Vantaggi
I have worked at WPFG for almost 2 years. I started right out of school. The first thing I liked about WPFG is on my first day they (partners, CEO, successful young advisors) take you out to drinks. During cocktails and conversation, I was able to see that the people who worked here knew everyone like family. Through conversation you would hear people talking about upcoming weddings, new babies, weekend plans, etc. The people at WestPoint are not just coworkers, they are friends and are immersed in each others lives. The training was great. You learn about products but also how to make your first appointments. They teach you how to communicate with your family members about what you are doing and how to explore the option of doing business with your natural market. They also have successful young advisors tell their “story”. It was really encouraging to hear people who came from less than ideal situations that are making 1 mil a year all because of work ethic…and that they started just where we were. Anyways, I was prepared for training to be a bore but it really just got me fired up to work. They continue training us our first 4 years. They place you in a sales group with a sales manager. Their job is to make you successful. Each week (at our weekly meeting) my group sets different challenges and if we are successful we go to breakfast or drinks to celebrate. I often times get texts from my sales manager asking how I am doing on my goals and how he can help me. My sales manager opens his home for different parties and events...He is a place I turn with any questions on a case or if I need encouragement, his office is always open. There’s a big group of young advisors and they are really good at work hard play hard mentality. The college to adulting transition can be daunting… because in college you’re surrounded by people your age and once you graduate, you are not. WPFG helped with that. The young advisors naturally hang outside of work and through working here, my “crew” is composed mainly of coworkers or people I met through my coworkers. This job is so flexible. I was in 4 weddings last summer and got to take off for all of them. As long as your diligent with your time actually working, sales managers allow you to really do your own thing. For the industry, bringing in new clients can be difficult. WPFG wants you to start working with people you know but when that runs out, there’s option. We have an in-house marketing director whose job is to help advisors target and reach out to new markets. She has helped me with reaching to small town families and I have seen a lot of success through it. The CEO is super easy to talk and not scary at all. He had the 1st year advisors and interns over to his house and BBQ’d for us. Not only that but he is super accessible. He does a 1st year advisor training once a month where all he does is talk about the challenges you face your first year. He also writes hand written notes when he sees you had a good month. Not that $$ is the only reason to work, but I have made more $ than majority of my friends I graduated with and continue to make more and more each year.
Svantaggi
If you do not have a self-drive, you will hate this job. The people who are successful are people who are ok pushing themselves. This is not for the 9-5 worker who wants to check off a to-do list and get paid. I have appointments all over Indiana, I have good months and bad months, but ultimately how much I work controls how well I do. A saying we say often is "If I had known how hard it is, I never would have done it. If I had known how great it can be, I would've started yesterday. If you push yourself, you will love it.