I was at PHP 🙄 and they DEFINITELY fit your description of a MLM company to the T! Now, I’m weary about even renewing my life insurance license because those are the only types of companies that I keep running into.
I've decided against renewing mine for that exact reason. PHP was one of the ones I ran into, but one night of cruelty got me to turn away. I was at such a desperate time of my life, and they really took advantage of that as they pleased.
I've been working with life insurance for five years. Extreme training, and knowing I have done my best to help people keeps me motivated. I am not in this for the bonuses, nor where I stand with the company in regards to sales or plaques. A hug and thank you from my clients keep me on the right track.
This is my biggest concern right now. I’m a newly licensed agent, and all I want to do is help people. I’m willing to work hard for my clients. I would like to eventually build an agency but not an agency full of greedy agents with no sense of accountability. I’m really trying to find an agency to help me build my skills, so I can empower people. Kind of disappointed that there’s so many people in the industry that don’t really want to work.
one that offered me work had a recruiter showing off some dudes ring "dont you wanna get your own ring!!?!". spot on man thanks for great content always!
I too attended a meeting that was similar a guy was showing off his ring I believe and his shoes which we're actually ugly and this was a vacuum cleaner sales company
Any good marketer will tell you to focus on the customer. The fact that he made it about his bling, instead of "do you want to help people ensure their families aren't saddled with fees from the industry of death at their most vulnerable time?" That's a noble goal. I see more value in protecting others than I do in jewelry, but I'm old school and was raised in part by old school financiers. The only diamond rings they invested in were wedding rings for their wives. One red flag is: if they have to explain why they're not an MLM and it's a long, convoluted story their trainers make them tell you... Reputable companies don't mention MLMs because why would they? Could it help to ask who people call when it's time for insurance to pay up and how the customer is handled or managed? Would it help to ask what percentage of fees on average the insurance company pays out?
It’s so funny because I found your channel to pass my insurance exam, I was already offered a job from an agency, I’m a week into the job and now I’m concerned
Why stick with one company where they own your book if you leave, when you can be a broker to better service clients by being able to compare the most competitive products from the best carriers??
Exactly what happened to me. I joined an MLM and quit in 6 months. Now I’m trying to find another non-MLM to join since I already have my licenses anyway
I was invited to a Bankers Life office interview. Came across as very high pressure sales. Then I did my research and came across serious complaints regarding claims payouts for clients trying to obtain legit claims. Then I saw the Inside Edition episode where their business model shifted toward targeting vulnerable ones. I strongly question the ethics of it all - especially if they culture people in and then don’t make it feasible to pay out legitimate claims.
So, how can someone get REAL HELP? Going through exact thing NOW! Never got Our claims, the funeral home & some "agency" getting the claims! Can you suggest any real ones???? Thanks
I worked Medicare/Life for the last few months. 100% commission, door to door sales. Horrible fit. All my people in property and casualty keep telling me to switch over. Working on doing that.
That's exactly where I am at the moment. I want to help people, and make some money in the process, but do not want to be part of some recruiting cult, or start full time at with a traditional MGA, at an entry level. I'm at a senior position in my day job, I just want to get into it as a side hustle for now. Anyway, thanks for this video!
People don’t seem to learn their lesson with MLMs. I work in banking and investments and shocked that my colleague who is more educated and experienced than me fell for MLM again after experiencing it before and failing when he was in college. When he tried to recruit me I tried to explain to him it’s very similar to the MLM he did before and he kept being in self-denial until he lost money again and then told me why I didn’t warn him. Dodgy financial services use the power of greed to influence people. Lol btw there was an ad that played for an MLM in this video, I don’t skip ads so they will have to pay for it.
I went to one of these meetings yesterday and the job description said “benefit coordinator” but when I showed up in the presentation kept pushing to the lowest tier as “contract agent” and it’s 60% commission based
Yea at one point I was being recruited by a company to sell life insurance. The big talks and meetings were ALWAYS about recruiting, “pull out your phone contact list and choose 3 people” and also always about wealth. Like “oh I see my direct deposits coming in at 3 am” “don’t you wanna be able to afford XYZ??” These people’s entire lives revolves around recruiting and being millionaires
Thanks for sharing information like this. I am newer to the industry and have seen things like this. What Dave is saying is key! Worth its wait in gold!
