Securus and NAA are fairly large Insurance Marketing Organizations (IMOs). IMOs primarily function as an important marketing resource for independent and captive agents. They also function as a link between an agent and the various carriers.
Some Insurance Marketing Organizations allow you to contract with insurers inside and outside of their portfolio, while others only contract with captive agents. This means that your agents can only contract with the carriers they are contracted with or they can only sell their set of products. Both Securus and NAA are not captive. Although it may or may not be to your advantage, you can contract with other carriers by contracting with them.
Once you contract with a carrier through any of these companies, you generally cannot contract with the same carrier independently or through another IMO for a period of six months to one year. Most waiting periods are only six months, but with NAA it could be up to twelve months. Some operators offer dual contracting; however, they can only offer you a contract equal to or less than your current contract.
While there are many differences between NAA and Securus, I found the main differences to be in their lead buying structure and their training platform. If you plan to eventually build a team of agents, you’ll want to make sure you understand lead buying as it relates to you and your team as a whole. You will also want to know the quality and cost of the training. Viable lead sources and programs and proper life insurance sales training are two of the main keys to long-term success in the insurance industry.
With Securus, each individual is responsible for purchasing their own cables. As a result, you’ll never be asked to pay or contribute money to the purchases of leads on your team. The NAA lead structure requires that you be responsible for purchasing your own leads, in addition to paying a portion of the leads purchased by your team. This includes your personal recruits as well as your team recruits. Also, if one of your personal recruits requests leads and doesn’t pay them, that lead bill becomes your responsibility. An outstanding lead bill generated by any member of your team, whether you recruited them or not, if not paid, can also rack up for you. The money is automatically deducted from your bank account and you cannot buy new leads until the lead’s debt has been paid off. According to the NAA, having to pay a portion of your team’s lead bill will make an agent work hard to help team members achieve their individual success goals. Some agents may view this as a negative. While they may provide all-star agent support and training, they have no control over an agent deployment. As a result, they don’t want to take on any financial responsibility related to buying leads from their team.
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 the Securus training to be very structured and consistent. All aspects of the agent activity, from the beginning of the sales process to the end, are divided into detailed training modules and scripts. Their training is totally free and each agent has access to all the training through their back office. On the other hand, I found the NAA training much less structured and inconsistent. Also, most of his training was fee based, either through the purchase of CDs or a monthly fee deducted from his bank account for his weekly training.
From a marketing standpoint, both Securus and NAA offer affordable leads to their team of agents. However, Securus does have a free program to help agents learn how to produce their own leads. Their literature indicates that they ultimately expect purchased leads to become an add-on if necessary rather than an agent’s primary marketing source. According to Securus, this marketing strategy is designed to keep agent expenses down, resulting in more “money in the pocket.” Although there are several other differences between Securus and NAA, the ones mentioned touch on important aspects that will help you choose the right IMO for you. Before you choose, it is imperative that you clearly understand your financial goals and objectives and how well they align with IMO’s overall business plan and your day-to-day method of operations.
