National Agents Alliance Courtney Bartlett, Andy Albright NAA, Insurance, Annuities, Team Building, Legs, Ripoff, Pay, Blackball, Buy Leads Burlington, North Carolina

before signing on with this company, i did ALOT of research. When I say ALOT, I mean ALLLLOOOOOTTTTT!. Read all the hype on the NAA Site, read all the trash talk on this and other sites and read between the lines on both.

one thing that gets me is when people bash an entire company because of the actions of one or a few individuals. My experience with the company thus far has been nothing short of exceptional. Have there been down moments, sure, but i knew that would be the case coming into it. Why? First and foremost, im not an idiot. I know sales and I know that you have good weeks and bad weeks, good months and bad months. It comes with the territory. But on top of that, My Upline didnt paint a glorious picture for me. they were completely honest with me about everything. the business model, leads, training, expectations, etc.

i have seen alot of references to "factual" information listed on www.firenaa.com. that site is the biggest bunch of propaganda I have seen out of everything i have read good or bad about NAA. There are links on the site, but when you actually read through half of them, they arent what they actually claim to be. Like the one for Alex Abuyuan for example. The house was never foreclosed on. I read the paperwork, researched the property and the last date it was sold was in 2006 for 1.23 million dollars.

 at the time of the foreclosure notice, which coincides with the real estate bubble bursting, the house was only valued at a little over 600K. That was in January 2010. So, like alot of families in that time, they fell behind on their mortgage payments. Does that mean that NAA is a rip off or a scam? Not in the least. but the more important thing to look at is that the house wasnt actually foreclosed on, even though that site would lead you to believe it was. 

Same thing with one of the other links about foreclosure. its not a foreclosure notice at all. its a notice of transfer of the mortgage from one mortgage company to another. my personal mortgage has been transferred at least 3 different times and had nothing to do with me at all. it was a business dealing between lenders and was not related to any foreclosure proceedings. as a matter of fact, i didnt even know it had happened until i got a letter in the mail from the new mortgage company saying to send my checks to them from now on. Does that mean that NAA is a scam or a rip off? Nope.

I guess the point to this rant is that anyone looking into this company needs to be leary of what "factual" information they are using to make their decision. Is everyone who enters into this business going to be successful? No. Is everyone going to become millionaires? nope. But is this an excellent platform to build a business? yes, if you are smart. Dont spend money you dont have. I have never once been "pressured" into buying leads from the company. Not once. Have I been told its in my best interest to go to the meetings, yes. Thats because it is!! I can talk to and pick the brain of those who ARE making millions. But at the end of the day, Whether or not i go is totally up to me. Nobody forces me to. But one thing to note is that we do conduct product training at every single meeting i go to so that the agents learn about the product features and benefits to be able to market them in the home.

I havent bought a single book, dvd, cd, or anything else off that site. I have purchased business cards, but not because i was forced to. Its because its not very professional to show up to a clients house and not have cards. or trying to network in the community and not having a card to hand to someone when they ask for one (which they will).

I myself combine the traditional insurance selling approach with the business model and lead program that NAA offers to make myself successful. From what I can tell from my experience versus the negative comments i have read on here, the company has made a significant amount of changes to their internal business model and the entire culture of the company to make it a place where people have enjoyable experiences. Can they fix everything? Of course not. Some of the negative aspects come with the territory of being in insurance sales. But that doesnt mean that the company is a bad place to work or a scam. If you make poor business choices there is noone that can claim responsibility for that besides you. Every upline is going to be different, just like any chain of command in the military or any managerial heirarchy in any fortune 500 company. leaders come and go and your experiences will be different with each one of them. it doesnt mean that the company is a scam or a rip off.

bottom line...dont want to "waste" money on leads? dont buy them. get out of your house and beat the streets, shaking every hand you see and generate your own leads. mail your own letters to houses in your community. but then do a cost analysis and see what your ROI is from your efforts. How many man hours and dollars did it take you to find that one person who said "yeah, come to my house and i will think about doing something"? how many appointment conducts did it take you to close a deal? my guess is that your cost analysis is going to tell you that you would have spent less money on leads who took the time to express an interest and request someone contact them than you did doing it the other way. there is nothing wrong with either way really, its just a matter of personal preference and financial ability. you need to know your conversion ratios as well. i know that if i spend 100 dollars on leads, i will make about 1,000.00. and i dont ever buy new leads either. i buy older ones because they are less expensive and i decrease my expenses while increasing my chances of contacting someone who is looking for help. nobody forces me to buy any of them. If they did, i would laugh at them because Im not a weak minded person who they can bully into doing anything.

