Overview Of Working With Aflac
By David Duford - January 03, 2023 - 5 Mins Read
Considering selling insurance with Aflac?
Perhaps you’re curious about how Aflac’s products work, what the opportunity to earn an income is like, and want perspective to see if working with Aflac is a good idea.
Either way, you’ve found the right article!
In today’s article, I go into detail what it’s like to work with Aflac as an insurance agent.
My goal is to help you better understand whether or not Aflac is the best career opportunity for you and your family.
So let’s begin =)
PS: Check out my insurance sales job review for more ideas on possible insurance agencies to join.
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About Aflac
Aflac has been one of the leading business insurance providers for 65 years.
Here is a description of products that you will be selling as well as a guide to how to succeed in the company.
Product
Aflac is a leading provider in:
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- life,
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- accident,
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- cancer,
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- critical illness, and,
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- dental insurance packages,
…all designed to supplement existing health insurance with the areas that it doesn’t cover.
Life insurance
Life insurance policies through Aflac make a few guarantees.
The first is that Aflac doesn’t ask medical questions, so they don’t deny people coverage based on pre-existing conditions.
Their life insurance plans are portable so that customers can take them between jobs or keep them once they’re retired.
They can even be used to insure children and maintained throughout juvenile and adult life.
Vision and dental insurance
Aflac vision insurance provides annual eye exams and coverage for surgeries, eye-related disorders, and help with clients’ permanent visual impairments.
Not all health insurance plans include dental coverage, so Aflac includes this as a separate package for those who want to keep their teeth in good shape and not pay for it later.
Accident insurance
When your clients have an accident or are taken to the emergency room, they may not be prepared to cover the exorbitant expenses.
Aflac policies are designed to pay cash directly to them (rather than to their treatment facility) to help them with their bills.
The Aflac Accident Indemnity Advantage pays out customers’ policies quickly so they can react to a surprise expense quickly.
Critical illness insurance
Emergencies due to pre-existing conditions like heart problems can cause unexpected but necessary emergency visits, which include the cost of transport, treatment, lodging, and food.
An Aflac Lump Sum Critical Illness policy pays clients directly to help them get back on their feet.
Cancer insurance
Aflac Cancer Protection Assurance helps with clients’ chemotherapy and even non-medical expenses like travel and housing.
Since cancer is a physical and financial blow to a person’s entire family, they can use the help that these plans provide, as distinct from more generic critical illness insurance.
Short-term disability insurance
Short-term disability insurance plans help clients cover the financial cost of an injury or illness that keeps them from working.
These plans do not inquire about medical history and are guaranteed to be renewable up to age 75. The Aflac Value Rider is a guaranteed payout to customers simply for keeping the policy.
How You Find Prospects
Different states have unique training schools for their employees that will teach you about Aflac’s products and how to market the brand.
You will spend a lot of time looking for prospects door to door cold calling on business locations and discussing employee benefits with HR representatives.
Aflac is a large company, meaning they offer networking events and online marketing opportunities that will help you take advantage of the company’s client network.
In addition, you need to use your own research to expand your personal network, as discussed below.
Special marketing and sales training programs
To help agents get over the initial low profits of not having a client network, Aflac’s Advance System gives them opportunities to withdraw part of their commissions in cash up front.
Aflac also pays associate renewal commissions based on a contract agreement even when the agent hasn’t sold any new policies.
Unlike some carriers, Aflac’s commission rate for policy renewals doesn’t decrease over time. Aflac gives you their name to enhance your pitches but also offers you sales training to improve your technique.
They offer both product and sales education to help you grow and succeed in the company.
In addition to your 100% commission-based earnings, Aflac also offers stock bonuses of up to 3.5% of your annualized premium for your annual performance.
Commission
As with any large insurance carrier, as an Aflac agent, your commissions may change depending on your area and whether your sale was administered by a mentor.
In general, however, Accident insurance policy sales net the agent 34.5% for 1st-year policies. Cancer and Critical Care policies yield a commission rate of 40%.
For policy renewals, Accident policies pay out a commission of 6.1%.
Cancer and Critical Care policy renewals pay at 7%.
How to increase commissions
Aflac is a large and competitive company.
The biggest danger for you as a new agent is getting lost in the shuffle and blending in with all the other agents.
This is why forming personal relationships through cold calls and volunteer activities is so important to building a network of leads in Aflac’s competitive client network.
For example, the Chamber of Commerce’s volunteer opportunities are a great way to expand your network in a non-sales setting.
Cold calls to potential clients should not begin with a sales pitch necessarily: when you’re networking, you may want to prioritize appointments with benefits professionals rather than spamming sales calls.
Current and past agents recommend using your local library and Reference USA to augment your cold calls with valuable information. Companies that may not be part of your regular prospects may show up in your research.
Particularly, you may look for blue-collar workers with high amounts of investments or liquid capital that are looking for protection without knowing what they’re looking for.
Conducting research will set you apart by giving you essential knowledge of benefits brokers and labor laws.
To set yourself apart from other Aflac agents in your network, gain the knowledge to become a human resources rep first and an agent second.
Is Aflac a scam?
Like many of the largest insurance carriers, Aflac’s company ladder is difficult to ascend without a plan.
