the company if they don't treat the client well."
As you can see, we at Surf Financial Brokers are independent agents. We don't have a sales manager whispering in our ears about hitting sales quotas or any obligation to any of our carriers. Simply put,we enjoy having he resources to get the right size shoe on the foot in a comfortable and affordable way.
Stay healthy and let us know if you need anything.
Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, as well as a professional speaker helping sales people be more productive and efficient.
No comments:
Post a Comment