What's Your Opinion of Commission Only Jobs??

[Impious 1,476]

Well, I'm thinking about taking a new job as a sales agent for a fairly large insurance company. Pay would be completely commission based...something I've never done before in my life. I sort of like the idea...my income is only limited by my own potential. But, likewise, is open to volatility and not a necessarily "steady" paycheck, and pay will certainly be low/slow to start with. Though, the pay will also include uncapped quarterly bonus's for certain sales levels/etc.

So, just curious....what's ya'll opinion on something like this? Experience? Know someone working a commission based career?

I'd love to hear your thoughts/opinions/experiences.

[mrray13 30]

depending upon person, market and what they are selling...it has a great potential. but like u already mentioned, it also has a certain downside.

personally, i like a salaried with commision override type of job. that way when u have a down week, at least ur still getting paid something, but the reward of pushing urself is still there as u can earn way over the salary with the override.

of course, uncapped bonus's are always nice.

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[dave_Edwards 1]

I work as a car Sales MGR.--been selling for over 2 years----and I would NEVER go back to hourly wages-----when else can you work only 40-45 hrs a week and make over $10K a month?-----after taxes too!!

I love it!!!

[flakko 1]

i had a job like that... not as hardcore as yours but i earned minimum + commission.... IMO unless you have a steady clientbase, or the market has not been saturated, you are good to go

wat insurance company and what kinda insurance are you selling?

however....it REALLY REALLY sux when you dont sell ANY thing and you dont make ANYTHING lol. it depends on yuor personality i guess.... gotta be agressive

[Tirefryr 1,742]

When I was doing fire and water restoration, it was commission. I made great money, but I also worked my butt off. It wasn't so much so with sales though. Just got 20% of whatever the job total was.

[Impious 1,476]

wat insurance company and what kinda insurance are you selling?

Well, another thing working in this job's favor.....it would be selling life and health insurance to primarily senior citizens (medicare suppliments, long term health care, life insurance, annuities, etc).

And now take into account that the Baby Boomers are now hitting the senior citizen ages...the market is pretty open as far as client base goes, and will stay that way for atleast the next 10-15years since a HUGE mass of people will all be/are hitting their senior citizen ages.

Here's a link; http://www.bankerslife.com/Web/AgentCareer...sPotential.aspx

Spanks for the opinions so far!

[flakko 1]

wat insurance company and what kinda insurance are you selling?

Well, another thing working in this job's favor.....it would be selling life and health insurance to primarily senior citizens (medicare suppliments, long term health care, life insurance, annuities, etc).

And now take into account that the Baby Boomers are now hitting the senior citizen ages...the market is pretty open as far as client base goes, and will stay that way for atleast the next 10-15years since a HUGE mass of people will all be/are hitting their senior citizen ages.

Here's a link; http://www.bankerslife.com/Web/AgentCareer...sPotential.aspx

Spanks for the opinions so far!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

true dat true dat, i guess you have a good client base hehe. so its something like AARP?

wat kinda commisions are we lookin at here? cuz IMO looks like a Pre-Paid Legal, or an Amway, but theres nothing wrong with that

and its gonna be like your own business as an "Agent" rite? <----- another awesome upside, writeoffs up the wazoo

[Impious 1,476]

wat kinda commisions are we lookin at here?  cuz IMO looks like a Pre-Paid Legal, or an Amway, but theres nothing wrong with that

Whatcha mean?

and its gonna be like your own business as an "Agent" rite? <----- another awesome upside, writeoffs up the wazoo

Yeah, it would be like an independent contractor. So yeah..gas, cell phone, home phone, etc could all be write-offs if I used 'em for work

[flakko 1]

Whatcha mean?

its one of those "pyramid" things.... did you look into the credibility of the company? how long has it been around? 3rd party information? what kind of commision plan?

i used to do this: www.prepaidlegal.com

it was 100% legit, but then it took too much of my time haha.... takin me away from the 12volt goodness

Yeah, it would be like an independent contractor.

[Impious 1,476]

its one of those "pyramid" things.... did you look into the credibility of the company? how long has it been around? 3rd party information? what kind of commision plan?

They are under the umbrella of Conseco (you know...who the dome in Indy is named after), and have been around since 1879

Oh...and Dick Van Dyke is their spokesperson. I don't think he'd hop on with just anybody....much less a semi-shady company.