You may find yourself struggling to maintain profits in the first year before you stabilize your network of prospects.
However, they are a respected carrier and are not a scam or pyramid scheme.
How To Quit Aflac
There are many reasons you may want to quit Aflac, for example, you ran out of money to invest in leads, you ran out of prospects to sell to, or you simply found that the business of selling insurance wasn’t a good fit for you.
The good news is, quitting Aflac is easy.
Here’s how to do it.
First, start by doing your due diligence and find another insurance agency to work for. We recommend you review our Free Agent Resource Guide here for tips on finding a quality insurance agency to join.
Once you find a new agency or carrier to join, you can go ahead and switch your affiliations.
You should keep in mind that as an insurance agent, you are licensed by the state and not by the company. No insurance agency can prevent you from stopping your affiliation with it and doing business with another organization.
You may need to cancel the affiliation with Aflac. The termination usually needs to be filed within a 30 day window, however canceling affiliation is not always mandatory.
To become properly appointed with the new insurance carrier or agency, you simply complete contracting with the new insurance carrier.
Typically, the window for companies to process affiliations is very short, with most companies approving insurance agent carrier appointments within 1 to 2 weeks on average.
Bottom line, quitting Aflac is no big deal. Simply find another organization that’s better suited to your insurance sales career goals, submit contracting through the new organization, and within the next few weeks, you’re good to go and can stop doing business with Aflac.
Companies Like Aflac
Let’s take a look at some insurance agencies and companies similar to Aflac in case you’re interested in doing a comparison.
Symmetry
Symmetry Financial Group is an insurance marketing organization based out of Swannanoa, North Carolina.
SFG specializes in several life insurance markets, primarily the mortgage protection insurance market. The company also offers final expense insurance, a type of whole life insurance designed to cover medical bills and funeral expenses after the policyholder’s passing.
Bankers Life
Bankers Life was established in 1879 in Chicago, Illinois. The company is a subsidiary of CNO Financial Group.
Bankers Life offers life insurance, long-term care, annuities, Medicare (Supplements, Advantage Plans, Part D prescription drug coverage), critical illness insurance, as well as vision and dental plans. It targets the senior market, typically people age 60 and older who are near retirement.
People Helping People (PHP)
People Helping People was established in 2009 in Northridge, California. The company serves the middle markets for insurance-based financial planning. It focuses on term insurance, index universal life insurance, and fixed indexed annuities.
American Income Life (AIL)
American Income Life, a wholly owned subsidiary of Globe Life Insurance, is a major provider of supplemental life insurance. The company was founded in 1951 and is headquartered in Waco, Texas.
American Income Life’s core markets are labor unions, credit unions, and associations for insurance solicitation. Its insurance products include life insurance and supplemental health.
New York Life
New York Life, established in 1845, is the largest mutual life insurance company in the country. It offers premium life insurance, long-term care insurance, retirement income insurance, and investment plans, including annuities, mutual funds, and ETF saving plans.
USHEALTH Advisors
USHEALTH Advisors is a wholly-owned national sales and distribution subsidiary of USHEALTH Group, one of the largest employers of health insurance agents in the United States.
USHEALTH offers individual health coverage plans and a number of related supplementary products. It specializes in marketing innovative and affordable health coverage plans. The company is focused on providing healthcare solutions to individuals and families, as well as self-employed and small business owners.
Equis
Equis is a marketing organization for independent insurance agents and agency builders.
Its main product is mortgage protection life insurance, designed to reduce or eliminate the threat of foreclosure or eviction if the insured passes unexpectedly. The company also offers final expense, living benefits, and indexed universal life insurance products.
Freedom Equity Group
Freedom Equity Group, based in Arroyo Grande, California, is an independent marketing organization (IMO) that contracts with insurance companies to promote and distribute a range of life insurance products.
Freedom Equity Group focuses on selling life insurance and annuities. Its main product is indexed universal life insurance, a form of permanent coverage that provides a cash value in addition to life insurance.
My Thoughts
While Aflac is a fine insurance company that serves its clients very well, it isn’t necessarily the best option for all insurance agents.
Below, I detail a few concerns working as an agent with Aflac.
Lower Commission Than Many Organizations
As an Aflac insurance agent, expect much lower commission payouts than other insurance IMOs will pay you.
For example, there are a number of insurance agencies that will pay double, even triple, the commission on the same type of policies that Aflac allows agents to sell.
Remember, a smaller commission level means less profitability, and more difficulty making insurance an lucrative business.
One Product Solution
Another problem with Aflac…
You only sell Aflac.
Again, this doesn’t mean Aflac is a bad company. Not in the slightest.
What it does mean is that Aflac isn’t always the best choice for your clients.
So you may be in a position where Aflac’s premium rates are much higher than the competition’s.
This puts you at risk of getting replaced and losing business you worked hard to earn.
Seek a Second Opinion
Prior to joining Aflac or any other field marketing organization to sell insurance, it’s a wise choice to consider other options to fully weigh which option is best suited for your career goals.
If you’d like to take a look at another insurance sales option, take a look at how my agency operates here.
And make sure to check out my Agent Success sStories and my best-selling insurance sales books.
Resources
January 03, 2023
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