I had a friend who recruited me to join Primerica in early 2007. Well, actually, he made me aware that they were looking to hire people at his office and when I got laid off from my job, I inquired about Primerica.
We agreed to meet up at a public area. We sat down at a table and he began his presentation, which covered a lot of basic financial stuff from mortgage refinancing to life insurance and mutual funds. Most of this was knowledge to me, but some of it I knew. Basically, Primerica did basic financial services such as debt consolidation, refinancing, loans, term life insurance, mutual fund investments, IRA’s, pre-paid legal, and Long-term care insurance. What made the company different was that it was on a mission to help free Americans from debt and teach people how to make their money work for them.
Reasons to want to become a representative for Primerica were tax breaks (business expenses can be deducted,) Ownership of the business, Education, and you can sell the business if you become a Regional Vice President. If you help one family a month in the three basic areas of debt, insurance, and investments, you can earn $1000 for 10 hours of work. If you were a district leader, you would earn $1,600. I guess those numbers had me convinced for a day.
I crunched them and found that the average earnings for a Primerica representative were $6,333 a year. And since more than 50 of the 100,000 reps were earning over a million a year, the number was probably a lot less for a newcomer. I went to call my friend back to quit and he emphasized the education factor. So I ended up becoming a Primerica representative for the education. (I found out later that most reps were lucky to help a family a month.)
They also talked extensively about residual income from overriding the commissions of people you bring on. Two things have to go right for that to work, though. First, you have to find the people who will actually stick, and second, you have to be good enough to get promoted to a higher level of commission.
To join, I had to pay $199. This would cover the cost to get me trained and licensed for selling life insurance. I believe they lowered it to $99 now. Part of the registration process consisted of having my own Financial Needs Analysis taken. The upside of it was that I was able to set up an IRA and a money market account at that time. The downside of it as there was a lot of pressure to open up an annuity, as well as having to buy a small life insurance policy. After all, if I were selling life insurance, I would look like a fool if I didn’t have my own policy. I also had to resist some pressure to buy a lot of marketing brochures and educational tapes.
At that point, what I should have done was waited on the life insurance. What if I decided that Primerica was not the thing for me, before I even got my life insurance license? Also, my trainer, not I, made the commission on my insurance policy. Had I waited, I could have not only earned half of the commission, but also could have had made one of the three life insurance sales required in order to advance to a District Leader and double my commission earnings. (A lot of reps took several months to advance, if at all. It is not as easy as it sounds.)
The next thing I learned was that I could not make any money on training appointments until I had my license for the type of sale! The first license I went for was the mortgage license. I had two options; either pay $100 and be able to earn my commission on training appointment sales, or have my trainer pay $100 but only be able to earn that $100 with my trainer keeping the rest. I opted to pay the $100. I should have gone with the other option. We never sold a single loan. That’s a hundred bucks I could probably be earning 1.8% interest on now.
The life insurance license cost $59. However, Primerica would repay that if I passed on the first round. On their website, however, they offered an option in that if I scored a 90 or higher on a simulated test and an 80 or higher on another simulated test, they would guarantee it indefinitely.
I never did go for the Securities license. That’s the license needed for the investments. It costs a few hundred dollars, each year. Turns out all three licenses have to be renewed annually. Of course I didn’t learn that until it was too late.
I did not have a good start in Primerica because my warm market, people I knew already, didn’t really need the financial services. I think I annoyed a few friends in the process as well. I also did not do very well in the cold market either. Starting up small talk with a stranger in a mall or gas station is not for everybody. And I was not a very good telemarketer either. Calling back numbers obtained from strangers at the mall or gas station is a big part of the business. So is calling numbers out of a phone book if you stink at prospecting. I ended up quitting because it wasn’t the thing for me.
Primerica is a good opportunity to start part time and end up in full time business ownership, provided that what you really, really want to do is financial services, and you are very good at networking. Out of 4,500 people you talk to, a few hundred will come, fifty will join, some will stay and seven will excel and propel you into being a regional vice president. Sounds hard if it isn’t your dream job. Sounds easy if it is.
A Primerica representative will paint a beautiful picture for you. That beautiful picture is possible, but not guaranteed to happen. There are a lot of thorns among the roses. I hope that this article can provide a bit of insight into how it is.
