Correct Me if I Am Wrong, American Income Life Vs. Western Southern...

[Tinjaxfla]

So...after reviewing several posts is the bottomline in regard to AIL vs. WS...

If you are a new agent and

Work for AIL (a multi million dollar co) if you want to get some good checks selling some decent packages to mid income level folks but, expect to get burned out on vehicle/gas expenses (don't they give you $175 a week for this?), long hours etc. (Q: does anyone know the average yearly earnings of agents at AIL if they do stay a year)??

or

If you want to build a real career in Insurance, work for WS (a multi-Billion dollar co) but, you will not get paid very well, be micro managed and still burn up your car driving alot but you will have a laptop and the latest in industry software etc (It seems the average salary per year is $60K)??

If I started out with AIL, is it going to hurt me to have them on my resume? Do other companies in the industry view them as slimy???

I am so confused...I need a drink or two maybe three.... I guess I will look at the other companies recommended on the site also.

 

[xrac]

So...after reviewing several posts is the bottomline in regard to AIL vs. WS...

If you are a new agent and

Work for AIL (a multi million dollar co) if you want to get some good checks selling some decent packages to mid income level folks but, expect to get burned out on vehicle/gas expenses (don't they give you $175 a week for this?), long hours etc. (Q: does anyone know the average yearly earnings of agents at AIL if they do stay a year)??

or

If you want to build a real career in Insurance, work for WS (a multi-Billion dollar co) but, you will not get paid very well, be micro managed and still burn up your car driving alot but you will have a laptop and the latest in industry software etc (It seems the average salary per year is $60K)??

If I started out with AIL, is it going to hurt me to have them on my resume? Do other companies in the industry view them as slimy???

I am so confused...I need a drink or two maybe three.... I guess I will look at the other companies recommended on the site also.

Western Southern is the better place to be but you will work much harder.

 

[SalemInsuranceGuy]

So...after reviewing several posts is the bottomline in regard to AIL vs. WS...

If you are a new agent and

Work for AIL (a multi million dollar co) if you want to get some good checks selling some decent packages to mid income level folks but, expect to get burned out on vehicle/gas expenses (don't they give you $175 a week for this?), long hours etc. (Q: does anyone know the average yearly earnings of agents at AIL if they do stay a year)??

or

If you want to build a real career in Insurance, work for WS (a multi-Billion dollar co) but, you will not get paid very well, be micro managed and still burn up your car driving alot but you will have a laptop and the latest in industry software etc (It seems the average salary per year is $60K)??

If I started out with AIL, is it going to hurt me to have them on my resume? Do other companies in the industry view them as slimy???

I am so confused...I need a drink or two maybe three.... I guess I will look at the other companies recommended on the site also.

With AIL you're working primarily union member leads. You'll have an endless supply of them. I've also worked with a similar company called Union Labor Life. The way they get the leads is they have a rep go to the unions and offer all their union members a $1000 accidental death policy at no cost to them. The real cost of the lead to the company is probably $1 or $2. With AIL they had telemarketers set my appointments for me. All I had to do was drive my ass off. Sometimes I would bounce 2 counties over back and forth the whole day. With ULL I was given a stack of a few hundred leads and had no problem setting appointments. Both companies had the same pitch. You deliver the $1000 ADD policy then go into the "Hour Power" presentation where you try to get the person to take one hour of their wages a week and buy a whole life policy. Actually the rates where pretty decent on the policies. So if a guy is making $20 an hour you try to sell him an $80 a month whole life policy. Many of the members were onto the game and said on the phone I know you're going to try to sell me more life insurance and I don't need anymore. I agreed that was fine and would deliver their policy to them. It was hot and cold on the life sales. Where I made my money was on the disability. Many of the unions were underinsured on the DI. I sold them Assurity. They also had cancer policies to sell. Years after I left I had people calling me thanking me for selling them the disability because they got hurt and couldn't work. The biggest down side is you'll put more miles on your car than a trucker. Get a couple early morning appointments. Nothing in between until evening. More of a dockers and polo type of attire and you could even get away wearing jeans.

With Western Southern it was more professional and a lot better training. Good product lines on life, health, disability, etc. You'll get a weekly draw and your commissions will go into your "pool" or "bank", which you can't touch. At some point when you get enough in there you can increase your weekly draw. The biggest downside is living on the small weekly draw, which I believe lasts for 18 months or 2 years. After that it's a percentage of whatever is in your "bank" that you get each week. As an experienced agent you only get 3 or 6 months of a weekly guarantee. So it's rice and beans for awhile because even if you're making good commission you only get access to a portion of it each week. More of a suit and tie type of place. I also delivered quite a few death policies while I was there. People tend to keep their policies for life.

If I had to go back to one again I'd probably pick Western Southern.

 

[Tinjaxfla]

Thank you so much for your very informative feedback. I like the fact that you are speaking from actual experience as opposed to hearsay!

Kind Regards,
T

 

[xrac]

Thank you so much for your very informative feedback. I like the fact that you are speaking from actual experience as opposed to hearsay!

Kind Regards,
T

I also worked at AIL and went through a number of interviews with Western Southern and did their testing. It was enough to know what WS does and expects. Don't let the fact that at AIL you do not have to do prospecting entice you. It is a trap. AIL is an easier road but WS will teach you how to have a successful long term career in this business.

 

[arnguy]

Like SalemInsuranceGuy I too worked at AIL and subsequently Union Labor Life at one time. Man, did I rack up the miles driving all over SE PA. At one point when I complained to my manager, he gave me a stack of leads for one Zip Code for a town about 20 miles northwest of Philly. Turns out that zip code covered an area that was much, much bigger than the town itself. I t seemed that the Postal Service applied that zip code to a 20 mile radius from the center of the town----and many of the addresses were RFD in a decidely rural area.

 

[Cenla Agent]

Like SalemInsuranceGuy I too worked at AIL and subsequently Union Labor Life at one time. Man, did I rack up the miles driving all over SE PA. At one point when I complained to my manager, he gave me a stack of leads for one Zip Code for a town about 20 miles northwest of Philly. Turns out that zip code covered an area that was much, much bigger than the town itself. I t seemed that the Postal Service applied that zip code to a 20 mile radius from the center of the town----and many of the addresses were RFD in a decidely rural area.

I've known of zip codes that were a lot wider than that.

I don't know of too many companies that provide leads that aren't going to have you logging a lot of miles, especially if they are pre-set appointments. You'll likely do similarly with Western and Southern, which has the agency system. However in that case you'll typically have a lot better control over your schedule.