David you have truly been a blessing to me so much that this coming year will be phenominal in so many ways for me. You planted a seed that cannot be uprooted on solid ground. I will be touch when some goals emerge, it won't be long. Thank you, take care and Merry Christmas. Diane
I’m looking at a company that someone I love says it’s a scam but no one showed stacks of cash or rollex watches. They talk about helping families and learning about money.
Im in ail and I got real lucky and have an amazing management team. Just got my first monthly renewal check this month. And overall I’m pretty happy with my job. Considering I was fry cooking and building truss before this. This jobs not too bad
Thank you for this info. I’ve been researching and keep coming across one company and they seem legit but I get to good to be true vibes. Has a bit of a mega church feeling.
Yeah, I just joined one in the UK, they want tou to recruit so you become emotionally invested in staying. You and your recruits are the customers. Not contacting family, as once you burn through them there is no turning back you stranded and isolated.
Thanks Devin. I absolutely let my audience know I train and recruit agents nationally to sell final expense and Medicare either face to face or over the phone =).
Some of the MLM insurance do have very great products and it all depends on what kind of leadership you are getting into. I got recruited but I didn’t like to recruit however, I wanted to just sell, and it works for me.
The things I think of the most is if 1. It tries to get me to buy a lot of things from them immediately 2. They try to get you to get a lot of friends and family into it or make you go out of your way to speak to past friends or acquaintances
Thank you so much! I am a new agent and I am feeling my company is not an MLM but this helps what to look for. Its sad but true. I would love to work with you and have a mentor!
I just became licensed 3 months ago working with an agency who promised a great income with no out of pocket cost. LOL... So far I have paid for training, testing, on going training. A highly recommended out of state conference and last but certainly not least I am $2,800 dollars in debt to them for a bunch of wink wink grade A worthless leads. Just be very careful and don't quit your day job.
Depends on the people you work with. I’m with PHP. It was bought out by integrity. ANY company Federally Regulated, obviously isn’t a “Pyramid Scheme.” Now. I can agree that some people do put an emphasis on Recruiting over training with which I vehemently disagree with. But it’s all about the organization you are with.
David, as a newbie, I made the mistake of signing a contract with one of these MLM groups. I did not yet have a license (and a month later, I still don't). Anyway, I could see that all they cared about was recruiting and not producing. Heck, they were asking for my peeps info and wanted to sell them for me. I told them that when I decide to bring someone into the organization, that I would want to know that this is the right opportunity for them and I would want to also trained them myself. Obviously being new, I am not even close to being ready to do that. Anyway, my question is: would they have any recourse on me even though I still don't have a license and, have never sold anything for them? And, would they even bother with me if they did happen to find out that I went to work for another firm? Thanks!
Call me stupid. I was struggling trying to get someone to agreed to take me on with no license even though I was working on it. The dude talked a good game and I was cool with what they're saying. of course, this was prior into finding your vids. For one, do you think they'd ever pursue if they found out that I got my license? If so, since I did nothing with them, how do you think they would fare if they tried to pursue litigation?
I’m curious on your opinion of FFL, I like what they offer for the most part. I’m looking for an agency that has the option for me to recruit and lead with a focus on selling policies first.
If you like what you see, what would hold you back? Based on what I've learned over the years, I want to know (a) does my trainer have a track record of success training other agents, (b), and how commission levels work by carrier with a complete grid breakdown of what I'm paid, and what it would take to raise commissions higher. Then, I'd interview with at least 2 other agencies to decide who was the better fit.
Did you end up working for them ? I am a brand new agent, I am in the beginning stages of working with them as well as COR Financial Partners, I have been looking more into FFL and haven’t really read any positive reviews nor have they been very good at communicating with me; which makes me hesitant to even work with them now!
