INSIDER: Inside the tawdry, drug-fueled, violent world of America's top life insurance salesmen

[DHK]

[EXTERNAL LINK] - Inside the tawdry, drug-fueled, violent world of America's top life insurance salesmen

Oh... my... word. This is atrocious behavior and NOT good for our industry that desires to be respected.

It's bad enough that sometimes the public doesn't trust us and our assertions... we don't need this kind of negativity.

However, I do believe that it needs to come to light.

I am truly embarrassed when I hear about these things. This is why we are considered an 'industry' as opposed to a 'profession'.

That... is telling as well:

"It's not hard to get a license to sell life insurance. In Pennsylvania, where Arias is headquartered, you just have to be 18, finish 24 hours of classes, and score 70% on a multiple-choice exam. If you flunk, you can take the test again — and again. Rob Jackson, the regional director in Chicago, took eight tries to pass it."

 

[Al3x Lee]

[EXTERNAL LINK] "It's not hard to get a license to sell life insurance. In Pennsylvania, where Arias is headquartered, you just have to be 18, finish 24 hours of classes, and score 70% on a multiple-choice exam. If you flunk, you can take the test again — and again. Rob Jackson, the regional director in Chicago, took eight tries to pass it."

Giving credit where it's due, there's some top-tier talent in this company It took me no less than 16 attempts to get my life license.

 

[JTylerH]

Giving credit where it's due, there's some top-tier talent in this company It took me no less than 16 attempts to get my life license.

Yeah I get not everyone is good at test taking and studying but if you can’t pass that test on the second or third try… haha

 

[kpbdy99]

Wow. Just... wow.

 

[whatyouwantfinally]

This is a sales thing in general, and it reads exactly like stories about Jordan Belfort with stocks, mortgage companies in the early 2000s and on and on.

I've been in sales since I finished college and I've witnessed the same culture in (in order) windows/siding sales, car sales, mortgages and software sales. If I had taken a different route with insurance than I did I could very well have witnessed it there too.

It sucks, but recruiting young men with the vision of fast $ and a fraternity-like environment is often a successful business model for sales. It just is. And fast $ can lead the minds of young men to toxic places. For the % of women who succeed there, there's a huge incentive not to rock the boat because where else are you gonna make that kind of $?

That's why it manifests so often in so many fields and is often kept quiet; $ talks. Sure, it blows up sometimes, but typically only when the $ stops coming in and the incentive to keep it quiet is gone.

I'm not sure there's a solid solution.

 

[shonceman]

When I read or watch stories from “investigative journalists”, I always try to tune my spidey-sense to the author’s political agenda. On the surface, this looks like an attempt to alert people to shady people and practices within the insurance industry. But it seems like the real agenda behind this article (and others like it) is to make a case for federalizing insurance regulation, which would be a disaster IMHO. The guys in the blue states (like @DHK ) already have a sense of what that would probably look like.

 

[DayTimer]

But it seems like the real agenda behind this article (and others like it) is to make a case for federalizing insurance regulation,

Nah, man. This is a horror story and it just happens to have to have been perpetrated by an insurance agency. The remarks about state vs federal regs were just to note another barrier to these women getting help from the civil justice system.

This is a story about pure, sick, violent animal behavior that shouldn't be tolerated in any workplace, in any industry, anywhere, red state or blue.

Rape is rape. The behavior described in that article, if true, rises to the level of sex crimes.

This story is not about "Federalizing insurance regulations."

This story is about a business, which happens to be a very high producing insurance agancy, where young women are preyed upon as sexual slaves.

God help the business that treats either of my daughters this way: Those creeps will need final expense policies themselves. No Federal regulation would protect them.

Not everything is "Lefty is comin' to get ya," my friend.

 

[DayTimer]

So much shocking behavior. Those poor women - really shocks the conscience (if one has such a conscience, I suppose).

But here is what caught me off guard:



This poor lady was so ensconced in whatever sales and sexual assault climate had been built around her that she never thought she could take her obvious sales skills (she earned $109,000 her first or second year with AIL) and her insurance license and join a different company?

Imagine this lady on 20 to 30 DM leads a week, and KSKJ, Royal Neighbors, and Great Western in her toolbox?

 

[shonceman]

Nah, man. This is a horror story and it just happens to have to have been perpetrated by an insurance agency. The remarks about state vs federal regs were just to note another barrier to these women getting help from the civil justice system.

This is a story about pure, sick, violent animal behavior that shouldn't be tolerated in any workplace, in any industry, anywhere, red state or blue.

Rape is rape. The behavior described in that article, if true, rises to the level of sex crimes.

This story is not about "Federalizing insurance regulations."

This story is about a business, which happens to be a very high producing insurance agancy, where young women are preyed upon as sexual slaves.

God help the business that treats either of my daughters this way: Those creeps will need final expense policies themselves. No Federal regulation would protect them.

Not everything is "Lefty is comin' to get ya," my friend.

I’m not saying I don’t believe the surface reason for the story. But there has been a steady drumbeat for some time to get the insurance business under federal regulation.

It’s not uncommon at all for a story from a left leaning source to push that agenda when reporting on insurance matters. Look how this admittedly horrible story about a relatively small player is made to sound as though they’re an example of the rule, not the exception.

Even the title paints with a very broad brush: “…world of America’s top life insurance salesmen”. Yet you and I both know better. Seriously, how many top agents do you know that would behave in this manner? I don’t know a single one. The slimy characters usually burn brightly with big numbers for a while, but they don’t last.

Based on interactions I’ve had at all levels of this business, from little debit companies to powerhouse financial institutions, I can say confidently that this kind of behavior is generally not tolerated. I’ll admit, some companies and/or agencies seem to attract more than their share of bad actors. But again, these are the exception, not the rule.

My opinion of this article isn’t based on my conservative views, other than the fact that the donkeys are generally in favor of more regulation, while elephants are generally in favor of less. It’s just a reality that there’s a push in certain circles, especially those who love the nanny state, to federalize regulation of the insurance business.

But otherwise, if the sexual side of this story is true, I hope some jail time is in their future! I’m with you on that part. If a manager treated my daughter any where close to that….

 

[Rearden]

Psssh, AIL. Late to the game.

We've been doing this THING for A LONG time...

Only the real G's know...

@bboman23
@John Galt