Newbies Being Recruited by Colonial Life??

[wthigo@cl12]

Looking for answers and guidance. Was recently called andrecruited by a new year old Colonial Life agency for a "consulting"presentation/interview.
I have no sales or B2B experience at all and had only workedon the compliance side of an insurance company years ago. I was not looking tosell insurance in any way. They wanted me to proceed further. I agreed to takethe insurance classes, do some training, be objective and see if I was"ALL IN" to prospect, market, and appointment set, etc.
I took the insurance classes, did a few days of trainingwhich was interesting but everything seemed so vague, misleading and segmented.I was in a training room of 10 previous business owners and 2 women, me beingone of them. There were two female agents I saw on day 1 of training briefly whowould never look me in the eye or say a word.

It was the oddest and most uncomfortable situation I havebeen in a long time. I went with my gut and decided to pass on getting involvedwith CL because IMO there appears to be too many hurdles, road blocks and themost difficult thing to sell is "worksite products" unless you havemany group contacts and are friends with business owners.
CL may be a good company for those experienced in insuranceand enjoy jumping over hurdles and bouncing off walls to get to the owner forthe presentation but can anyone please tell me “why recruit newbies with noexperience”? Is it the sole purpose to just get anyone in the door interestedto see who or what they know for more leads and market their name? If so, it isnot very encouraging for the newbies who are interested in finding out moreabout insurance and what would be best for them to start with selling. I would think getting started with “needed”insurance products would be best. Where are the best places to go for the bestdirection, training, and guidance in Illinois?

 

[Silvio Dante]

I worked for several years with Colonial back when they were a more agent oriented company and you could make money because there wasn't as many players in the worksite market. Now, you have to compete with many other CL agents as well as Aflac and many other large carriers that are rapidly entering the worksite arena. As you say, a greenie will find it tough without the sufficient amount of contacts with influence, i.e. Brokers, business owners, etc.

You said you're new. What are you interested in selling?
Obvious choices would be captives like NYL, NWM, Mass, Pru, etc. Or, as many here would suggest, find an independent agency to mentor you and show you the ropes. I'm sure you have lots of options up in Illi. I'd suggest reading a lot of threads here. Lots of what you've asked has been discussed in great detail. Good luck.

 

[wthigo@cl12]

Thanks for the information. I am not quite sure yet what I want to pursue. Just looking for feedback and guidance since I know how tough it is for anyone selling insurance.

When your new to even the idea of getting involved and giving it a shot, finding the best training and guidance is the key to success with anything.

Starting out new to the idea of sales of any kind and B2B consulting with "worksite products" just was too much of a risk for me at this time. I need more time to decide and see whats best for me and wasn't prepared to dive off a cliff without some kind of protection.

 

[smoothieking]

I think that was probably the right decision. For me, my personality and comfort levels directed me to write the lines of business that I do, and if you aren't comfortable with 'worksite products' then I think it's fair to take a pass.

 

[wthigo@cl12]

I have a very outgoing personality and can talk to anyone about anything, however, if I am not feeling "IT" then no one will believe what I have to say espeically when it comes to insurance.

I am confident in my decision to take a pass on CL. After all, even though I am new I figured it was just smart not to go with the first Agency interested and it was in my best interest to get more information and find out whats best for me.

At the end of the day, It is my butt and name on the line so I want to be confident with what Agency or company I work with....

 

[danieldyer707]

I just got appointed by Bankers Life and Casualty Company which I will be representing Colonial Life as well, for they are owned by Conesco. As far as I see, is that it is a pretty good company to work for. I was suppose to work for Liberty National, but the hiring manager quit Liberty and is switching to Bankers and brought me aboard. Luckily for me, I've came across agents who keep their word. I've just finished all the basic training for Bankers, and I will see what lies for me on Monday. I am very excited about working for Bankers. So far what I've seen at the office, there was one agent who hadn't made a sale in a few days, so one of the office managers sat beside her walked her through a couple of phone calls until she landed an appointment, this showed me that they will not let you fail. Not just for them, but for you as well. This really surprised me. And it made me feel confident about the company that I'm about to represent to the public.

 

[tins]

I just got appointed by Bankers Life and Casualty Company which I will be representing Colonial Life as well, for they are owned by Conesco. As far as I see, is that it is a pretty good company to work for. I was suppose to work for Liberty National, but the hiring manager quit Liberty and is switching to Bankers and brought me aboard. Luckily for me, I've came across agents who keep their word. I've just finished all the basic training for Bankers, and I will see what lies for me on Monday. I am very excited about working for Bankers. So far what I've seen at the office, there was one agent who hadn't made a sale in a few days, so one of the office managers sat beside her walked her through a couple of phone calls until she landed an appointment, this showed me that they will not let you fail. Not just for them, but for you as well. This really surprised me. And it made me feel confident about the company that I'm about to represent to the public.

Sounds like a good fit for you. Make sure to soak up all the training they offer.
Good luck out there!

 

[wthigo@cl12]

I just got appointed by Bankers Life and Casualty Company which I will be representing Colonial Life as well, for they are owned by Conesco. As far as I see, is that it is a pretty good company to work for. I was suppose to work for Liberty National, but the hiring manager quit Liberty and is switching to Bankers and brought me aboard. Luckily for me, I've came across agents who keep their word. I've just finished all the basic training for Bankers, and I will see what lies for me on Monday. I am very excited about working for Bankers. So far what I've seen at the office, there was one agent who hadn't made a sale in a few days, so one of the office managers sat beside her walked her through a couple of phone calls until she landed an appointment, this showed me that they will not let you fail. Not just for them, but for you as well. This really surprised me. And it made me feel confident about the company that I'm about to represent to the public.

That's good. Sounds like you are happy with it so far. Don't know much about Banker's Life but I have seen many on this forum who have their pro's and con's about it.

I was specifically looking for feedback on Colonial Life. My experience didn't go very smoothly and lots of personal info and red flag's for me went on during training so I felt at the time it was in my best interest to walk away.

 

[Chazm]

I just got appointed by Bankers Life and Casualty Company which I will be representing Colonial Life as well, for they are owned by Conesco. As far as I see, is that it is a pretty good company to work for. I was suppose to work for Liberty National, but the hiring manager quit Liberty and is switching to Bankers and brought me aboard. Luckily for me, I've came across agents who keep their word. I've just finished all the basic training for Bankers, and I will see what lies for me on Monday. I am very excited about working for Bankers. So far what I've seen at the office, there was one agent who hadn't made a sale in a few days, so one of the office managers sat beside her walked her through a couple of phone calls until she landed an appointment, this showed me that they will not let you fail. Not just for them, but for you as well. This really surprised me. And it made me feel confident about the company that I'm about to represent to the public.

Sadly, odds are against you that you can make it a year. Even tougher working with bankers.
My advice, if you are going to stay there, is to only stay a year and get all the "training" you can get. Then, when you leave there unlearn all the unethical stuff they teach you.

Have they mentioned to you "opening up your clients worry box"? They will, it pretty much means, scare the crap out of them to buy our overpriced product.

 

[moonlightandmargaritas]

And it made me feel confident about the company that I'm about to represent to the public.