Also, how long have you been there and what state are you in?
Excuse the nosiness of my question, please. I just want to get an idea of how much I can possibly hope to earn in the future. I am fairly new as a Producer for an Independent Agency. I've been there about 6 months and project I will earn only about $20,000 this year (I live in California and this is a pretty dismal salary here). I used to earn 80-$100,000 as a Captive Agent for a large insurance company so, you can see, I am used to earning considerably more. I realize that renewals will have a compounding effect on my future earnings, but am feeling a bit down in the dumps at the moment. Thanks for your input!
Producers: How much Are You Making?
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d's insurance store
- Insurance Journal Addict
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Re: Producers: How much Are You Making?
You're not giving enough details here...are you Personal Lines, Commercial Lines or General Practice?
You mention a captive income of $80-100K. Under most captives, they pay their own expenses...so was that your gross business revenue or net to you after expenses?
If you're working for an indepenent with the usual commission split of 50-50, then at the moment as a producer you're on track to generating about $40K to the agency. Good or Bad? Well, tough to say...if you're passively in the office taking incoming phone calls for personal lines or small commercial...and you'll share in renewal commissions, not bad, I guess. After all, you've got zero expenses and the possibility of a CSR to handle the day to day transactions that you'd be familiar with from your past life, so you can spend your time selling.
If you're working commercial and learning about specific targeted business areas and then hustling on the phone and out of the office for accounts of $7500 and larger...then I still don't think you're doing badly after six months. Building the relationships and establishing credibility and learning the nitche industries doens't come overnight.
If you're the sole producer in a small agency, and potentially competing with the owner/agent, then unless you've got ownership potential contractually, then this may not be where you want to put down roots.
This is a very tough market to start from scratch. You're going to have to let go of the captive past and accelerate the learning and put yourself in a place that encourages learning, nurtures a newbie with patience and understanding and values your talents and contributions in a shared way.
Good luck.
You mention a captive income of $80-100K. Under most captives, they pay their own expenses...so was that your gross business revenue or net to you after expenses?
If you're working for an indepenent with the usual commission split of 50-50, then at the moment as a producer you're on track to generating about $40K to the agency. Good or Bad? Well, tough to say...if you're passively in the office taking incoming phone calls for personal lines or small commercial...and you'll share in renewal commissions, not bad, I guess. After all, you've got zero expenses and the possibility of a CSR to handle the day to day transactions that you'd be familiar with from your past life, so you can spend your time selling.
If you're working commercial and learning about specific targeted business areas and then hustling on the phone and out of the office for accounts of $7500 and larger...then I still don't think you're doing badly after six months. Building the relationships and establishing credibility and learning the nitche industries doens't come overnight.
If you're the sole producer in a small agency, and potentially competing with the owner/agent, then unless you've got ownership potential contractually, then this may not be where you want to put down roots.
This is a very tough market to start from scratch. You're going to have to let go of the captive past and accelerate the learning and put yourself in a place that encourages learning, nurtures a newbie with patience and understanding and values your talents and contributions in a shared way.
Good luck.
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jimmyr1978
- Insurance Journal Addict
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- Joined: Tue May 20, 2008 1:12 pm
Re: Producers: How much Are You Making?
My first 6 months sucked, as I was learning the business. I probably earned just about that much, if not less. That said, after hitting my stride, getting my sales style down, finding a couple of niches and sticking to them, business took off. Two years later, I'm a year ahead of my three-year business development plan. I'm a commercial-only agent in a regional IA, so the advice below is within that context.
My advice: Find 2-3 niches, preferably in diverse industries and only prospect in those industries. Join trade groups and GET ACTIVE - just joining is worthless if you're not committed. You will become a trusted adviser, and will gain referrals more quickly, not to mention building leverage with your key markets/wholesalers. I suggest 2-3 diverse industries because if one industry tanks (i.e., construction) or if the markets harden/disappear for that industry, you will have others to fall back on. We have a producer here who has 1 niche - homebuilders - and he's nearly bankrupt because all of his eggs were in 1 basket. When they stopped paying or disappeared, so did his paycheck. Also, never allow 1 client to become more than 30% of your revenue.
My advice: Find 2-3 niches, preferably in diverse industries and only prospect in those industries. Join trade groups and GET ACTIVE - just joining is worthless if you're not committed. You will become a trusted adviser, and will gain referrals more quickly, not to mention building leverage with your key markets/wholesalers. I suggest 2-3 diverse industries because if one industry tanks (i.e., construction) or if the markets harden/disappear for that industry, you will have others to fall back on. We have a producer here who has 1 niche - homebuilders - and he's nearly bankrupt because all of his eggs were in 1 basket. When they stopped paying or disappeared, so did his paycheck. Also, never allow 1 client to become more than 30% of your revenue.