| Topic Name: |
agency |
| Message Name: |
My Story III |
| Date Posted: |
03/08/2006 |
| In Reply To: |
I am extrememly interested in your experience from being motivated going into it (even the reasons of desperation)to being disenchanted and negative about the experience. I have had almost zero time with SF AFE's and AFC's. They have a developmental AFO during your training period now. I've had very little exposure to anyone leading in this compacity. I haven't had any company line crammed down my throat (yet). Being in business and having a library of business books, this is just how I talk.
If you could walk us down the agency road you took from training to agency to where you are now...and what changed along the way, I for one would be grateful.
For those of us that are going to do it regardless, I can see where you are coming from with the support structure, and you are probably closer to the truth then we would like to admit.
Hinging from that knowledge, could you advise what you would have done different to make it a better experience, and any suggestions that we could use to get us started on the right path/foot.
You had to have known agents that liked agency and what they did to continue to enjoy it, motivate themselves, and continue to challenge themselves. This is not in anyway a knock on you as everyone is just built differently.
Your time and experience is of great value here and I thank you in advance.... |
| Message: |
When I ??pathed back?? as they called it then, I was immediately approached my another AFE who wanted me to join his team as an agent. By that time I just wanted out and was done with it all. At the time I recognized that this was a turning point in my career and remember saying to myself that I would know in 5 years whether I was better or worse for the situation.
It has been close to 7 years now and I can say being fired was probably the best situation for me. I??ve kept in pretty close contact with my peers I went through the program with and strongly believe that I am in a much better situation not only financially, but also in my personal life as well.
After leaving SF I started my own business with several partners, who I bought out after a couple years. I ran the business on my own and ended up selling the business after 5 years of ownership. Currently I am part of a partnership in the process of purchasing another business. We are in transaction now and should have complete ownership in a year or two. In addition, my family is intact while several of my peers have had divorces and others from what I understand are on the verge.
The reason why I advocate caution when approaching becoming an agent with SF is because you are investing $30K of your own money as well as a great about of time and effort. It is not a guarantee, and like my situation, poor management or location can play a huge role in your success or failure.
You really need to know what you are getting into. The majority of your sales will be geared toward financial products. So why not just get appointed with Edward Jones? You will be building a book of business on your own. Why not open your own shop and get appointed with Safeco, Allied, Progressive, Unitrin/Kemper. The benefit is that by going this route you will build equity in what you build and can sell it when you are ready to retire. This is a huge benefit!
Hope this helps.
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