Over the course of the past week I have discovered and realized a few things about the company. I have also verified these things with other who were in my training class by corresponding with them via email and phone, although they told us in class not to exchange info with each other, which I found to be suspicious, but I did so anyway.
What I have discovered is that the so called preset, triple verified leads are absolute garbage. I have been sent out to extremely rural, economically depressed areas, driving at least an hour each way, and sometimes 2 or 3 hours, where I have to get a hotel room, and it is next to impossible to make the sale since they already have supplemental coverage that they can barely afford as it is, and you are trying to get them coverage that is better, but double what they pay or more.
The only way you are going to make the sale is if you hustle them, and I believe that is why they send you to such areas. The people are poor, uneducated and we are expected to pressure them into signing by using scare tactics and a convoluted sense of urgency since they "qualify today" health wise and they are seniors.
I have now come to realize that the presentation manual they provide us with and teach us is just plain wrong, not to mention unethical and immoral. The basically set up the appointment, i.E., "preset appointment", by using a call center, i.E., telemarketer, and never tell the senior that we are selling anything. They simply tell them that a healthcare consultant will be in their area tomorrow (by the way you don't get your appointments until the night before, so you never know where you are going or even what county out of your initial 3 you will be in on which day), and then ask them if they are aware of the Healthcare Reform happening known as Obamacare. Of course the senior says yes, and then they ask if it would be ok for the consultant to drop by and explain the changes for them. Again they say ok. They then set the time, then tell them to hold on the line and their "manager" will verify the appointment. They ask them a couple of questions that would disqualify them, such as insulin use or oxygen use, etc. If they say yes to any of those they then say, "Ok, thanks for your time. Have a good afternoon", and then they hang up. If they answer no to all the questions they tell them the consultant will be there at such and such time and hang up. Keep in mind, the senior expressed no interest whatsoever in buying any product, nor did they even get told you would be offering any products. They don't leave a number, they don't call back to confirm the appointment, and we are told we are not allowed to ever call the client for any reason, not even if we are running late. We are fined if we do so. This is because they will cancel the appointment if anyone called them to confirm. I cannot tell you how many times I have been instructed to get off their property, that they didn't make an appointment, they don't care or want to talk to me, AND we are charged $20 for EVERY single appointment regardless of if you make a sale, or if you even talk to them, or if they are even home. This is not a preset, verified appointment! It is a trick to get you in their door... A hustle!
IF, and that's a big IF, you get into the home you make small talk with them for a while, get on their good side, then go into your "presentation", i.E., hustle. You begin explaining the changes in Medicare, which are true, but exaggerated, and then begin to show them examples of other companies being sued and fined for patterns of delayed payments, market misconduct, etc. You are making them fearful and can see it in their eyes!
By the way you know which insurance carrier they have ahead of time usually, so you save their carrier for last then show them examples of their company being fined and sued, as well as cancelling policies, etc. Again, making them fearful!
4 scare tactics used:
1. Coverage - Make them think they have poor coverage, show them they don't have full coverage. (Sometimes true, but nevertheless... Making them scared!)
2. Company - Make them believe their company is not a good company to be with by using examples (articles, reports, letters, etc.) that show their other companies being fined and sued for things, then show their company last.
3. Conditionally Renewable - Get them to see that they have a group policy, and show them using random examples that there are not truly guaranteed renewable in a group policy since the entire group can be cancelled.
4. Planning for Life - Show them that are not planning for life due to the above reasons and tie that in with trying to sell them a crappy "Senior Healthcare Partners" discount program for "benefits and services not covered by Medicare or Medigap policies".
We are then expected to close the sale and have them sign without ever mentioning price to them, or even discussing what they can or cannot afford. We are instructed to qualify them and then if they do qualify to GET EXCITED! Jump and down, clap your hands, slap the table, etc, then go into the close..."Ok Mrs. Jones, I am going to take care of everything for you... Etc, etc, etc. NOW GIVE ME YOUR MEDICARE CARD!" Then we are told to put our heads down and start writing the policy... Don';t say a word. If they give an objection, we acknowledge it agree with it, the FORGET ABOUT IT! Go back into showing them a summary... Where they are, where they want to be, and tell them again how your going to take care of everything, then start filling out app again. AND, we are told to do this as many times as it takes, that only the top 20% of salespeople can do this until they get the sale, that it take at least 5 repetitions to to make 80% of all sales... BUT, they don;t even know how much it will cost!!! This is called HIGH PRESSURE SELLING, but the whole time in training, they kept repeating over and over again, "This is not high pressure selling! If you feel like you are pressuring them, then you are doing it wrong!" Not quite... They live off of social security... Period. They are poor. They lives in shacks and trailers, or at best a tiny little home.
