Mikie2times Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 I often come to the wall for advice as I respect many of your opinions as much as my close friends. I recently got hired as a intern at New York Life, for those who don't know about this company it specializes in life/health insurance, and also does financial planing. I read reports about being a agent, talked to my folks, heard the opinion's of the partner that hired me etc... The Problem is every opinion I seek is biased either toward or against working in this business. As far as I understand it being a agent in any company can be a total make or break profession. I have heard stories about agents making over a hundred thousand a year with very moderate supervision. I have also heard many say the failure rate in this profession can be astronomical. To sum it up I'm looking for an unbiased opinion on this job field. I consider myself to be self motivated, street smart more then book smart, and extremely sociable. All quality's that I feel will help me to succeed at this job. Despite this I still feel like an outsiders opinion will truly help me decide whether or not this is what I want to put my efforts into. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Steve Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 Are you working for commission? I have been in Sales for 3 1/2 yrs now and its up and down alot. I am on salary so it doesn't matter if I make a sale that month or not because I still get paid. Nice comfort to have when things are going downhill! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soljc Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 FWIW, a good friend is a sales rep for Unum Provident and has done extremely well in just a few years. I wouldn't describe him as a particularly book smart person, just a very self motivated and hard worker (often is in the office till 7 or 8 at night), so if you work hard, I'm sure you'll find success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikie2times Posted August 20, 2004 Author Share Posted August 20, 2004 The pay tier is extremely complex, so much so that I could not even try to explain it yet because I am just starting to understand it. It is commission based with management opportunity's after a few years as a agent. Your first 3 years you get a fairly substantial commission bonus because your a rookie agent, the bonus hits a ceiling just over 20,000$ your first year and declines to around 10,000$ your third year. Basically your bonus is structured according to commission, your first year you your monthly bonus tops out at 1750$. If you make 1500$ (give or take 100$) you hit your full bonus. The bonus is in effect your first 3 years as a agent, and it cumulative on your yearly commission sales. So say I do 3,000$ in commission one months, all I need is one sale no matter how big it is to trigger then bonus the next month. Since I'm a intern Im not eligible for health but if I go full time I will also get health for about 50$ a month with 10 co pays. You initially start as a health/life insurance guy and once you prove your worth you can get certified in other financial planing areas at no cost to you. Last but not least is they seem to be fairly lenient with management opportunity's, if your successful your first three years you can make partner. That comes with a 90,000$ a year salary and trail commissions from your previous work as a agent. Hope that explained some of your questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Steve Posted August 21, 2004 Share Posted August 21, 2004 Sounds like if you really bust your hump for the 1st 3 yrs it will pay off for you. Unless you have the god given ability to seel anything to anyone for an astronomical amount( I don't have these powers). I've been to sales schools that cost upwards of 25k but all the schools in the world won't matter if you don't believe in your product and how it will benefit your applicants. Trust me they really see this in your presentation and your swagger. Once you have them wanting what you got then you are in there. I don't claim to be a superstar salesman but I do hold my own with quality sales. A couple of hints--use your product that you sell--don't bash other products to make yours look better because people see right through that crap. Like I said believe in your stuff and enjoy what you do and you will be unstoppable. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted August 21, 2004 Share Posted August 21, 2004 It's interesting that they're into life/health insurance AND financial planning. My State Farm agent's forte is financial planning, and he says it's the fastest growing part of his company. He has his own agency, and never sounds like he's making any money. Which is why he doesn't do my financial planning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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