New York Life – “Good for some - horrible for most”
2 of 2 people found this helpfulMay 8, 2009
2009-05-08 21:12 PDT
Details
Pros
Working for a mutual company, being able to try to "milk" that to death in front of clients.
Cons
1. Zero salary - 100% commission. The "PTAS" the recruiting managers spout on & on about only kicks in if you make at least $500 FYC PER MONTH!! If you make $499, you get nothing. For new agents, this can be very demoralizing.
2. Maybe I just wasn't ready for this kind of work (and maybe the next thing I am going to comment on is actually commonplace in the insurance industry) but I have NEVER EVER worked for a company that would actually call people into a room, ask each one of you how much commission you made this week or last, and then tell you about Mr. So & So (who just happens to know millionaires in his natural market) making $40,000 FYC in the last month!!! I find this COMPLETELY demoralizing and does absolutely NOTHING to get me all "rah-rah's" up about my next 3 hour cold-calling session.
3. Personal time? Forget it. The "excellent work-life balance" that the managers who hire you go on and on about is completely bogus. They expect you to work all day and then return to the office each night and cold-call until 8PM until you make the requisite 2 appointments per day. For a new agent with a lousy natural market, this is almost impossible.
Advice to Senior Management
Tell people who do NOT have an excellent natural market NOT TO APPLY for this job!
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Comments (2)
Speaking of it just "being me", that's exactly what I thought for months. That is, of course, until I started seeing the almost daily emails from management once again parading the "Leader Of The Month" or some other self-stroking title. In almost 99.999% of the cases it was the same person, or the same handful of 2-3 people. Just ONCE I would have LOVED to see a former "underdog" grab the title of leader. But this NEVER happens, and I now understand why (well, it's really more that I kind of knew it all along but it took a few months to sink in):
IT'S THE NATURAL MARKET, STUPID!!!
That's it. Period. Have a good or great one? Bravo to you, you can make it and even excel. Don't? RUN THE OTHER WAY AS FAST AS POSSIBLE, because you WILL fail!! I have seen it already. Some guys (AND gals) are working their asses off day and night and have nothing to show for it, and some others just seem to have accounts and sales falling into their laps. Again, it's who you know, and how strong your NM is, that essentially dictates your success in this business.
Please understand that I am NOT taking anything away from those of you who have "made it" working for NYL. NOT AT ALL. In fact, I ENVY and APPLAUD you all for doing so well. Rather, my negative comments are aimed squarely at management, who do NOT tell you these little (yet ENORMOUSLY important) facts while you are in FCS classes. The sooner I knew that my job was going to be an uphill climb for the next 3-5 years while I sank in debt, the sooner I would have excused myself and looked for another opportunity.
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by Anonymous:
The only person I know who does excellent at New York Life is an Indian (from India!) guy. He was MDRT after 10mos! He's also the most aggressive person I've ever met. If someone no shows, he'll wait hours in front of their house until they come home! Because of that culture (majority of his clients are Indian), they naturally trust each other. The appt was for 6pm. They came home at 9:30pm. 10pm, he's eating dinner with them and talking about a 10pay whole life....if you can stomach this, then you'll survive at NY Life.... BTW, this guy is the first one to tell you what an idiot the managing partner is!