For me, this is just not right. I was not raised that way. I have a high level of integrity as well as a good sense of morals and values. If someone did this or even attempted to do this to anyone of my grandparents when they were still alive I would have hunted them down until I found them and then strangle the crap out of them! They teach you to be a sleazeball, conniving, deceitful used car salesman, and all the while somehow convince you that is not what they are doing. They use the "group mentality" against you once you are in training, and over the phone they sell, sell, sell you on the job. Also, I saw with my own eyes in Dallas the "recruiting department", which I know realize is a bunch of 20 somethings getting paid chump change to just get people hooked on a lie. I don't even think they are aware of what they are doing though as I spoke to two of them and they are not the brightest people. They just read a script, just like the "call center".
I do not work that way and I will not work that way. They got over on me for a while because they are very good at selling... At selling you on the job! Any reputable company that has a good name and offers a good, legitimate opportunity does not need to sell you on working there. You want to work their because they have a good reputation, a good name, and offer a good opportunity.
Don't just take my word for it though... Do the research yourself.
Here is a link to get you started:
Http://www.scaminformer.com/scam-report/lexicon-senior-healthcare-employment-scam-dallas-texas-c13259.html
PS - I saw such things about them prior to paying the $599 fee, paying to get myself to Dallas, food and lodging, etc, etc., but as I said before they are really good at getting you to bypass your gut feeling, your intuition and your better judgment by SELLING YOU on the job. I am not telling you not to do it, that is up for you to decide, but I am telling you that my advice is don't waste your time and money.
PSS - One more suspicious thing I thought I should mention... Absolutely nothing in their office has a logo on it, there is no signage, the door says "sales marketing group", their training material has no company name or logos on it. You can't find a logo anywhere on anything, not even your presentation manual. It seems like they are hiding in plain sight.
They seem to be a version of MLM scam tied into insurance, and a very sophisticated one at that, but I am no idiot. I graduated college with a 3.8 GPA, and have an IQ of over 140... And they got me!
I hope this helps as I don't want to see anyone else get duped as I did...
And now for the nitty gritty, digging down deep info they don't tell you till you are all the way in deep:
1. Are we charged for every single lead and callback set for us?
YES...$20 a pop for presets, no matter sale or not, and regardless of seeing client, and $5 a pop for callbacks
2. How are these charges paid? (MOST important question!)
Drafted from your account you set up for direct deposit... Meaning they take it from you like it or not, sales or no sales.
At 3 to 4 appts per day or 12 to 16 appts per week that is $240 to $320 a week in presets, plus about $50 for call backs they set for you, so say an even $300 per week, $1200 per month, $14,400 per year just to pay for appts!
I have already put 1000 miles on my car in 4 days of appts, spent about $200 in gas, so thats $800 a month in gas, or $9,600 a year.
Not to mention food and lodging since you travel hours from home you need a hotel room at least 3 nights per week, so at another $300 or so for week (conservatively) is $1,200 per month or $14,400 per year... Soooo basically it cost you, the agent, over $38,000 a year just to do the job!!!
Almost $40,000 a year just to work there!!!
Even if you make $100,000 for the year, you are actually only making $60,000 and for me that IS NOT worth all the bullshit they put you through.
AND. That $60,000 is before paying for your 1099 taxes at 12.4% (6.2% x 2) of your net Schedule C income for Social Security tax and 2.9% (1.45% x 2) for Medicare tax. These taxes will be computed on Schedule SE. All of this in addition to paying federal and state income tax. On $100,000 per year your federal tax rate will be 28%, plus your state tax on average of about 5%, for a total tax of about 33%.
33% of $100,000 = $33,000 which leaves $67,000 minus $40,000 =
$37,000 per year you take home!!!
And they hold 30% of your commissions in escrow account, to be used for all the cancellations you are going to get after pressuring economically depressed seniors in very rural areas to sign for a policy you didn't give them a price for!
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