The Benefits of Joining a Top Insurance FMO

If you’re wondering what exactly an FMO is and why you should join one, you’ve come to the right place! We have the answers you’ve been looking for to help you determine if you should join an FMO and how you can benefit from doing so!

What Is an Insurance FMO?

A field marketing organization (FMO) is a company that acts as a liaison between agents and carriers, connecting the two through a contract. The best FMOs provide additional services to agents through excellent and individualized support and state-of-the-art resources and tools.

How Does Joining an FMO Help Me as an Insurance Agent?

Extensive Medicare Support Services at No Cost

Wondering how to join an FMO? First things first! Some FMOs do not charge a fee for their services, and Ritter Insurance Marketing is one of them! There is no charge or obligation to partner with us. Simply register with Ritter (which is also free)! Doing so will grant you access to all of our exclusive tools and resources that will enhance your engagement with your clients. Find out more below to see if Ritter is the best FMO choice for you.

Contracts

Most FMOs will offer a mix of contracts from big-name carriers with a national presence and small-name carriers with a regional presence. Some only specialize in certain areas or products, like Medicare or life insurance, while others provide a more diverse portfolio of options.

More Than Medicare

Of course, we can’t speak on behalf of all Medicare FMOs, but here at Ritter, we are more than Medicare. Beyond offering a vast array of health and life products, we have knowledgeable and energetic support staff ready to help you through every step of the sales process.

Ritter partners with many preferred life and health insurance carriers, so the plans your clients want will likely be accessible. Our sales specialists know your target market and will inform you about the best carriers to partner with or new and competitive products that you could benefit from selling. They can also help you with topics like trainings, certifications, and completing enrollments. Support with ordering marketing and sales supplies and assistance with commission inquiries are also benefits available to you!

Online Contracting Assistance

At the most basic level, FMOs provide contracts for their agents. The number of contracts one can offer depends on its size and resources. Not only do they provide contracts, but they should also be able to provide contracting assistance. Completing contracting for any carrier can be confusing. You have to find the paperwork, fill it out correctly, and know where to send it.

At Ritter, we use prefilled contracting and the links are sent directly to your email. Our licensing representatives will work with you to ensure your paperwork is complete the first time you submit it. Then, they put it into the right hands at the carrier, so processing is as fast as possible.

Opportunities for Generating Medicare Leads

Co-op or lead opportunities are incentives some FMOs may offer to agents. Ritter, specifically, offers both! You can learn more about our marketing programs and incentives here. We want to help you have great sales success and expand your book of business.

With Ritter co-op, we split costs up to 50 percent with qualifying agents! This benefit allows you to stay in budget while putting out great marketing materials to generate leads.

You can also purchase exclusive leads through our partner, Integrity. In their LeadCENTER platform, you can find and manage a variety of fresh, real-time leads from different sources. You can even zero in on certain geographical areas using the heat map feature.

Learn more about generating leads in our guide, The Definitive Guide to Getting Leads and Prospecting for Medicare Sales.

Access to Exclusive Technology

Many FMOs produce technology that agents can benefit from by spending less time preparing and getting organized and more time making connections with clients.

Quote Quickly and Accurately

Ritter has a number of tools for agents to use that help them reach their sales goals with ease, like the Medicare Quote Engine! This system allows you to quote multiple plans from several carriers simultaneously for faster rate generation. Its easy-to-use platform was developed with three initiatives in mind: efficiency, speed, and intelligence! And since the data on the quote engine is updated monthly, you can be confident that the information you give your clients is accurate!

Enroll Painlessly Online

Ritter agents have the opportunity to use Integrity’s PlanEnroll, which is a consumer-facing website that makes Medicare plan quoting and enrollment simple and convenient. Each agent is provided with their own personal URL to distribute to prospects and clients and the site includes a permission to contact (PTC) form. Additionally, PlanEnroll is equipped to feature insurance plan options from many industry-leading insurance companies.

Agents can start using PlanEnroll by completing a simple sign up for MedicareCENTER. This sign up unlocks all of Integrity’s industry-leading resources and technology.

