How contracting works
Four steps, described honestly: what happens, what we need from you, and what can slow each one down. The parts we control move in days. The parts carriers control do not, and we would rather say so now.
Before step one
Six things decide whether your contracting takes days of work or weeks of waiting. Have them in hand and the first call is much shorter.
- Your resident license and NPN. Active life and health, in your resident state.
- The states you actually write. Including any non-resident licenses, and any you know have lapsed.
- Your current E&O certificate. Carriers require it, and an expired one stops an appointment cold.
- Your current appointments. Which carriers you are already contracted with, and through whom.
- Your certification status. AHIP and any carrier product training you have already completed this cycle.
- Your structure. Solo, a downline, or a sales floor, because it changes both the paperwork and the conversation.
The contracting path
The same four steps the homepage sketches, with the detail that actually decides how your first month goes.
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Tell us about your book
A conversation, not a form. What you write today, which states you are licensed in, which carriers you are already appointed with, whether you are solo or bringing producers, and what is actually slowing you down right now. We are listening for two things: whether our carrier shelf covers what you sell, and whether anything in your current situation will make appointments difficult. This is also the step where we tell you if we are not a fit, because finding that out in week four costs you a month of production.
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Complete appointments
Your producer profile is collected once: licenses, NPN, E&O, background and screening answers, banking details, and history. From there we prepare and submit the carrier packets rather than forwarding you a folder of links, and a named contact follows anything that stops moving. You will see what is pending, what came back approved, and what still needs something from you, broken out by carrier and by state. Most contracting dies here, in a thread nobody owns, which is exactly why somebody owns the file.
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Get set up on the stack
A live onboarding session rather than a welcome email with attachments. A dialer seat in AgentTech, inbound queues and outbound campaigns configured, CRM fields set up the way you actually work, quoting access through Solved Enroll, and lead delivery pointed at the right campaign if you bought a program. We also get your AHIP and carrier product certifications tracked, because a certification window is one of the few things that can block a sale after an appointment is already approved.
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Produce
As carriers come back ready to sell you start writing, and the relationship changes shape. Case-level help on the case in front of you rather than a link to a help article. Escalation when a submission sticks at the carrier. Extended hours through the annual election period, when it matters most. Statements reconciled against what you actually wrote, so a missing commission gets found instead of quietly absorbed.
The part that is different here
Step two is where most contracting quietly dies, in an email thread that nobody owns. A named contact owns your file and chases the carrier so you are not the one following up on your own paperwork. That is not a feature, it is just the job, and it is the reason this path is designed to finish.
What we need, and what can stall it
Read across each row. The left column is yours, the right column is where a week disappears.
| Step | What we need from you | What can slow it down |
|---|---|---|
| Tell us about your book | Your resident license and NPN, the states you hold licenses in, the carriers and products you write today, your structure, and whether you are currently contracted with another FMO. | Almost nothing, because this part is a conversation. The one thing worth checking beforehand is which carriers you are currently appointed with, since producers are often less sure than they expect. |
| Complete appointments | Signed carrier agreements, a current E&O certificate, background and screening answers, banking details for commission payment, and non-resident licenses for any state you intend to write. | Carrier processing time, which nobody outside the carrier controls and which moves slower in season. A required release from your current FMO. A missing E&O certificate. A lapsed non-resident license. Information in your packet that does not match your state license record. |
| Get set up on the stack | About an hour of calendar for a live session, the states and campaigns you want configured, and your current AHIP and carrier certification status. | Very little, because this is the part we run and it does not wait on a carrier. The exception is certification, because AHIP and carrier product training open on their own schedule rather than yours. |
| Produce | Clean submissions, certifications kept current, and a direct heads-up when a carrier or a lead program is not performing for you. | Declines that were predictable from the health questions, applications submitted with missing information, and commission statements that nobody reconciles. All three are fixable, and all three are why case-level support exists. |
Ready to sell means the carrier has completed your appointment and any product certification it requires, in a given state, for a given product. It is not the same as a packet having been submitted, so we track the two separately and show you which is which. More on how contracting is run.
A realistic timeline
We publish this qualitatively on purpose. Putting a day count on something a carrier controls would make it a promise rather than a fact.
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Day one
The fit conversation
Booked quickly and finished in one call. You leave knowing whether our shelf covers what you write and what your contracting is likely to involve.
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Same week
Your producer profile
Collected once, reviewed for the things carriers reject packets over, and reused for every submission after that. This is entirely on us and our side of it moves in days.
