Bankers Life Employee Reviews about "100 commission"

Pros

They pay for your licensing exam prep and exam.

Cons

Almost no support. Very numbers-driven with little regard to an individual's actual experience in the field. Training is essentially halted 1 month in. A cold, very divided atmosphere; no sense of teamwork. Sink or swim. You need a large savings reserve to help you survive for your first year here as no salary is paid. No motivation to continue working for this company other than the unrealistic hope for a large commission very early on.

Pros

Training was not bad

Cons

At the Crystal Lake Location and the other affiliated branch in Carol Stream, these are both a puppy mill and revolving door. I do not care what nonsense they sling on you about making money it will not happen! They constantly are running ads for hiring and they are training new people every couple of weeks because everyone drops out like flies. You will waste time gas and money for a all commission job and the products are not that competitive. The managers make money while the low level people lives hang on by a thread. The oldest game since the beginning of time!

Pros

Helping clients approach and navigate their retirement is very fulfilling for me. Most people in this market require the ongoing guidance that a well rounded advisor/agent can and should deliver. The support and respect in my branch is solid and I enjoy the control I have over my career and compensation.

Cons

Starting this career is the most difficult aspect due to the compensation structure (Commission). You are in fact building a business for the first year or so but, once you develop the skills required for the job and have a client base to work with it becomes easier and more rewarding.

Pros

Only in the office for 2 days per week. A lot of autonomy in working the hours you want. ability for unlimited income if you're a sales superstar.

Cons

Products are not competitive. Life insurance and long term care products won't pay out on claims submitted by policy holders. 100% commission based= you won't get paid for weeks into your job. Leads are all recycled and you often split your commissions with others. Commissions are not payed straight forward. Always have to double check payroll to match what you actually get paid matches the commission statement. immoral sales techniques that target vulnerable senior population.

Pros

Training is fun. You get to meet some amazing people, both coworkers and clients. It can be an exciting job when you score a sale.

Cons

Don’t do it. I fell for their sales pitch and they said I had all these great qualities (just from looking at my resume posted on a job site). I am quitting soon because there are not enough leads to justify working on commission. Managers are snake oil salesmen. They make money off your hard work while you get a small percentage. You have to pay $600 for training and that’s all they need from you. It’s a part of the plan - get gullible people to pay for training and other licensing fees and then it doesn’t matter if you sell or not, they’ve already made a good ROI on you. I haven’t even made that money back despite working my tail off these last two months, so I will find a real job with a salary, a job in which a company is not blatantly trying to take advantage of me and the other agents.

Pros

so minor, not even worth mentioning.

