by Guest » Thu Mar 11, 2010 09:47 pm
I hope to bring more balance to all of the blogs on Senior Healthcare Consultants by sharing my experience with the company.
I’ve been a successful businessman. When I first looked at this opportunity, I researched the company’s website, saw their good rating with the Better Business Bureau, went through the interview process, and came to the conclusion that this was a solid company forging a path to help seniors with their Medicare needs. My wife is my eternal partner; I shared all of the information about the company with her before making any decision. After my interview, I ran into some blogs that had negative comments about the company. It concerned me enough to reconsider my decision to move forward with the company. I shared this negative information with my wife; we carefully went through each of the complaints of long hours, quality of the appointments, 1099, investment into your own business, travel, etc… and determined that each of these points were clearly discussed as part of the interview process. At this critical point in my decision, my wife asked me, “If we were having marital problems, would we seek counsel from someone that has been divorced 4 times?” She was asking me to evaluate the information and place more credence on the information that came from the people that were successful in the company.
It was the best advice that she could have given me. I’ve been a top producer in the company. I learned my presentation, kept up with my training to become more knowledgeable about Medicare, the products we offer and our competition, ran every appointment that I was given, traveled all over the state, took advantage of the tools the company provides, made every minute of every day count, always had the attitude at the end of the day to see just one more prospective client; in short, I ran the system. Every step of the way there were so many people who were there to help me build my business, many of whom had no financial benefit in doing so. That is the heart of this company: to bend over backwards to help people, not to get rid of them as some on here might suggest. In 18 months I had a significant book of business that paid me well in commissions and renewals.
Because I followed our system I was successful and management opportunities came to me very quickly. I’ve been a top trainer and a top interviewer, both opportunities added more money to an already good income stream.
There is nothing further from the truth to those that claim that the company is trying to get rid of you. After 3 years in the field, my production started to slow down. I didn’t want to admit it, but I was burning out. When management saw this, they again came to me and suggested options designed to help me and further my opportunity, in this case I felt my best option was to get more involved in management and less involved in production. They were helping me preserve my vesting with the company. They valued the experience I gained by following our system and asked me to contribute in other ways. I was able to maintain my dignity and my income stream.
I’ve been very fortunate to find this opportunity with Senior Healthcare and I can truly say that I love this business and those that are a part of it. I normally wouldn’t waste my time responding to these blogs but I felt compelled to do so in defense of an amazing opportunity. I also decided to respond due to my personal experience and the fact that I almost made the mistake of not pursuing this opportunity with Senior Healthcare. It takes a special person to be successful in anything you do in life. If you’re that special person that understands nothing worth anything is free, that there is no entitlement, that you will have to work for every penny you earn, that you’re willing to do whatever it takes (ethically) to be successful, then don’t let these blogs deter you from making the best decision of your life.
I’ve been a successful businessman. When I first looked at this opportunity, I researched the company’s website, saw their good rating with the Better Business Bureau, went through the interview process, and came to the conclusion that this was a solid company forging a path to help seniors with their Medicare needs. My wife is my eternal partner; I shared all of the information about the company with her before making any decision. After my interview, I ran into some blogs that had negative comments about the company. It concerned me enough to reconsider my decision to move forward with the company. I shared this negative information with my wife; we carefully went through each of the complaints of long hours, quality of the appointments, 1099, investment into your own business, travel, etc… and determined that each of these points were clearly discussed as part of the interview process. At this critical point in my decision, my wife asked me, “If we were having marital problems, would we seek counsel from someone that has been divorced 4 times?” She was asking me to evaluate the information and place more credence on the information that came from the people that were successful in the company.
It was the best advice that she could have given me. I’ve been a top producer in the company. I learned my presentation, kept up with my training to become more knowledgeable about Medicare, the products we offer and our competition, ran every appointment that I was given, traveled all over the state, took advantage of the tools the company provides, made every minute of every day count, always had the attitude at the end of the day to see just one more prospective client; in short, I ran the system. Every step of the way there were so many people who were there to help me build my business, many of whom had no financial benefit in doing so. That is the heart of this company: to bend over backwards to help people, not to get rid of them as some on here might suggest. In 18 months I had a significant book of business that paid me well in commissions and renewals.
Because I followed our system I was successful and management opportunities came to me very quickly. I’ve been a top trainer and a top interviewer, both opportunities added more money to an already good income stream.
There is nothing further from the truth to those that claim that the company is trying to get rid of you. After 3 years in the field, my production started to slow down. I didn’t want to admit it, but I was burning out. When management saw this, they again came to me and suggested options designed to help me and further my opportunity, in this case I felt my best option was to get more involved in management and less involved in production. They were helping me preserve my vesting with the company. They valued the experience I gained by following our system and asked me to contribute in other ways. I was able to maintain my dignity and my income stream.
