Pros
Most employees are very experienced and have a lot of knowledge to give In some areas, there are a LOT of agents to learn from Farmer's writes many different lines of business Company keeps pace with the industry very well
Cons
No centralized or formal training program for independent agents or people working for them; very much an ad hoc style of "learn as you go" and make significant mistakes along the way, sometimes at the expense of the clients New employees are expected to self-train using flash slideshows called "University of Farmer's" which is just an online compilation of somewhat interactive videos Disorganized, random method of training leads to misinformation and an overall confusing experience for new employees Employees who do not keep pace with the Kafka-esque training circus are disciplined accordingly Agents who come in without prior experience often hit business pitfalls without realizing the consequences until it's too late Confusing billing system