Cons

This is probably one of the worst career decisions that you could make in a life time. Believe me - I use to advocate for Bankers. Every time I read a disgruntled review I thought 'pssh, they're just lazy and don't have what it takes.' Let me tell you, people aren't just making things up. Their stories are real. Expect for the managers that leave fake 5 star reviews with the whole 'unlimited compensation' catch phrase. Let me tell you why they recruit so aggressively even to get people who have no experience in the industry. Because.. people who finally realize it's a lousy company to work for eventually leave (within the first 3 months if they're smart). I'll walk you through my experience. A 20 something year old with no insurance experience.. gets a call to come in for an interview. About 25 people in that interview room which is really a company presentation. A lot of people complained about that on Glassdoor calling it a scam (it's not, but it's still a lousy deal), but I thought hey no problem I'll give it a shot anyway. I study and pass my Life, Accident and Health exam the first try ($85 for State License app, $50 to take exam, $60 for online study course) NOT PAID FOR BY BANKERS. ok. whatever. Got to invest in yourself, right? Next, Bankers tells me I must attend a 5-day new agent course somewhere upstate (I live on long island) So that's about a 2 hour drive each way. I could have stayed at a hotel (only like $400 for a week, right?) by the way NONE of which Banker's pays for. So I suck it up get through training. Now they put me in the office which is basically just a [boiler room] call center. I was told I had to make thousands of cold calls to build my client base and that I would hate it until I could go off referrals. Again, people complained about it, but I was determined by any means because I'm a go-getter. So I'm in the office calling all these old people who don't even want to discuss their life or health coverage unless they're getting something for free. It was like I cared more about their security than they did. By the way the typical script is sorta like 'GM this is ___ from Banker's Life calling to see if you received a package we sent regarding affordable life/health/etc.' Of course we never sent anything, the mangers just said to lie. And when they respond 'No I haven't' you say 'oh well NP I'm actually going to be in your area on ____ day' and basically try to convince them to meet up for an appointment. 97% of the time you will get 'not interested,' cursed out, DNC list request, or *click*. The other 3% they might agree to spend time, but when you get there their 'relative' (who is probably them) will say 'oh they stepped out of town. come back next week' after you drove 30 minutes or whatever to see them. On the rare occasion that you DO make a sale (maybe one every other week or so for like maybe $150-$300) then expect that commission to be eventually charged back (reversed) in the likely event that the client will lapse their policy (not pay premium consistently for the entire year). Overpriced product portfolio is just one problem. You see, Banker's Life is a *rewrite company*. When an agent leaves, they'll send a newer, hungrier agent to 'review' all the clients that the former agent had. Sometimes the client might need less insurance or is interested in a different type for ex: a policy with an investment component. So what the new agent and the client will do is agree to let the current policy (with the old agent) cancel and then write a similar policy (with the new agent). This gives the new agents a small amount of commission to keep them from starving. The old agent gets the chargeback and must pay back all commissions from that cancelled policy. Some of the veteran agents that have been there for 6 months-1 year become so financially invested in the business that they can't get out. They've written so many policies, spent the money from commissions on bills, sustenance, etc, had so many policies cancel, got CHARGEDBACK and had to write EVEN MORE policies (many of which will cancel and chargeback) so that they could pay off the chargebacks from previous policies. Then they get stuck in this never-ending cyclic process of trying to stay afloat. Your manager will tell you 'do not give up.' That's because you are a drone to be utilized at their disposal until you find the sense to move onto a better career. The stockholders and CEO don't give a ... about you either. That's why there's no base pay, no training compensation, no dental, vision or health benefits and commission rates are low (even for a captive agency). There's no mileage compensation for your car and you are 1099 (independent contractor) so your best bet to recoup from that is deduct as a business expense. So think of it this way.. Bankers is NOT a scam. INSTEAD.. it is an insurance pyramid scheme.. one that is EXTREMELY difficult to climb and one in which ONLY the top execs bank loot and the mangers make sort of a decent living.

Pros

Great opportunity if you are okay with sole earnings from 100% commission sales commissions.

Cons

100% commission sales commissions, with back-charged adjustments for policy cancellations. While it is understandable, that the company is not going to pay you for policies that cancel, it still wrecks havoc with your household budget.

Pros

Your income potential is huge. This is a career where your hard work actually means something. If you put in the time and effort, you will make more money. The company heavily invests in their agents and are always looking for the next manager or financial advisor. Your hard work is rewarded with these opportunities. Everybody in upper management or a financial advisor position started from the bottom as an insurance agent. They understand what it is like to be in your position from day 1 and provide advice and resources to help you succeed.

Cons

This career isn't for everybody. You need to be passionate about the work you do or succeeding will be much harder. The pay is commission only so it can be tough for the first couple of years.

Pros

If developing new Sales agents is your passion this is the job for you. Non stop from start time to end of business day. You just be hungry because its commission only. Not for the faint of heart.

Cons

If you've never been commission only and have financial obligations; either have lots of money saved up or be very hungry and relentless.

Pros

Good work environment Incentives Renewals Free leads

Cons

Cold calling Commission % No base pay at all Training is to fast Leads provided are not high quality.