one last note, i have read alot of people who said that there are so many other companies out there that are better to work for, but I have yet to see one of those people throw a name out for a company. Not one. That would lead me to believe (as the independent thinker that i am) that they are merely a disgruntled former employee that didnt make a million dollars overnight and made poor business decisions and now wants to blast the company to take the blame off of themselves. 50% of small businesses fail in their first couple of years. this business isnt going to be any different than any others. you have to think smart and not overcommit yourself. dont use money you dont have trying to get a jump on anything. either use your warm market to get started writing business and then use the positive cash flow from that to reinvest back into the business and buy leads or just solely rely on referrals from that. its your choice. if you dont like the idea of using your warm market to get started, go out to main street in your town and talk to every single person you see until you write some policies. then reinvest back into your business with that positive cash flow. nobody can tell you whats best for you and your family. only you can do that.

couple of quick summary notes and fact checking--

1- the company doesnt force you to buy leads. if you cant sell, they dont want you to buy leads because your upline managers have to pay money as well every time you buy leads, and if you arent closing on those leads, they are losing money right alongside you. when i first started i was told i wasnt allowed to buy leads until they knew i could close a sale. once i did that on my own, i was given access to buy leads if i chose to, but nobody has once told me i had to buy them.

2- if you do get a lead that has a disconnected number or has laready had a policy sold to someone else in NAA (maybe someone who bought it brand new and either couldnt contact them right away or never updated the lead file in the system to show that they were sold a policy) you can get a lead credit back to your account.

3- do you want to build a team? depends on if you want to elevate your commission level or not. you can still make good money at the starter rates if you write enough policies whether you build a team or not. but just like EVERY OTHER BUSINESS IN THE WORLD, you want to grow so that you can leverage the time of other people to make you money. If you want to limit your income to what you can do solely on your own, go ahead. if you want to get paid whether you do something or not, build a team. Its a pretty simple concept to understand.

4- violation of wage and hour laws?? really? you are self employed. you dont fall under minimum wage laws. Do some research before you make false claims.

5- only way to talk to people to try and make appointments is by buying leads? its totally free to talk to every single person on the street or at a shopping mall or wherever really. if you arent a face to face person (you probably shouldnt be in this business if you arent) and feel that you are best on the phone, you can always pick up a phone book and start calling that way. there is always more than one way to skin a cat.

6- the rest of your commissions dont go directly into Andy Albright's pocket. does he make money, of course, but at the end of the day, the insurance carrier pays 110% of each policy AP. the difference between your commission level and 110% is divided up all the way up your upline. the managers get bonuses based off their teams performance and Albright makes money off the performance of his company, just like any other CEO in the business world. Do you expect him to run a company that does 150 million dollars in sales each year and not get paid for it? Thats ridiculous.

7- sorry for the long response, but i felt it was warranted after this ridiculously biased post from someone who in my humble opinion doesnt have a very strong business background and probably thought that they were going to be a millionaire overnight and is now disappointed that Ed McMahon didnt show up at their doorstep riding a unicorn with bags of money strapped to his back.

Thanks for the time in reading this-

dont go bashing an entire company based off the actions or lack thereof from a few people. this can be a great opportunity if you are smart about it. Good luck in whatever route you choose!!

Thought you might want to see this, it might be useful to you.

www.firenaa.com

http://www.firenaa.com/



Interested in seeing some FACTUAL information? Read the attached link.

Make no mistake I have struggled with  becoming a success in the insurance world.  Andy and the gang at NAA have designed a system that if you follow will produce  exactly what they tell you.  Kinda like a waitress not taking water and menus to the table and expecting an order, let alone a tip for providing service to her customer.

This is not rocket science but you really do get what you put in.  60 days into it, I have a knowledge that is based on all the education/training materials given to me free on NAA sight, yes my upline is busy but only to happy to accommodate my calls when needed.  The staff at Burlington has handle my ignorant newby questions with nothing but respect and compassion when I sometimes out of frustration at myself deserved much less.

Agents and possible new agents.  I have earned over 5K in commission in 60 days, I have spent countless hours and about 3K to earn that not just on leads, lead cost less than 1000.  As I learn the process and build my confidence the sky is the limit.  Andy can not do that for me nor my upline what they can do is give me  the game plan and cheer me on as I develop my business plan and love me from a distance when I am being an  idiot.

What this really is about is finding a way to help family's, have fun, and make a living.  If you are less concerned about the money and more concerned with what you have to offer each family you encounter the profits will follow!   As they do with all businesses. 

NAA is not for everyone and I am proud today to say I have what it takes to be an asset to a company that is changing the way middle American families are choosing to protect their families!