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I had a 3 hour conversation with a current 6-month New York Life agent... and I've got to tell you that I don't see how *I* can recommend people to go there for starting a career.
There's a BIG difference in positioning between being a "brand ambassador" / "policy peddler" and being a CLIENT ADVOCATE.
What he told me was that NYL teaches you to say: "I'm DHK with New York Life. We're a triple-A rated company with a dividend history of over 100 years" (or something like that). ALL of which... is of no interest to the person being spoken to.
They don't know what you really do. They don't know what problems you can help them solve. You're just supposed to "sell policies".
Is there anything wrong with that? Yes! What's wrong is that you are working in the cogs of some mindless marketing MBA's fantasy of how to market insurance products... and it's YOUR career and income that suffers... NOT THEIRS!
At least MassMutual (last I heard) allows the LEAP System and you can market yourself with the benefits of that process. ($2,500 for the system + additional costs for live training sessions) And while this process can take 6 meetings, at least you have something to go with.
At least Guardian has their own in-house Living Balance Sheet system and you can market yourself with the benefits of that process. ($300/month - although I believe it has scaled pricing depending on how long you've been in the business.) Probably a similar selling style of 6 meetings.
Ohio National career agents could learn LEAP or Circle of Wealth and market themselves for those processes.
Hell, even WORLD FINANCIAL GROUP has a conversation that helps people to "find the money" with a discussion of the "tax triangle"! An MLM company (and probably not just this one) has superior value proposition than New York Life to help agents help more people!!! Ugh!
This guy I spoke to, talked about his prospecting and what he has been taught and trained to do. He's "hoping" to clear his contract this year... for only $34,000 of FYC... and without a quality introduction... I doubt he'll do it because of all the internal regulations and, in my opinion, unnecessary compliance restrictions over his activities.
Now, I understand that New York Life is a VERY conservative mutual company. They want to protect their brand and avoid scandalous headlines of rogue agents and advisors. But, according to this guy, he can't even help them to "find the money" with basic budgeting reviews because they believe that is part of "financial planning" and you have to have securities registrations to do it. No wonder they push you to get these licenses quickly - they don't know how to sell life insurance without it!!!
(Securities licensing allows you to review investment portfolios and make buy, sell, hold, and analysis recommendations; it's NOT an "all inclusive" license to do "everything" even if it's marketed as such.)
Does your offering pass "the salt" test?
- You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. But if you salt the horse's oats, you can get him to WANT to drink.
- "But if the salt loseth its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It shall be thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men." (Matthew 5:13)
If you want to be securities licensed, then go with these captive career agencies.
If you DON'T want to be securities licensed, don't bother with them. Training and mentoring are a MYTH and it's not fair to the new agent.
Here's what *I* don't understand: New York Life has the LARGEST agent force that are members of the MDRT. I have a TON of these videos on my YouTube channel. Why doesn't New York Life take this information and teach it to their new agents??? They push you to join MDRT, and you can learn a lot... but why aren't they teaching it to their new agents to improve their chances of success???
If you can survive New York Life for 3 years: That's when you can "earn" your way to have your own DBA and create your own value proposition based on your accumulated knowledge. That's how some of these other larger producers make it.
Look at The Feldman Agency. Wendy Feldman (granddaughter of Ben and niece to Marvin) has her value proposition and unique identity within New York Life. She's not peddling policies. She's solving problems. (Yes, she has her securities registrations.)
The Feldman Agency
But the overall result is this: You are PUSHING policies and people see you ONLY as an insurance agent, NOT as someone who can help them! No wonder it's reported that life insurance agents are regarded at a similar level as the proverbial used car salesman! And we have our own CAPTIVE COMPANIES to thank for it! We are our own worst enemies.
There's a BIG difference in positioning between being a "brand ambassador" / "policy peddler" and being a CLIENT ADVOCATE.
What he told me was that NYL teaches you to say: "I'm DHK with New York Life. We're a triple-A rated company with a dividend history of over 100 years" (or something like that). ALL of which... is of no interest to the person being spoken to.
They don't know what you really do. They don't know what problems you can help them solve. You're just supposed to "sell policies".
Is there anything wrong with that? Yes! What's wrong is that you are working in the cogs of some mindless marketing MBA's fantasy of how to market insurance products... and it's YOUR career and income that suffers... NOT THEIRS!
At least MassMutual (last I heard) allows the LEAP System and you can market yourself with the benefits of that process. ($2,500 for the system + additional costs for live training sessions) And while this process can take 6 meetings, at least you have something to go with.
At least Guardian has their own in-house Living Balance Sheet system and you can market yourself with the benefits of that process. ($300/month - although I believe it has scaled pricing depending on how long you've been in the business.) Probably a similar selling style of 6 meetings.
Ohio National career agents could learn LEAP or Circle of Wealth and market themselves for those processes.
Hell, even WORLD FINANCIAL GROUP has a conversation that helps people to "find the money" with a discussion of the "tax triangle"! An MLM company (and probably not just this one) has superior value proposition than New York Life to help agents help more people!!! Ugh!
This guy I spoke to, talked about his prospecting and what he has been taught and trained to do. He's "hoping" to clear his contract this year... for only $34,000 of FYC... and without a quality introduction... I doubt he'll do it because of all the internal regulations and, in my opinion, unnecessary compliance restrictions over his activities.
Now, I understand that New York Life is a VERY conservative mutual company. They want to protect their brand and avoid scandalous headlines of rogue agents and advisors. But, according to this guy, he can't even help them to "find the money" with basic budgeting reviews because they believe that is part of "financial planning" and you have to have securities registrations to do it. No wonder they push you to get these licenses quickly - they don't know how to sell life insurance without it!!!
(Securities licensing allows you to review investment portfolios and make buy, sell, hold, and analysis recommendations; it's NOT an "all inclusive" license to do "everything" even if it's marketed as such.)
Does your offering pass "the salt" test?
- You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. But if you salt the horse's oats, you can get him to WANT to drink.
- "But if the salt loseth its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It shall be thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men." (Matthew 5:13)
If you want to be securities licensed, then go with these captive career agencies.
If you DON'T want to be securities licensed, don't bother with them. Training and mentoring are a MYTH and it's not fair to the new agent.
Here's what *I* don't understand: New York Life has the LARGEST agent force that are members of the MDRT. I have a TON of these videos on my YouTube channel. Why doesn't New York Life take this information and teach it to their new agents??? They push you to join MDRT, and you can learn a lot... but why aren't they teaching it to their new agents to improve their chances of success???
If you can survive New York Life for 3 years: That's when you can "earn" your way to have your own DBA and create your own value proposition based on your accumulated knowledge. That's how some of these other larger producers make it.
Look at The Feldman Agency. Wendy Feldman (granddaughter of Ben and niece to Marvin) has her value proposition and unique identity within New York Life. She's not peddling policies. She's solving problems. (Yes, she has her securities registrations.)
The Feldman Agency
But the overall result is this: You are PUSHING policies and people see you ONLY as an insurance agent, NOT as someone who can help them! No wonder it's reported that life insurance agents are regarded at a similar level as the proverbial used car salesman! And we have our own CAPTIVE COMPANIES to thank for it! We are our own worst enemies.
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