Stay Organized with a CRM

Integrity’s MedicareCENTER CRM enables easy client management with compliant inbound and outbound sales call recording, at-a-glance client tracking, seamless access to your clients’ files using the mobile app version, and more. You can also autofill e-Apps using the saved client info in your CRM saving you and your clients time during the enrollment process!

Utilize Strong Support

Behind our website and tools, Ritter Insurance Marketing is powered by friendly, knowledgeable staff whose primary mission is to help you succeed. We’re constantly developing programs and resources to be the best insurance FMO in the industry. Ritter has more than 275 team members spread out across the country. Our headquarters office is in Harrisburg, PA, and we have satellite offices in Sarasota, FL; Reisterstown, MD; Greensboro, NC; Omaha, NE; Bayside, NY; and Medina OH. Our team is committed to helping independent insurance agents succeed, during AEP and all year long.

Enjoy a Partnership

When Ritter and Integrity joined forces in 2022, we gained access to even more powerful tools for our agents. Now, our registered agents can use Integrity’s tools for client management, product quoting, and lead generation. We’re able to provide the same training and support for these tools as we offer for our own.

Staying Up to Date on the Latest Insurance News

A number of FMOs have blogs and podcasts to relay important information within the market. These topics can include compliance updates, new products, helpful, year-round tips for selling insurance, and much more! Additionally, FMOs will often inform you of market changes, such as a new carrier in your state becoming available, product rates decreasing, or the expansion of a network or service area.

At Ritter, we have the Ritter blog, which is updated frequently with informative posts on a variety of insurance topics geared toward the goal of success for agents. We also offer the Agent Survival Guide Podcast, which you can listen to while you are on the go! We know your time is precious, so we offer versatile ways for you to keep up with recent news!

Another way we distribute information to agents is through webinars and events! Our CEO, Craig Ritter, annually hosts his Senior Market Symposium, which includes news on Medicare regulation, enrollment statistics, and trends within the industry!

What Does a Medicare FMO Do?

Traditional FMOs recruit agents to contract with a new carrier, and the relationship ends there. In contrast, leading Medicare FMO insurance companies realize that partnership is about much more than contracts.

FMOs that view their relationships with agents as true partnerships are driven to provide tools and services to assist them with all aspects of their businesses, including contracts, marketing dollars, commissions, education, technology and back-office support.

Many FMOs spend the majority of their resources on recruiting new agents, but few focus on helping their existing agents grow their businesses and rewarding their partnership.

FMOs that believe in partnering with their agents are more likely to devote the majority of their resources to supporting existing agents and less to recruiting new ones. Why? Because FMOs aren’t making money if agents aren’t! When choosing a Medicare FMO, agents should look for one that invests 75 percent of its resources into providing their agents with sales tools and services and 25 percent into recruiting new agents.

FAQs About Medicare FMOs

To give you a better understanding of what FMOs do for their agents, here are the answers to some frequently asked questions agents have about working with FMOs.

Q: How would an FMO describe the relationship between itself and its agents?

A: It’s a partnership. An FMO’s existence is dependent upon its agents, so it should provide more than a contract to an agent in order for it to be a true partnership. An FMO doesn’t succeed unless the agent is succeeding, so the agent really is top priority.

Q: If I use an FMO, will my commissions be reduced?

A: No, FMOs use a hierarchy system that allows them to offer the same commission level to general agents that they would receive directly from the carrier. The commissions you’d get with an FMO are the same you’re getting without one. But with an FMO, you’re also getting a full support staff and various other perks.

Q: Did I hear perks?

A: Yes! FMOs offer additional value that you may not receive from a carrier. For instance, Ritter Insurance Marketing offers online contracting through Contract Now, the Ritter blog, one-to-one support, supplies, and co-op marketing dollars. As mentioned previously, through our partnership with Integrity, you have access to MedicareCENTER’s CRM for easy client management. You can even use Ritter Docs to view our carrier pages, Certification Center, and more! You must be logged in to RitterIM.com to view Ritter Docs and use the Ritter Platform.