I keep running into people from American Income Life and Arias at the gym, people my age (I’m 19) and they are actually making loads of cash from doing it. I don’t know why I’m so weary of it, I mean it has a few of these boxes checked but I still see people who aren’t at the top of it doing well
What is most important to you right now David selling or recruiting?? You wanna recruit but you don’t want others to have the same opportunity. Yes I agree that people should know how to sell first but once they learn that what is wrong with recruiting?
My current objective right now is recruiting but as far as not wanting others to have the same opportunity is incorrect. Most agents come to my agency only wanting to sell and if and only if they want to recruit and build a team then I'm supportive of that. My only requirement is to become a producer that sells consistently for 6 months or longer before stepping into recruiting. Hope that helps clarify!
Thank you! I have a friend to send this to who has gotten involved with one of these and won't talk to my family at all now because she can't get us to buy or sign up. It's heartbreaking.
Out of the popular mlm insurance outfits, I find "WFG & Prim" to be the most cult-like with FEG the most mainstream by far and I'm not in the profession at this time.
@@theolmecempress World Financial Group, which is under Transamerica. I went to an info-session in Jan 2020. With them beginning it with all the jumping and shouting to hype people up, I KNEW it was a MLM company. Then I met with one of the leaders and she wanted me to provide her with three of my personal contacts to find out if they were interested in either purchasing, transferring, or upgrading their insurance. However, it was moreso to recruit them.
They’re 100% a MLM, and they purposefully pick minorities as agents. The most successful ones don’t even sell insurance they just recruit more off of a pipe dream and have them sell the products for them and collect commission.
I’m about to try and get with FFL I’ve been in the amway pyramid scheme before FFL paid for my entire North Carolina insurance pre-licensing course They haven’t tried to rush me into getting it done and forcing me to start up with them or anything like that, and I follow the Facebook page for them where new agents go and I’ve seen people post pictures with families they’re selling policies to so they don’t seem to TOO MLM for me, like the focus isn’t on recruiting but actually selling insurance But I want a second opinion on it how do you view them?
What do you think about five rings financial? Everything is so weird about them.. they only talk about money, absolutely nothing about the products! They say the more you sell, you will climb to other groups and get better commission. They start paying 40% and the highest is 90% and there are 10 levels. I need an answer ASAP. I was offered to work with them but I don’t like their system.
Sounds very similar to primerica, which is what I just got recruited into... everything I've seen and heard is about look they're making 14000 a month, look at our million dollar earners, 100,000 earners, look at my 50k Rolex, 15million mansion, lambo, etc. Ed. Including constant talk about recruiting, but I confronted my trainer with all the stuff i've found, and she never heard of some of it and had me search Starbucks and Santa clause on the bbb😅there's constant motivational talk and it's all ur choice but they also say things that feel manipulative like "how I represent myself on earth is how I represent Him☝️" "mom your sons not going to college" and stuff like that talking about what we're desperate about and insecure over and telling us "you better get your hopes up" "winners never quit" etc there's several things I've found that's scaring me
Reality is that EVERYTHING in America is a pyramid scheme, from being in a band or joining a church or working a job. Every business and corporation is set up like a pyramid, with a few or one powerful person with more people as the chain of command goes downward. If you start a band, you ask your friends and family to bring people to your show. Then you ask the people they brought to the show to bring their friends, until you have a fanbase. I worked for Lyft and Uber, and we got referral bonuses for bringing other people in as drivers. I've got referral bonuses for bringing in people to work from other jobs too. But, the term pyramid scheme implies illegality. So, if you're legal, you're not a pyramid scheme. And I guess MLM is slang for a legal pyramid scheme. So, so long as it's legal and the checks clear, it should be all good... 💯
I've never seen an illegal insurance MLM. That's never been my complaint. Instead, it's how the focus is on other things than the development of the individual agent's skillset in selling insurance and helping people, such as mass recruitment, overt focus on materialism (bling, cars, etc.), and dopey motivational stuff.