I’ve been very fortunate to find this opportunity with Senior Healthcare and I can truly say that I love this business and those that are a part of it. I normally wouldn’t waste my time responding to these blogs but I felt compelled to do so in defense of an amazing opportunity. I also decided to respond due to my personal experience and the fact that I almost made the mistake of not pursuing this opportunity with Senior Healthcare. It takes a special person to be successful in anything you do in life. If you’re that special person that understands nothing worth anything is free, that there is no entitlement, that you will have to work for every penny you earn, that you’re willing to do whatever it takes (ethically) to be successful, then don’t let these blogs deter you from making the best decision of your life.
Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2010 10:49 pm Post Subject:
I really appreciate the time you've taken to try to give a balanced viewpoint. I will be new to the insurance field. I spent ten years being a realtor and you can imagine how my last two years have been. However I am a strong seller and a very hard worker and I know I have what it takes to succeed in insurance.
I actually submitted resumes to both Senior Healthcare Consultants and Bankers Life earlier this afternoon before finding this site so this topic is very relevant to me. Most of all I am really interested in what a typical day would be like and what an average agent can expect to sell every week. If someone from Bankers could respond as well that would be fantastic.
Posted: Sat Mar 13, 2010 05:03 pm Post Subject:
9a - hope you are not going with senior healthcare consultants. major scam. i was with them for a couple months and realized way too late that they starve agents. they find every reason not to pay you. and totally own your life. unless you can endure a couple years of making nothing and scamming everyone under you this is probably not the job you want. just my two cents. check jobvent if you dont believe me, the only people supporting shc are the people who would make money from your mistake
Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2010 05:14 pm Post Subject: Starting advice
I’m going to step back and give some general advice regarding starting in the insurance industry. Take the advice for what you will.
First, we could argue about whether going independent or joining a captive agency is better until the cows come home. Having worked for both in my career, being in a captive agency is not necessarily a bad thing, but you have to be getting value for what you’re giving up (namely, the ability to write another company’s paper). For example, the captive agency could provide subsidized or free leads to you. Advances and/or commissions (not the same thing at all!) may be higher with the captive agency, and bonuses and perks may be better. All of this is hard to determine with the new agent, because by definition, you won’t know what is common for the marketplace, and you won’t know what opportunities you’re missing if you haven’t tried to sell yet.
I think there’s a few things you should keep in mind when you’re starting out:
***Never walk away from business. If you have a health and life license, use it fully. Ninety percent of insurance sales is convincing the client to trust you with making a financial decision for them. If you bond with one person and they have several insurance needs (and if you’re doing your job, you’ve discovered them), it is close to idiocy to have only one or two products in your toolbox. Note that this speaks to your training and portfolio, not necessarily to whether you are captive or independent. There are captive agencies which have products for health, life, annuities and long term care. There are independent brokerages which cannot or do not support some of the aforementioned products. It is to your benefit to expand your offerings as quickly as possible.
***The quality and quantity of leads will make or break you. Once you exhaust your personal sources, you will depend on bought leads for keeping your business running. This requires vigilant management, a skill which a natural salesperson often lacks. Obtain leads from several sources and relentlessly analyze them to make sure they’re profitable for you. You may be surprised by what you find. A lead source that seems successful might actually be losing you money, and vice versa. All this said, communicate regularly with your clients to maximize referrals so you can increase your reputation and eventually wean yourself from leads altogether.
***Keep it local. Fully half of your business is about controlling expenses. Keep them down by working as close to home as possible. This also allows you further opportunities to bond with your client (“Oh, yeah, my sons go to Edison Middle School too – what grade are they in?”) which will improve your closing rate. You might be surprised about what actually makes the sale for you. Sometimes, it has nothing to do with insurance. Ultimately, each sale boils down to trust, and people will naturally trust a local person over a traveling salesperson they may never see again. Note that if you are considering working for a captive agency, it is crucial that you establish the saturation of your local market with current agents. Do not take the interviewer’s word on this. Let your fingers do the walking and investigate this yourself.
***Join a winning team. This is not the NFL where you go to a terrible team if you’re the number one pick. You get to choose your partner in business. Whether you are independent or captive, the company for which you work must have an excellent reputation in the marketplace since you have no reputation of your own yet. Do not waste your time dealing with agencies or insurers your clients have never heard of, because this will create a further gap in trust which you will have to jump and I guarantee it will cost you a ton of sales. Regardless of A.M. Best ratings or BBB ratings, if the first thing your client sees when they Google your company’s name is “scam”, you may as well stay home.
***Above all, keep your nose clean. I understand this is the time of greatest desperation for you. You may not have much money right now (after all, why else did you change careers?) Even if you do, you want to prove to yourself and your family that you can sell insurance. You want some income. Recognize that this pressure is more than enough to cause some agents, especially new ones who aren’t as well versed in insurance law, to cut corners. Don’t do it. Anything built with a bad foundation is likely to end up falling on your head.
This is a great industry to work in if you are hardworking and genuinely dedicated to helping people. I wish you much luck wherever your license takes you.
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