How to Choose the Right IMO for Your Life Insurance Agency

Choosing an IMO is one of the most important structural decisions a life insurance agency makes. The right partnership accelerates growth and removes operational friction. The wrong one creates bottlenecks that are difficult to unwind later. For established agencies and BGAs, the decision requires more than comparing commission schedules.

Start With Where Your Agency Is Headed

Agencies often evaluate IMOs based on current needs rather than future growth. This creates misalignment as volume increases and operational complexity grows. Before evaluating partners, leadership should define where the agency is headed over the next several years.

Growth goals, producer mix, geographic expansion, and case complexity all influence what the right IMO looks like.

Evaluate Operational Infrastructure

Infrastructure is the most overlooked component of the IMO relationship. As agencies scale, underwriting coordination, case management, and compliance processes must remain consistent.

• Centralized case management and underwriting support
• Defined workflows that scale with volume
• Dedicated operational teams rather than shared resources
• Technology that supports leadership visibility

Agencies rarely leave IMOs because of compensation. They leave because operations cannot keep up with growth.

Understand the Depth of Carrier Relationships

Carrier access alone does not guarantee results. Agencies benefit from IMOs that maintain active relationships with carrier underwriting and operations teams. This allows for escalation, faster resolution, and more predictable outcomes.

Ask how issues are handled, who manages carrier communication, and how underwriting feedback is delivered back to producers.

Assess Technology and Data Visibility

Leadership level visibility becomes critical as agencies grow. The right IMO provides insight into submissions, underwriting status, and outcomes across the organization.

Technology should reduce manual reporting and allow leadership to make decisions based on real data rather than anecdotes.

Look for Long Term Alignment

The best IMO relationships are built around alignment, not dependency. Agencies should retain control over branding, producer relationships, and strategy while leveraging the IMO for infrastructure.

Long term alignment ensures the partnership grows stronger as the agency scales.

How The Marketing Alliance Supports Agency Evaluation

The Marketing Alliance is structured to support agencies evaluating IMOs through the lens of infrastructure, carrier access, and operational leverage. TMA focuses on long term partnerships rather than short term production incentives.

Agencies working with TMA use the IMO relationship to remove operational friction while maintaining control over their business and growth strategy.