Wow, where to start with these jokers. First off, I'm not some rookie, disgruntled sales person. I've been in the business for a very long time, and joined The Assurance Group with the best intentions and no preconceived notions.
Within a few months I started to realize there were some major inconsistencies with how they were running their business. Let me share with you some facts, not opinions, because in all honesty I think the majority of the staff with "TAG" are great people... The major exception being some of the management team - Curt Klien specifically who any and all agents ultimately report to, and might possibly be the worst "leader" I've ever met...
Forced to purchase their E&O coverage, which won't cover any carriers outside of their company
Forced to be a captive agent, you must give up any outside carriers or contracts
You must assign all of your renewals and residuals to them
Inability to work areas of your choosing, you will be traveling to do door knocks
Low contracts
Five years before being vested - you leave, they keep your renewals and residuals
Horrible commission schedule. You will wait at least TWO weeks AFTER a policy is approved before you get paid.
On that same note... You have to assign your commissions to TAG, which will hold them, deducts every lead cost, postage charge and supply shipment from them BEFORE you get paid... Which takes FOREVER!
Regarding their leads... Read below for the real deal on how they work:
- Their leads are garbage, but don't even think about complaining about it. I know, I know, the fact that some of them are "free" sounds great. Oh, and the fact that they finance them is awesome too, right??! Wrong! The free leads are, on average, 2-4 years old... Good luck! And literally HALF of the new leads, that you ultimately WILL pay for, are trash - low income, poor areas (which you can't decided whether or not to accept), clients with no money or checking accounts, and here's the biggest negative - You will be paying for leads from clients that did not even include a phone number. A lead from a client that did NOT request coverage...
Their response will be, "just go door knock it, they sent it back for a reason"... Like I said, get ready for about 50% of your lead costs going towards THAT.
After working with close to 50 different agents the consensus is this: TAG is stuck in the stone age, and their company is filled with good ol' boys who have no clue how to sell insurance in 2012.
Their turnover is incredibly high... Even in an industry that has below average retention.
Don't waste your time with these country bumpkins, all it will do is frustrate you. There are many other options out there where you don't need to give up your commissions, assign all of your renewals and residuals, and travel your entire state to door knock crap leads on your own dime.
Hope this helps - wish I would have known these things before selling the opportunity to so many others.
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