I was about to join WFG but what turned me off about them was the fact that recruiting was deemed more important than education. They always talk about helping people but how will I sell good insurance without knowing what I'm talking about ? It also gives me a Kingdom Hall vibe (Jehovah's Witnesses) where everyone is kind of love bombing you so that you join them. My ex is in that group and sometimes I wonder if it caused our breakup. I never should've joined. I should've made it clear from the start that I wasn't joining because the moment I sent money to gain access to the platform I felt bad intuitively but I had a curiosity. I'm generally open minded but something seems off about WFG, even if some of the people are good.
WFG has a good platform with good partnerships and fair commission structure. It's a good vehicle in it's industry. U don't have to recruit but if u ever want freedom of time, through overrides, recruiting and earning risdual income from the agency you build is the answer.
I’m going to be talking to someone soon who’s an insurance broker that I was told I should check out to buy my car and home insurance from because of his good prices. Another person warned me this person’s insurance is a pyramid scheme and to stay away. I don’t want to sell insurance, just buy insurance at a cheaper rate. How will I know whether this broker is an MLM person or not?
Anything to say about five rings financial? Everything seems so weird about them.. they only talk about money, absolutely nothing about the products! 😳
Not all sales jobs are pyramid schemes. Some are much worse. My first and last day as a Kirby sales rep had me driving a pimp to a convenience store to buy protection for his girls. As I sat in the car waiting on the experience sales team to wrap up the sale inside the brothel, I saw multiple cars drop off girls. Your MLM won't do that im sure.
I would like info. I am half way through studying for my state exam. Doing well and should pass no problem. I am not mobile but have everything to work remote.
I tried both, the cold calls and buying leads just did not work for me, I don’t see myself making these kinds of videos to attract clients or knocking on doors to sell insurance. At first, I did not believe recruiting will actually help generate sales, but to my surprise the MLM model works for me and actually generated more sales than traditional sales. All I know is I wouldn’t go back to leads buying anymore, what a waste of money!
Specifically, those videos were made to help those agents make the best out of what opportunity they have, and not videos exalting those opportunities as supreme. I leave it up to the viewer to make the determination if this video applies to whatever organization they are joining as opposed to telling them what to think.
Also, remember how RU-vid's algorithm works. If someone views a video of mine and watches a lot of it, RU-vid will work to show more content of mine to help said viewer binge on my content, which is built specifically for the independent, non-Koolaid drinking agent.
@@TheDIGAgency I think agents from any company can benefit from your videos. So no matter where the agent is, if they like to learn they will certainly benefit from you. God bless anyone being told not to learn from great resources
If anyone has info on Blue Skye financial, that would be great. They don't have everything mentioned in the video, but I'm brand new and want ro he careful
Going with your cult comparison: Cults make it very difficult for you to leave them. Have you seen or heard of anything with these insurance agencies where the agent's contract is unusually prohibitive or restrictive for the agent after they leave the company, such as harsh non-compete clauses, etc? Anything to look out for in those regards?
Man im sitting here questioning my commitment to a company that has US*A in its name. i haven't been appointed yet, but went to a sales meeting Fridays it felt like damn clut. i didnt even know what i was clapping to sometimes. dude had a spearker phone for no reason. Have my exam Friday but i think im backing out
@David Duford, I came across a company run my a guy named Patrick BetDavid that runs a company called PHP Agency. Seems like this company is an MLM. All they talk about is recruiting and...they want a list of all my contacts.
I just have a zoom with someone offering me Nation Life Group. And I have no idea about life insurance, could you please give me your opinion or recomendación please.
what if they talk about making 150k a year but you look around and everyone thats been there for ten plus years is wearing walmart brand gear... ill be honest ive gone through Globe Life family heritage and now im worried... it felt sorta culty they are they best better then AFLAC i got left behind in class at training and basically got ignored and told to figure it out...
Hey David, I have been thinking about getting licensed. There’s this company called First Family Insurance (being 1099). Idk, if that has any association with FFL. I just don’t want to be caught up in anything crazy. They are 100% commissions. Now, they get 1% overrides for what agents under them sell. Not sure how this all works. Because I been a W2 worker my whole life.
Yep, that's a different company I believe. Check out my resource guide here for more insight into the business: davidduford.com/insurance-sales-resource-guide/
They are legit companies. Just do your due diligence and pay close attention to what's discussed in the video to determine which agency is and is not a good fit for your goals.
