Pluspunten
Background re: Applying and Interviewing I originally applied for the Internal Sales Position at Answer Financial’s Knoxville office in early June. After waiting a couple of days, I received a telephone call from one of their recruiters. After speaking with her, she requested that I come in for an in-person interview with the Sales Directors. This interview was scheduled for approximately a week later. Upon arriving at AFI’s offices, I was put through a three-panel interview: Panel 1 was a 1-on-1 with the Recruiter, Panel 2 was a 3-on-1 with members of the Sales Floor Management Team, and Panel 3 was an interview with the Sales Directors. From an inquisitive perspective, these interviews do a good job of allowing the AFI team to assess your likelihood of fitting into their “Five Star Sales” process. Out of the three panels, the Sales Directors’ panel was far and away the most important. In this panel, I was asked questions related to my ability to overcome objections and my likelihood to drive sales irrespective of the customer’s unique circumstances. It was in this panel that I was introduced to the two teams working within the Knoxville sales center - (a) Insurance Answer Center (Standard Customers) and (b) Right Answer Insurance Agency (Non-Standard / High Risk Customers). I was then informed that should I receive an offer, I would be working in the Right Answer division. Upon first glance, I didn’t think much of it. As a younger guy just out of professional school, I needed a job and $15 an hour (+ commission) sounded pretty great when compared to the Knoxville job market. The day following my interview, I received a call from Sales Director. As usual, she was incredibly kind and offered me the position. I couldn’t have been more excited to start work approximately one month later. However, little did I know what I was getting myself into upon accepting the position.
Minpunten
Background re: Training Somewhere around the second week in July, I arrived back at AFI’s Knoxville office for a day of orientation and meetings with the Licensing Coordinators. It was here that I basically signed my privacy rights away and granted AFI complete access to my background. As an ethical and honest guy, I don’t have anything to hide! If you do, you should probably stop reading and realize that Answer Financial can, will, and does examine basically every element of your life - personal, financial, and academic. This is incredibly important as most states have extremely high standards for individuals to meet for licensing. On the following day, I began AFI’s highly regarded six to eight week training process. Here, under typical circumstances, you sit in a classroom for eight hours a day while a guy that many consider to be one of the most arrogant and egotistical individuals known to man lectures you about insurance. However, my training cohort was largely excluded from AFI’s conventional training method and was placed to study on our own depending upon a widely distributed, externally produced Property and Casualty License Online Course and Manual. To be honest, if it hadn’t been for this divine intervention, I would have likely walked away after a week of dealing with their training manager. Upon completing the online program, my cohort was sent to a external testing center in West Knoxville to take our property and casualty licensing exams. As a lifelong student, I was able to successfully complete and pass both exams within forty-five minutes. Following passage, you are then relegated to the training classroom and sales lab environment where you learn about AFI’s proprietary rater systems and the various carriers that you will likely be appointed to write new business with. A word to the wise: If you believe that the training environment does a good job of preparing you for the mess that you are about to encounter when released to the Sales Floor, you are greatly mistaken! Background re: Release to the Floor / Sales As a Sales Agent, you are expected to meet various metrics (goals). These metrics are often established using monthly, weekly, and daily sales figures, Additionally, you are expected to meet goals set by your individual sales manager. If you are anything like me and are fortunate to be assigned to a particularly arrogant and pushy Sales Manager, you will find that these goals will often change throughout the day! As times, it seems as though her guidance changes as frequently as the wind’s direction. Accordingly, you must be able to adapt to change and to adapt often! As an agent in the Right Answer division, you are expected to sale a lackluster product to the less than desired type of customer. In this regard, these are the customers that companies such as Allstate, State Farm, and Liberty Mutual wouldn’t touch with the proverbial ten-foot pole due to their driving histories, criminal charges such as DUI/DWI/Vehicular Homicide/Manslaughter/etc. As you will find, while a few of the companies that you are able to write with are well-known such as Dairyland Auto, you will find that more often than not, your customers have never heard of the companies returning the lowest rate for them. In states like Georgia and South Carolina, you will find that the only rates returning within AFI’s rater are paid-in-full. For customers like those in the Right Answer division, they are living paycheck to paycheck and are unable to afford $4,000 dollars paid-in-full. Additionally, these customers are the type that purchase insurance today for court-required proof of insurance only to call back and cancel it tomorrow once they have resolved whatever mess that they have gotten themselves into. Additionally, you are required to sale a value-added product to the customer. This fee can range significantly depending on your discretion and the customer’s previous purchase history. As most customers know or are quickly finding out from their friends and a simple Google search, this fee is largely arbitrary and can be refunded by AFI’s Policyholder Services division. When this happens, you can kiss any type of a bonus that you might have made goodbye. As for leads, you will find that many leads are cold-transfers. This means that the customer will be transferred from one of AFI’s many affinity partners and will often times have no clue that they have been transferred to another company. Often times, the customer will disconnect the call out of frustration or personal time constraints. Please be advised that these leads will count against you in the overall calculation of your sales and productivity rankings. A Note re: Benefits As an AFI team member, you are eligible for day-one benefits! However, you will soon discover that the health insurance options are high-deductible products and most employees find them incredibly expensive if they have a spouse and/or family on their policies. Additionally, paid time off and personal leave are accumulated fairly quickly. However, be careful not to exercise this leave during training or you may receive a written counseling form (write-up). As you will find out should you exercise this option, a physician’s note will not suffice and this absence will be counted against you. Proceed carefully with this topic as it is very peculiar and largely unenforced for some individuals while excessively enforced for others. Conclusion Overall, employment with Answer Financial’s Knoxville office is a mixed bag. On one hand, you are able to make $15 an hour for your services - if you can place your sense of independence and morality aside and capitalize on the customer’s downtrodden characteristics. On the other hand, you are working for a company that demands nothing less than your absolute compliance with expectations and standards that are largely ill-conceived and do nothing more than undermine your credibility with the customer. Regardless of your decision, I wish for nothing but the best for you! I know how difficult it can be obtaining a job in the Knoxville area and often times, you have to take what you can get. However, Answer Financial is likely one of the most aggravating and dehumanizing environments that I can imagine for anyone looking to launch a career. As you press forward, keep these words in mind: “Turn your failures into lessons, your obstacles into opportunities, your tragedies into triumphs, and in no time you will turn your dreams into reality. - Matshona Dhilwayo”