Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: AFLAC - to be or not to be an agent, that is the ?

Comments:
: : While I understand that many folks may not have the personality or drive to go out and blaze their own trail with AFLAC, I'm not sure that it's fair to paint AFLAC with this broad stroked brush. I had no insurance experience when I came to work at AFLAC. I spent a couple of hundred dollars getting licensed, and saw a great return, earning around $42,000 in my first year. I became a district coordinator exactly a year after I came, and earned $104,000 in that second year. I didn't have accounts handed to me, and I certainly didn't "kiss up to the regional coordinator" but I did work hard, and felt that my hard work was rewarded. Many AFLAC agents struggle, because they feel that if they leave the house at 8:00am and don't return until 5:00pm, they must have put in a good days work. The reality is that most new agents only put in 10-15 hours of "real" work and spend the rest of the time piddling around. Yes, those agents usually do fail. I have yet to see an agent work dilligently, 40 hours a week, and fail. I thought I'd put in my two cents to defend a company that helps me make an excellent living, and provides over $2,500/month in renewals for me, even if I don't write a dollar in new business. My wife and I have also been to Cancun, San Francisco, and Hawaii, all fully paid for by AFLAC. Yes, it is difficult, but it was also worth it. : : Take care... : : : Wish I'd found this site back in June. Wish I'd been there to tell you the truth. Less than 1% of the people "hired" by AFLAC make it. AFLAC is in the business of bringing in as many sales people as it can, any way they can. AFLAC coordinators are told to "recruit recruit recruit". They're taught to recruit the order taker at McDonalds, the clerk at Vons, total strangers waiting at a bus stop . . . You get the picture. AFLAC is a people mill. They do not invest a dime in your "career" with them. They know that the average recruit will be with them less than four months after they're licensed, and in that four months produce an average of five to seven groups. When that agent leaves, the groups stay. AFLAC invests nothing but some commission in you and gains five to seven groups that continue to produce income for them. You've invested five to six (depending on the license process) months of your life and hundreds of dollars in licensing and probably seen less than four thousand dollars in commission as a return. They loose you gain. : : : The work is hard, and AFLAC does not help you. Their "leads" are given to ALL the agents in your region. You are ALL calling on the SAME LEADS. Imagine if you will how pissed off those poor companies get? You will only survive if you develop your own leads and then shield shield shield shield your leads from your District Coordinator AND AFLAC. When you report your work to your District which you're "required" to do, that information gets recylced. Within two months your leads are now in AFLAC's system, irregardless of where you are with that company in the sales process. : : : Only one percent survive. Those one percent learn to suck up to regional and state coordinators and play the game. They work their butts off without any help from AFLAC. Customer service for agents is pitiful. Ask customer service the same question five different times and get five different answers, and that's IF you can get through. Home CR's are also rude as hell to agents. The one percent who make it need to be in the right area to survive. You will also drive the tires off your car working for AFLAC. You will be told to play the part. You'll be encouraged to go into debt to look the part of a successful agent. You will be harassed if you choose not to participate in every blessed AFLAC agent event. You will be harassed and penalized if you do not attent mandatory meetings and events. And do not but the "You'll be able to retire on the commission" story either. The minute you stop actively selling AFLAC or choose to slow down and scale back, AFLAC will do everything in it's power to take your existing groups away from you. You can never "retire" with AFLAC. : : : I could go on. AFLAC is not a career. AFLAC is a pyramid of the most sophisticated variety. It promises things it knows it will not deliver, it uses people to keep itself alive. People on top get rich, and the people below are expendable.

Optional Link URL:
Link Title:
Optional Image URL:

Please enter the characters in the image above.