See everything you get access to when you register with Ritter’s site for free

See all of our training and educational resources in one place. Download your free copy of Ritter’s Training & Educational Resources guide and learn how you can read, watch, listen, collaborate, and grow with us!

Q: Do I have to assign my commissions to an FMO if I go through them?

A: It depends. In most cases, you would sign a direct contract with the carrier and get paid through them. There are some situations in which an FMO would want you to assign your commissions to them (for example, if they provided you with an office, leads, or appointments).

Q: What happens to my commissions if I choose to leave my current Medicare FMO and go through another Medicare FMO or direct through a carrier?

A: Since most contracts are between you and the carrier, you would continue to receive renewal commissions from the business you issued through the previous FMO. If you were contracted with a carrier that pays your commissions through the FMO, it depends on the contract you signed with your FMO.

Q: How does an FMO make money?

A: FMOs receive compensation from the carrier above the general agent level to perform a variety of functions in service of that carrier, including recruiting, training, commission payments, etc.

Get all your questions answered, learn how to choose the best FMO, and more in our extensive guide, How Insurance FMOs Work.

How Do Insurance Marketing Organizations Differ?

When it comes to the insurance industry, there are a lot of acronyms! There’s FMO, IMO, NMO, MGA, and GA, just to name a few.

FMO stands for field marketing organization, which is very similar to an independent marketing organization (IMO). FMOs provide independent agents with perks and resources and help them get contracted with carriers to sell plans. Ritter Insurance Marketing is considered an FMO. IMOs offer this as well, but FMOs generally are more focused in the health insurance industry, whereas IMOs may focus on life insurance. However, this is not always the case. Also, FMOs tend to be bigger than IMOs and pay more in commissions. NMO stands for national marketing offices, which is a generic term for both FMOs and IMOs.

You can check out our post, FMO vs. IMO vs. NMO vs. MGA vs. GA: What’s the Difference? for more complete information about the similarities and differences of each.

Want to Join an FMO? Read This First!

FMOs can offer agents paramount support and helpful perks so they are standouts in the insurance industry. Consider the following when trying to decide which FMO is right for you and to see if Ritter is a good fit.

Contracts and Releases

When it comes to carriers, you need options. Ritter works with carriers all over the nation to give your portfolio a large variety of plans. Also note that before you join an FMO, you must either get a written release from your uplines or refrain from writing business for six months. Most agents choose the former, as the latter is not always realistic for full-time agents. Ritter has an open release policy for agents. For information on how that works, check out our post, Ready to Join an FMO? 10 Things to Consider.

Compliance

Staying compliant with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is a crucial part of being an insurance agent. Make sure your FMO puts a large emphasis on helping you stay compliant during AEP and all year long. Ritter offers supreme advice and support when it comes to staying compliant, including a Compliance team, blog posts, eBooks, checklists, and more.

Affinity Partnerships and Co-Ops

FMOs can help you market yourself through affinity partnerships. Affinity partnerships with places like pharmacies or hospitals can greatly help agents generate leads. Co-ops are also a great way to gain leads! Ritter offers both national and local co-ops, as we are Top of Hierarchy for most major Medicare Advantage and prescription drug plan companies.

Big, but Not Too Big

You want an FMO that can provide you with a full spectrum of contracts, support, services, and technology but not so big that you get lost in a sea of agents. Ritter hits the sweet spot of being able to offer contracts from more than 120 carriers and a long list of tools and resources while still offering individualized agent support. We have dedicated full-time teams to help with licensing and contracting, sales and product support, and our technology. We promise not to leave you after contracting.

There are independent agents that “go it alone,” but having an extra level of support can make a difference. By partnering with an FMO, a whole organization is in your corner eager to help you through your sales process while you’re out in the field. You’ll be able to put all your focus on your clients and help them choose the right plans to achieve the best possible outcome. Register with Ritter to get started today!

Editor’s Note: Some of the content in this post was derived from previous Ritter blog pieces, which have been written by various authors.