its the same as all the other financial planner / advisors.

you have a salary (very low) and you get commission selling services. your #1 seller will probably be retirement services and such.

From another thread:

 

Originally Posted by coolhandkev

Northwestern Mutual's business model is hiring anyone that can pass the insurance/securities tests and then forcing them to call anyone/everyone they know to come in for meetings. When they come in for meetings they try and sell them insurance and then force 10 referrals out of them. Then you are to bug the shit out of the 10 referrals from each family member/friend you bugged initially to try and get them to come in and sit down. Then you force the referrals to give you 10 referrals of their own and rinse and repeat.

If you are comfortable with that you can make some decent money, but nothing is instant and you definitely feel uncomfortable at times as your are dependent on friends/family initially.

I used to get calls weekly from them because a few friends went to meetings and referred me to them. I was like dude I have my securities and insurance licenses, if I wanted to get more insurance I would buy from myself and get the commission for myself. They didn't have an objection handler for that one but they still called back the next month when they forgot.

I know a guy who worked there 4 months. That was 4 months to long. RUN

 

Originally Posted by BigEarn7

So I spoke with a friend of a friend about a potential job with Northwestern Mutual but I am coming here to see if anyone can provide me with any information about this company, perhaps a few of you even work here?

The girl I spoke too works there and said she is a financial planner who gets paid salary but also sells life insurance on the side for commission. We chatted for a while about a job opportunity and gave her my information. I just got a call today from someone there who mentioned I met with her last night.

I am just skeptical because what I have heard is that NW mutual basically just wants you to sell insurance to all your friends/family and that isn't something I want to do, but perhaps I could be wrong?

thx thx

Run fast as you can!

Just did an internship there. They try to brainwash you into working there, then brainwash you into believing its the best company in the world and why everyone needs to have their insurance and try to give you the "language" necessary to brainwash others. They will make you call people till you jaw falls off and if you do not set up enough cold call appointments which meet their reach to set ratio, they will berate you in front of a room of your peers.

It is like some weird cult too. They are a bunch selfish shmucky people that carry around these shit eating grins and will run you over to get what they need. And if you're not "producing" enough or they do not feel like you know enough rich people to where they feel they can use you as a middle man to get to them and their money, they will cut you dry and terminate your contract, all the while keeping all of the contracts that you have set up while working there, once your contract is up you will not continue to collect money on them.

The place is like a ponzi sceme. Every person that hires you makes money off your sales and the person above them and so on. Each year a mandatory self paid trip happens where you have to pay for the flight, room, board and food to stay in Milwaukee for a week to listen to their annual meeting which is basically a week long event where you sit in the bucks stadium and listen to people blow steam up each others asses for 8 hours a day. Then at night you might go out and drink a bit.

You are paid in all commission unless you have a recruitment job or something of the like where you get a small base salary and then your "money" comes from shamelessly trying to recruit other poor bastards like yourself to the "team". You may also see a 6,000 dollar signing bonus but warning they usually have a contract date in which you will have to pay that bonus back if you decide to leave before that time, usually 2 years I believe.

 

Originally Posted by Willywoo

It's a sales job. It is also a very reputable company.

Doesn't sound like you are cut out for it if your impression is that you just sell to your family and friends. Of course tho that is how many people start out in the business, but it is by no means just what you do.

I have a good friend who has worked for/with NWML for over 20 years and has been very successful. I also know several people who tried working for them but could not hack being in life insurance/financial products/commission sales. It depends completely on you, your personality and your abilities.

It's a lot of cold calling and rejection. You have to be a tough, persistent, friendly and type A to do it. You have to be completely self motivated, etc. imo

EDIT: It's funny how people who are not cut out for a commission sales job blame the company for their own dislike of the job requirements.

they actually expect you to sell to your family. the people above you will constantly ask you about what you have done to sell to them etc. and give you language to get them on board. if you talk to your family they seem disinterested the person above you will try to either feed you more language and pressure you into feeding it to your family or try to set up a "joint work" appointment with a family member so another rep can try their luck on your family member. basically if you feel comfortable using your family trust as a means of making off them then this is the job for you. the products that are actually good investments are the cheap ones that wont make you any money. like term insurance and disability. the ones that are shitty investments like whole life insurance are the ones they will be trying to push because they are expensive and have a higher comission. so if you want to lie through your teeth about how great these products are so you can put food on your table when in reality they are steaming dog turds then again this is the job for you

On your last plane flight, what was the name of the person sitting next to you and what did they do for a living? If you cannot answer this question then you will not have a long career in sales.

So what if they expect you to sell to the family and friends. If I sold a good product that I believed in of course I would sell it to my family and friends and everyone else I could sell it to. If you don't like the product you probably are not cut out to sell it and you will undoubtedly be a failure at, as you apparently were.

The company has been around since 1857 and has a very good reputation in the industry and is financially sound, even through this recession, so I'm not sure why, if you were in the market for some type of life insurance or any of their other products, you would not buy it from this company. You clearly do not have the personality to do commission sales, especially of a product you don't like. Big Earn may not be cut out for it either. Finally, if you choose to lie about a product that you sell that would be up to you individually. Selling life insurance and other financial products is a tough job, but as with any other difficult job can be very rewarding.

 

Originally Posted by Z-Fresh

I've worked plenty of commission sales jobs and dealt with the grind and amazing amount of rejection but if a job requirement is to sell to your family and friends it's a bit unsettling.

I'm not sure anybody said selling to your family and friends was a requirement. It would seem to me a good way to get started if you sold a good product it would be beneficial to them. As for any company, I doubt they care who you sell to as long as you sell the product. lol @ fistfights. You mean they'll actually terminate you if you don't sell. That's some crazy share it right there.

