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Securus Vs NAA - What Is an Insurance Marketing Organization?
Securus and NAA are both fairly large Insurance Marketing Organizations (IMO). IMOs primarily function as a major and marketing resource for both independent and captive agents. They also function as the liaison between an agent and the various carriers.
Some Insurance Marketing Organizations allow you to contract with carriers in and outside of their portfolio while others only contract captive agents. This means their agents can only contract with the carriers in which they are contracted or can only sell their suite of products. Both Securus and NAA are non-captive. Although it may or may not be to your advantage, you can contract with other carriers while maintaining a contract with them.
Once you contract with a carrier through either of these companies generally, you cannot contract with the same carrier independently or through another IMO for a period of six months to a year. Most waiting periods are only six months but with NAA it could be as long as twelve months. Some carriers do offer dual contracting; however, they can only offer you a contract that's equal or lower than your current contract.
While there are many differences between NAA and Securus, I found the major differences in their lead purchasing structure and their training platform. If you plan to eventually build a team of agents, you will want to ensure that you understand lead purchasing as it relates to you and your team as a whole. You will also want to know the quality and the cost of training. Viable lead sources and or programs and proper life insurance sales training are two of the major keys to long-term success in the insurance industry.
With Securus, each individual is responsible for the purchase of their own leads. As a result, you are never required to pay for or to contribute any monies towards your team's lead purchases. NAA's lead structure requires you to be responsible for purchasing your own leads as well as having to pay a portion of the leads purchased by your team. This includes your personal recruits and also your team's recruits. Also, if one of your personal recruits orders leads and they fail to pay for them, that lead bill becomes your responsibility. An outstanding lead bill generated by anyone on your team whether or not you recruited them if left unpaid can roll up to you as well.
The money is automatically deducted from your bank account and you cannot purchase new leads until the lead debt has been paid. According to NAA, having to pay a portion of your team's lead bill will prompt an agent to work hard to help team members achieve their individual success goals. Some agents may see this as a negative.
While they may provide stellar agent support and training, they have no control over an agent's implementation. As a result, they do not want to assume any financial responsibilities
Having been a member of both IMOs, I found that another notable difference between Secures and NAA lies in their training and marketing platforms. While both companies offer quality training, I found Securus' training to be very structured and consistent. Every aspect of agent activity from the beginning of the sales process to the end is broken down into detailed training modules and scripts.
Their training is totally free and every agent has access to all of the training via their back office. On the other hand, I found NAA's training to be a lot less structured with little consistency. Also, the majority of their training was fee based either through purchasing cd's or via a monthly fee deducted from your bank account for their weekly training.
From a marketing standpoint, Both Securus and NAA offer affordable targeted leads to their team of agents. Securus however does have a free program in place to help agents learn to produce their own leads. Their literature indicates that ultimately they expect purchased leads to become a supplement if needed as opposed to an agent's main source of marketing. According to Securus, this marketing strategy is designed to keep agents' expenses low therefore resulting in more "money in the pocket".
Although there are various other differences between Securus and NAA, the ones noted touch upon important aspects that will aid you in choosing the IMO that is right for you. Before choosing, it is imperative that you have a clear understanding of your financial goals and objectives and how well they align with the IMO's overall business plan and their daily method of operations.