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Within days
Packets prepared and submitted
We assemble and send the carrier appointment packets. There is no queue you are waiting behind here, and no reason for a packet to sit on our desk.
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Carrier controlled
Appointment processing
This is the part we cannot speed up, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. Carriers differ from each other by a wide margin, the same carrier differs by season, and the run-up to the annual election period is the slowest window of the year. What we can do is chase a submission that has gone quiet, and tell you which carriers are slow right now rather than after you have waited.
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Release dependent
Leaving another FMO
If a carrier requires a written release from your current upline, that clock belongs to the losing FMO and to the carrier. Some transfers are straightforward, some require a written release, and a few require a period with no production before the appointment can move. We will tell you which category each carrier falls into before you start.
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On first approval
Platform setup and first business
Platform onboarding does not wait for every carrier to come back. As soon as the first appointments are approved you can write, and the rest arrive while you are already producing.
What the first month looks like
Written in weeks rather than promised in days, because the carrier half of this is not ours to schedule.
- Week one. The fit conversation, your producer profile collected once, and the first carrier packets out the door. You should also know by the end of this week which carriers will be fast and which will not.
- Week two. Platform onboarding on a live call: dialer seat, queues and campaigns, CRM fields, quoting access, and lead delivery if you bought a program. Certification status reviewed and anything outstanding scheduled.
- Week three. First appointments start coming back ready to sell, and you start writing on those carriers. Product training focused on what each one actually underwrites and where cases get declined.
- Week four. A working rhythm: cases in flight, case-level help on the ones that are borderline, escalation on anything stuck at a carrier, and a first look at how your submissions are converting.
The technology package
What gets set up in step three: the dialer and CRM, quoting and enrollment, and lead delivery into a campaign.
See what is includedCommissions and hierarchies
Levels, advance versus as-earned, overrides if you have a downline, and how statements get reconciled.
How commissions workContracting a roster
If you are onboarding producers rather than yourself, the path is the same but the sequencing is not.
For agenciesFAQs
About the process
How long does contracting actually take?
The parts we control move in days. Your producer profile is collected once, reviewed for the things carriers reject packets over, and the appointment packets go out without sitting in a queue. The part we do not control is carrier processing, which varies widely between carriers, varies again by season, and is slowest in the run-up to the annual election period. Anyone who quotes you a single number for this is quoting the best case and hoping.
Do I need a release from my current FMO?
Sometimes, and it depends on the carrier rather than on us. Some appointments transfer straightforwardly, some require a written release from your current upline, and a few require a period with no production on that carrier before the appointment can move. We check this per carrier at the start and tell you what each one requires, because a release requirement discovered halfway through is the most common reason contracting stalls.
What happens if my E&O or a non-resident license has lapsed?
The appointment stops until it is fixed, so we would rather find it in week one. Errors and omissions coverage is a carrier requirement and a lapse takes appointments down with it. A lapsed non-resident license means you cannot be appointed in that state, and it is easy to miss because the state you renewed last year is not necessarily the state you are writing in now. Both are part of what we review before packets go out.
Can I get on the technology before every appointment comes back?
Yes, and that is the normal sequence. Platform onboarding is the part we run, so it does not wait on a carrier. You can be set up in the dialer, quoting, and lead delivery while appointments are still processing, then start writing on each carrier as it comes back ready to sell.
What does ready to sell actually mean?
That the carrier has completed your appointment and any product certification it requires, in a specific state, for a specific product. It is not the same as a packet having been submitted, and the difference matters because writing before you are ready to sell is how a commission goes unpaid. We track it per carrier and per state rather than telling you contracting is done.
Do I fill out a separate application for every carrier?
No. That is the single biggest time saving in this process. Your licenses, NPN, E&O, history, background answers, and banking details are collected once, and we reuse them across every carrier submission. If a carrier needs something specific on top of that, we ask you for that one thing rather than resending the whole packet.
What do I get on the technology side once I am contracted?
AgentTech Dialer with its built-in CRM and AI compliance scoring, access to Solved Enroll for quoting and enrollment, and access to exclusive lead programs from Solved Marketing. Those companies share our parent, Solved Ventures, which is why the platforms come with the contract instead of being resold to you. Lead programs are quoted and purchased separately. See what is included.
Something else? Contact us
Start with one conversation.
Bring your licenses, your states, and your current appointments. We will tell you what contracting here involves before you commit to anything.