Western & Southern Life reviews

Misrepresentations During recruiting, local management promises to teach prospecting and they’re very convincing (best persuaders you’ll ever find). But, the prospecting system doesn’t work and marketing is broken. You need your own proven ways to sustain a pipeline of clients … or look elsewhere. Management will say there’s six-figure earning potential. Well, Million-Dollar Round Table (MDRT) agents are top industry earners, yet even MDRT qualifications don’t call for six-figure insurance commissions. The company has over 1000 agents but only a dozen or so MDRT’s. Clearly it’s not the company that’s got “the right stuff”. Naïve, Ineffective Market Strategy After the initial training pay, you’re paid 100% commissions. Ideally, you’d want 100% of your time in appointments addressing the needs of qualified prospects that are willing to sign up and pay for insurance. Any other use of your time detracts from direct pay. The “go to market” practices had better work. At this company, they’re broken. People don’t trust sales folks trying to “push” anything on them, especially insurance. You cannot make money when your time is spent “95% pushing” and only “5% signing”. The company has a formal program designed for prospecting (“pushing”) to current clients, strip center merchants, school events and fairs, and your friends and family. You’ll then be required to call people from those activities. How do you feel about phone soliciting? Many sales professionals say it doesn’t work, and it did not work. It’s unskilled work worth ten bucks hourly. Is that what you intended to do when you obtained education and license(s)? There’s no marketing program delivering qualified leads. Oh, the company does have a HQ outbound telemarketing center. But, almost all their alleged “leads” turn out to be wild goose chases too. High Rep Costs In addition to your time, your money will also be spent unwisely. Reps foot business expenses galore: car, fuel, event fees, postage, laptop rental, licenses, etc. It takes a lot to drive to clients’ homes, businesses, and events some 19 times per week … and get so little out of it! Uncompensated Office Time Every week, 14.5 to 16 hours of office attendance is mandatory for office meetings, training, phone soliciting, and filing. The company does not pay Reps for their time to be there. Most of the purposes are not worthwhile. Even the training was atrocious. Poorly Compensated Client Reviews The company demands Reps meet existing clients for annual reviews. That usually produces no business. Reps also must meet clients for many kinds of service work to adjust policy terms or deal with billing. So-called “conservation commissions” are not worth the time and expense. Stale Productivity Management must think productivity initiatives just cost money. Well, when Reps flounder, that costs the company as well as the Reps in fewer sales. The de-facto policy on technology is: They’re afraid of it. Laptops run a few applications fraught with embarrassing bugs. The job is mobile, yet there’s no use of mobile technologies for scheduling or CRM. Narrow Product Range The best products have been Life, Accident, and Critical Illness insurance for most Reps. The company runs a great family of mutual funds which most Reps cannot sell it due to licensing. Reps may broker other select insurance companies offering Long-Term Care, Disability, and Health Insurance. In the case of Health Insurance (obviously important), the approved carrier lines were not competitive. Poor Advancement Potential Two years in grade as a Rep is required before eligible to promote or transfer. You’ll rarely if ever meet an HR representative; much less have a real discussion of career paths. Work/Life Conditions Official operating rules call for 44.5 to 46 hours per week. But, adding in travel, there were many 10-12 hour days. Form your own opinion. More than 6 hours per week in any other organized activity is prohibited, including furthering your education or community service. Oppressive Culture Empowerment is a foreign concept. Witnessed zero true team effort in almost 2 years. Communication is one-way --- top-down --- at what appeared to be all levels of the company. Any employee feedback was rebuffed. Micro-management is institutionalized to extremes. There’s no escaping the metrics and time demands to try anything else. So forget trying any different way to achieve sales. Especially during sales contests, colleagues reported or falsely signed applications for insurance. They also would grandstand and attempt to manipulate rules. Managers were prone to gossip, condoned / used personal attacks as a tactic, were caustic bordering on harassment, and treated Reps like preschool children. I respected rank even though difficult with individuals behaving immaturely and displaying limited skills and literacy. Poor Company Support Underwriting took up to 5 months to approve applications. Other kinds of home office support were also slow. You don’t get commissions until the applications are approved and delivered. Client payment problems can cause previously paid commissions to be taken back from you. Poor Reputation In the company’s home market, the public was outraged by a controversy with a homeless shelter. Also, many people harbored ill feelings about past employment with the company. And many view corporate leadership as arrogant. Many prospects turned a cold shoulder. Low Pay All Reps complain about compensation. In my experience, the last five quarters saw steady pay declines. Initial starting pay and subsidies help at first, but the slow pace of commissions eventually reflects in poor pay. Reps see limited company performance data; but what data was released indicated that weak sales were apparently epidemic across most offices of the company. High Turnover In less than 2 years, 20 other people came and went for 10 Rep slots in my office. Even the President of Western & Southern Life announced start of a new job at another company the next business day after my departure.