Also David I am with WFG and I have never seen anyone try to woo someone with money nor do I speak about what I make or material things. As far as the rah rah. Again I have not seen that either. Sorry but don’t paint everyone with the same brush.
Then you are in a good place and lucky to not have experienced that since 99% of the agents who come to me have been wooed and rah rah to death. I try very hard to not paint everyone with the same brush but sometimes you miss the mark by 1%, please accept my sincere apologies!
@@TheDIGAgency Let’s face it most agents who come to you probably woo’d themselves with the income potential and got mad when they didn’t achieve such results. Most of the people who quit and I have experience cause I train people. Most who quit didn’t want to run the system that the company has in place in order for them to succeed or they didn’t want to show up to trainings or do anything then turn around and blame the company. Why don’t you start asking those who come to you how much of the training they didn’t want to attend?
Hello David, I was wondering that if you know First Finacial Security is a MLM pyramid scheme? My moms friend is trying to get me in it and all they keep telling me to do is recruit more people to join and they are forcing me to take this Insurance test that I had to pay for and then now I have to pay $25 for a meeting the company is having in 2 months. It feels like they care more about recruiting then my actual skill and my moms friend keeps telling me I will be my own boss. Please let me know what you think of this so I can get out of it asap if its not legit
So what about a non captive broker agency..they represent many companies. Now of course it’s commission based and you can recruit and build. Now when I asked if this was a pyramid scheme of course it was denied. They stated that pyramid schemes are illegal and they are regularly monitored by FINRA and other organizations. Now I’m knew to this, I do get the vibe it is but at the same time I don’t. They don’t check all the boxes but some they do. How else could I know if that’s the case? Great video!
My biggest help I need is Wanting to become my own independent insurance brokerage an Im looking for necessary steps to do so. Would you have any steps
Not familiar with this industry and heard lots of MLM company out there. I had Northwestern Mutual reach out to me about a "Financial Advisor" position, could anyone share any thoughts about this company?
I work for an agency that's grouped with like 8 other agencies. So all of us 8 are there for the team meeting everyday. But all the agencies work for equis financial. It seems legit but still very confusing
I got recruited by Russin Financial to work under Globe Life but had AIL contact me at some point and was told that some of my members maybe under them ... If possible, I would love to talk more with you to explain my situation to get your personal opinion. Thank you!
@@TheDIGAgency I've JUST started working at an AIL agency in Canada. So far the culture seems very focused on sales (set appointments/ sit with presentations) as opposed to only recruiting. And in all honesty, recruiting has barely been mentioned at this point. I am sure it will come up as I get more experienced. Overall the training has been very in depth and they state many times that it's one day at a time and I'll get there. I did have to pay for my course (50%), which is required to write the provincial exam. I also had to pay for the exams,. In total both the exams and course cost about $500. Not ideal, but I've worked other different professional jobs in the past and rarely did any provide training for free. As well, I feel this approach also weeds out the people who aren't committed to begin with. Yes, they do talk about the money they make and the effort and energy that goes into it, but I personally take that as more setting realistic expectations than flaunting. Yeah, you can write $1M AP/ yr - but don't expect to have a life either. Indeed, they do have lots of competitions and such. Not sure if I am motivated by a gold watch or a trip though, haha. I just want a good work-life balance that allows me to help people and make a healthy income without losing my mind. From the sounds of it, that's totally possible. Time will tell though. Thanks for your sound advice and insight in your review of them on your website, David.
Not really. There's a big cultural difference between what I do and what the MLMs do. I don't flash money, fancy cars, and fill minds with nonsensical BS. My focus is on training agents to become top producers, not top recruiters. Check out my testimonials for more details from actual agents for context: davidduford.com/testimonials/
Love your videos. I’m about to join a insurance MLM , If I pay you could you give me a coaching/ advice call and help me understand what pay % I should try and negotiate for?
I don't really go after coaching/consulting anymore as I'm too busy - If you're interested, reach out to me at davidduford.com/contact/ and I'll give you the details.