 

Originally Posted by Willywoo

I'm not sure anybody said selling to your family and friends was a requirement. It would seem to me a good way to get started if you sold a good product it would be beneficial to them. As for any company, I doubt they care who you sell to as long as you sell the product. lol @ fistfights. You mean they'll actually terminate you if you don't sell. That's some crazy share it right there.

My friend in the past said they do and it was typed in this thread. I agree you should be happy to sell a great product to family and friends in theory but I had a friend try and sell something to all of our mutual friends (forget what he was selling it was years ago) but to this day we still talk shit about it. Hadn't heard from him in months and then he starts all this small talk before leading into his pitch. I was actually pretty offended that was the reason for his call as well as everyone else.

Just tell him no and move on. The issue here is that most people are not cut out for sales jobs especially those that require cold calling. Some people find it offensive. Like I said, they want to blame the company because their personality, skills and abilities don't fit the job requirements. That's all it is. If youa re not cut out for it, don't do it. If you are then go for it, you can make good money.

We could just have a thread about how shitty sales jobs are, (there is a reason there are plenty of commission sales jobs available in this economy right?) but ffs of all the insurance companies out there to bash Northwestern is probably the last one on the list.

ftr I would never be offended by someone legitimately trying to sell me something. If i don't want it I tell him no thanks and expect a second and third effort.

 

Originally Posted by Willywoo

Just tell him no and move on. The issue here is that most people are not cut out for sales jobs especially those that require cold calling. Some people find it offensive. Like I said, they want to blame the company because their personality, skills and abilities don't fit the job requirements. That's all it is. If youa re not cut out for it, don't do it. If you are then go for it, you can make good money.

We could just have a thread about how shitty sales jobs are, (there is a reason there are plenty of commission sales jobs available in this economy right?) but ffs of all the insurance companies out there to bash Northwestern is probably the last one on the list.

ftr I would never be offended by someone legitimately trying to sell me something. If i don't want it I tell him no thanks and expect a second and third effort.

blaming the company for misleading you about the job until the time when you sign the contract and them flipping the script on your

p.s. the turn over rate of employees is something to the effect of 1/9 people that actually go on to work at the company moer than 4 years

 

Originally Posted by Willywoo

lol Are you serious about attacking you? Because I said you failed at this job? Or because I laughed at you thinking there is something wrong with canning people who don't cut it? Why the fuck would you intern there in the first place? You tried it, you didn't like. No problem. I would bet that you do not end up in any type of sales. You clearly do not have the personality for it. I get it tho, you don't like their products.

gfy you worthless thin skinned douchebag, fucking dumbass prick who fails at life, can't get into a state university, has a coke whore girlfriend and lives in a shit hole with bunch of other douchebags. There. Just wanted to get my moneys worth on the attack thing. Thanks.

You sound like a whiny bitch pussy.

 

gfy you worthless thin skinned douchebag, fucking dumbass prick who fails at life, can't get into a state university, has a coke whore girlfriend and lives in a shit hole with bunch of other douchebags. There. Just wanted to get my moneys worth on the attack thing. Thanks.

Willywoo is a guy who posts nothing but great advice 99.9% of the time this is hands down the best thing I've ever seen you post.

I love the young kids bashing North Western. The job is not easy, you have to start somewhere like with any company. They will obviously take anyone because they have very little overhead and need to find a certain personality type that fits with selling life insurance.

I just started with a Northwestern rep and he's a very smart guy, very personable and you can tell he is very good at his job, he is also making serious cash at 29 years old. You also won't find any of their clients who have any serious gripes and trust me I have looked long and hard.

I have also met kids who tried this and left after 6 months because head hunting type selling isn't for them. The product is great but being a pushy sales person imo sucks. I'm way more geared to solution type tech selling and selling life insurance like this sounds like the worst thing of all time. That doesnt mean that this is a shitty company, because like with any job, if you actually care and work your ass off you can be very successful.

I love that a 25-27 yr old has the gall to call others young kids.

 

Originally Posted by Da Donkey

Northwestern Mutual loves to prey on the college kids right out of school. They feed them lines and lines of BS and know exactly what to say to get the college kid on board, hook, line and sinker.

They tried it with me and offered me a job like 4 times, and I kept telling them to GTFO. Each time they came back with a higher salary, more promising commissions and other benefits. Basically I did the interviews and then I did the whole spiel where you are supposed to "practice" on friends and family members. Once they realized I had a ton of friends and family members and knew a lot of people in general, they thought I would be a gold mine for them as far as potential customers go.

F that place.

If you believe in the product and believe that it offers the solutions to the financial protections your friends and family need you would want to sell it to your family and friends. If you don't believe it then you shouldn't work there. It's really that simple.

I agree with the poster above that said most of the high commissioned protects they sell aren't the proper solutions for most people and therefore wouldn't take a job with them. Having said that it's a great company and has strong products for a niche market. The problem is you get guys trying to sell there high commissioned products to everyone they meet

 

Originally Posted by Lameass_

How To Impress A Lameass

Step (1) Make a compilation of things already previously said by posters in other threads

Step (2) Insert into argument when butthurt

Step (3) See steps 1 & 2

Optional - make comments about events that are untrue or did not occur

To reply to a standard fistfights discussion when in doubt and have no original things to say, refer back to half a cup of beer, beatboxing, or coke whore level that has no originality. It is sure to rile up the crowd.

P.S. lol at willywoo in getting offended by my dislike for NW then when asking why he is attacking me respond with more unoriginal banter and references to "sales" jobs with no personal experience with the particular company.

im not even mad... just confused. its like a teenager with angst and no understanding of how to get rid of it so youre taking it out on me and defending a company you have never worked for for seemingly the fuck of it.