Jasmine Arteaga is a brand new agency owner and only 25 years old! She purchased her insurance book of business from the previous agency owner in October 2020. When she was 18 years old, she began working for him as a life producer while studying in college towards an associate degree in administration of justice. At age 21 she became a licensed life producer and customer service representative at Farmers. She then returned to her first job as a customer service representative, agent and manager.
“Originally, I wanted to be a sheriff,” Jasmine says. “I was going to enter the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and be a deputy sheriff. But I had been working in insurance already and realized I’d make more money as a business owner. I also wanted freedom, so I just made the offer to buy the agency for $300,000 when my boss decided to retire.”
Because Jasmine bought an agency where she worked for years, it’s been a seamless transition. But she’s had to push hard because she’s still paying off the business. “It’s like having a mortgage,” she says. “I sell every line of insurance, except IRAs and variables until I get licensed. To sell annuities, Farmers will sponsor me to sell annuities after a year.”
As a new Farmers agency owner Jasmine is required to sell 50K in premium her first year. Luckily, she already exceeded that number and is currently at $52,369.00. She attributes much of her success to SmartFinancial leads and to working hard to retain her existing book of business. She’s also getting great support from her family. “My sister works for me, and my dad’s my marketing manager,” she explains.
The previous owner of Jasmine’s agency bought Internet leads from SmartFinancial, but Jasmine immediately signed up for SmartFinancial’s live transfer calls and sold policies right away. She liked the quality of the leads and the customer service so much more than her other vendor’s that she decided in December 2020 to invest all of her cost share with us and added $8,000.00 to her account.
“I just like the fact that the customers are transferred to me,” Jasmine says. “It’s just easier to make them feel comfortable with the quoting process. I educate them more before I send over a quote. Sometimes, I’ll get a call and they say another Farmers agent quoted less, but I let them see that I added more coverage. I always quote the amount of coverage that a driver should have. Otherwise, they may end paying out of pocket to save $20.”
Jasmine’s Arteaga’s agency also doesn’t write liability low limits for anyone. “If a client wants cheaper insurance, I say maybe I’m not the right agency then. If we ever do write low limits,” she says, “we make the client sign a letter that we’re not responsible for them having to pay out of pocket if they have an accident.”
Jasmine Arteaga’s 5 Golden Tips for Insurance Agents
1. Market yourself. If you’re a scratch agent, buy leads and learn about marketing.
2. You’ll want to spend more money on leads than on marketing if you own a book of business. Work the books first then add the leads. But I had worked here for 2 years, so I started buying live-transfer calls right away.
3. Don’t memorize. I don’t like scripts because I don’t want to sound like a robot. I always start a conversation, and I go from there. Some like to chat, when I call to follow up on the quote. Sometimes I’ll spend 45 minutes talking with them about their life. Some want a quick quote and I build from there.
4. Don’t jump into a quote unless they are in a rush. Ask if you should call to follow up. I always try to build a relationship before quoting.
5. If you get the nasty customer who is annoyed, or you call back and they hang up, just kill them with kindness. Sometimes I get rowdy ones. I’ve had rude customers who tone down and apologize. Just stay calm. One Yelp review can ruin your business so don’t be rude back.