[flakko 1]

oh icee... thats good then, you wont have any problems

however, depending on your personality, i would just get a part time job, and do this at the same time... because for me, i didnt start making money like after the 1st year or so... but im an introvert.

until you have a steady amt of money comin in from like residual and stuff, its gonna be hard to make ends meet if this is the only thing you are doing.

im just speaking from personal experience here.

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

at the moment I cannot take a job of that sort, I need something extremely stable and a little flexiable,

baby on the way and new house = too much to risk at the moment

[Impious 1,476]

Well, I seriously think I might take it, just to see.

I'd rather take the job and have it suck horribly and not make any money, than not take it and always wonder if it was exactly what I was looking for in terms of flexibility, pay and job satisfaction.

[mrray13 30]

i'm actually considering the same thing, only for primerica. i've gotta acquire my license to sell insurance, but that's about it.

it's a pyramid thing as well..but the income potential is pretty good, and i have a part time job to fall back on. i might just go for this.

plus it'll give me time to ride this summer!!

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[///M5 2,833]

i'm actually considering the same thing, only for primerica. i've gotta acquire my license to sell insurance, but that's about it.

it's a pyramid thing as well..but the income potential is pretty good, and i have a part time job to fall back on. i might just go for this.

plus it'll give me time to ride this summer!!

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Don't on the primamerica front, but do on the straight commission jobs. Same thing I'd be wary of if I were you to Squeak. Good companies that pay commission only also offer you a draw to start out with. Some just hire anyone and don't expect most to succeed which really aren't the best experiences to go through. My whole career I have been commission only of course until now, but I'd prefer to be back on 100% commission. Went from car sales, into technical sales and sales training, and now I work for commission in a niche market as a regional manager. If you want to discuss on the phone PM a number and a good time to call, I'd be glad to be of any assistance that I could.

[///M5 2,833]

Oh and Kent, I know a few really unsuccessful Primarica reps which sours me--seems like more like an extra source of income than a job. I have been exposed to almost all of the pyramid sort of companies though, as my best friend from when I was little aspires to be a salesperson as well, but has only worked for network marketing firms his whole career.

[Impious 1,476]

Well, I was screwing around on google trying to find some more info. Found an online long-term-care forum with some discussions about Bankers. Some of it looks encouraging....like this;

"They [bankers L&C] are a great company and most agents that get through their first year (the toughest!) usually go on to make a six-figure income by the third year in the business. You really should have hung in there a little longer. "

[Impious 1,476]

Teehee....and then I also find horribly disappointing comments such as;

"On the flip side, if you have the right stuff, and can handle the pressure you can make alot of money.(I did) Just remember that most new people will work for a year and barely make anything. Its a brutal reality you should be aware of. Regardless what they tell you, you are not expected to succeed."

[Impious 1,476]

Last post for the night.

After scouring(sp?) that website for the past hour, it appears to be a toss up. Seems that most people fail within the first year....but if you stick around and can stick it out, six-figure income within 3 years is a real possibility.

[flakko 1]

^^^^ he seems to be more learned in this field than all of us hehe....

also squeak, what "investment" do you need? if its VERY minimal, do it, it might take you somewhere... like for prepaid legal, it was only 150.00 to start doin stuff.... not that much compared to other companies structured the same way.

[Impious 1,476]

$350 to obtain all of the necessary licensing.

Which, even if this job doesn't work out and I go back into my current career in the banking industry, those insurance licenses will actually work to my benefit since more and more banks are wanting to fill certain positions with people who are licensed for insurance. So, just having those licenses would increase my potential job availability in the field I'm currently working in.

[///M5 2,833]

which licenses? they might allow you to work with annuities and other moneys as welll depending.

As for the people failing in the first year, a lot of times companys hire people not sure that they are going to succeed forcing failure almost. That could surely be happening here...

As for prepaid legal Flakko, I know of two people that sell it and make over $100k a year and about 300 that don't. That product has gone significantly downhill over the past years though and is questionable at best now. Just call in and see how much "help" you get. It is a little embarassing.

[Impious 1,476]

which licenses?  they might allow you to work with annuities and other moneys as welll depending. 

Yes, the company sells annuities, so that licensing would be included I do believe

[///M5 2,833]

I believe those are the same licenses that you need to sell stocks (minus one) depending on the outcome. It will open other doors then too. Well worth the $350.

I convinced my girl to spend $3k on getting a real estate license for two reasons. One to maybe save money on a house purchase/sale since it seems to be profitable to flip real estate and second since she is a para-legal to open new doors for her as well.

[Impious 1,476]

Yeah...all in all I think the $350 for the licenses is atleast worth it, even if this job don't work out.