Pros
Highly focused work, long hours (9 to 18:30), lots of drive to achieve targets. Ideal for focused, hard-working people who like to chew through calls with next to zero downtime. Life insurance product is good, and Reassured deal with reputable companies such as L&G, Aviva and LV. Very straight forward and basic work. Highly scripted and process driven, so it's very easy for anyone to do. No follow up with customers required as your leads are open to the whole business and any customers you don't land in one call will have a good 30 call each month from across the company to try to pick up from where you left off. You are also highly encouraged and expected to steal other people's deals, so it all balanced out. Almost zero admin, so you will just be focusing on the cold calls for the 9.5+ hour days. The expectation is to dial every 30 seconds, but you're strictly monitored by management, so there's no worry of dropping off. The 15-minute afternoon break was cut to 10 minutes to help our productivity. At the end of every day, 5 minutes before the end of your shift, you will be sent some good leads and granted access to better lead pools. Really helpful for getting into a good hour-long conversation with a potential customer. Don't worry, the customers rarely mind talking into the evening hours. You are highly encouraged and expected to work extra hours and work on your days off, which can really help hit the KPI's that would otherwise be a challenge to hit. You have the option to work on Saturdays, and they may pay you for your overtime if you qualify by meeting the KPIs. Even if you fall short and don't get paid for the time worked, or any commission earned, the sales you made will at least count towards your KPI targets. In the office, the managers shout out every time someone makes a deal, and everyone claps loudly down the phone in celebration. It's all very fun. This obviously can cause concern for the customers you are speaking with, but only occasionally leads to them hanging up or complaining, in my experience. It's like one big family. If someone is off with depression, family problems or embarrassing medical issues, you will get a discrete update on their personal situation so you're not worrying about them. Don't worry, we are all told not to tell anyone else though. It's nice when someone leaves, as they will get the brunt of the blame for things that have gone wrong letting these that remain off the hook for a number of issues. When a sales consultant leaves, we are informed they couldn't cut it so were let go. Despite this evidently not always being true, it is great motivation for keeping you on your toes and staying in line. You are encouraged to do Glassdoor reviews and best companies surveys. The managers will stand behind you to help let you know what to write.
Cons
Customers and potential customers are treated terribly. We are told to ignore what they say and drag them through to a sale. Zero regard or respect for their ability to make their own decisions. If an application is referred, or postponed, meaning the customer must wait to see if they can get a favourable outcome, we are forced to abandon that application and sell them a more expensive alternative to try to land the 'risk' deal on the day. I do not feel this aligns with treating customers fairly or acting in a customer's best interest. The wording of the script glosses over important points, e.g. conflating critical illness with terminal illness, meaning customers can misunderstand how the policy works. Upon review of my calls, I was actively told not to clarify these points with customers, and to "stick to the script". Customers who just made an enquiry are hounded with up to 8 call per day, every day, for literally months on end. It is not uncommon for customers to become abusive or upset. Staff are treated with the same lack of respect from managers. E.g. brakes are cut short on a whim. You are openly questioned if you try to take a bathroom break or get out of your chair for any reason outside of designated break times. The money is below average by modern pay standards, especially when factoring in the hours worked. The bonus structure is inconsistent, with unintuitive metrics and is needlessly opaque. If you just got a percentage of what you sold for the company, it would be very good (which I suspect is why it's not like that). The rate at which the company is growing means the current business model is unsustainable. You can't have nearly a thousand sales agents cold calling a slowly diminishing number of leads for 8 and a half+ hours, every day. They obviously must know this, so I suspect there will be mass lay-offs at some point, once they've achieved whatever it is they are doing. A sale of the company? With respect to job security, they have no problem threatening a room full of employees that they can lose their jobs at the drop of a hat. Almost all staff are pulled into a meeting to discuss their behaviour and work rate. A lot were written up or given official warnings. It's all very bizarre and creates an Orwellian atmosphere. The leads are very, very poor. A majority of what you are given are duplicate or recycled old leads. The lead pool has been picked clean, and the remains have been burned to a crisp. It's no wonder the customers you call are so hostile. A handful of senior, longer tenured staff get first run at the best leads. So they can have around 4 sales a day, while the rest of the office is sitting on zero to one on average. You are reprimanded for pointing this out or questioning the lead quality (or questioning anything for that matter). It's all very dystopian. The company will throw you under the bus at every turn. If you make a sales you will be praised for dragging "difficult customers" through to a sale. If that same customer then makes a complaint about being pushed into a deal, you will be reprimanded and half your commission for that month is deducted, as per their complaints process. They complain if you spend too long doing any necessary admin, such as sending a text or email, or when doing a re-application, but will punish and reprimand you for any mistakes. If you highlight the incompatibility issue with the two apposing expectations, they reprimand you for speaking out of turn. If there's any fallout from how they conduct their business practices, they will instantly put the blame on the employee, but then continue to promote the same practices in the next meeting. The sheer level of cognitive dissonance the management routinely demonstrate is difficult to comprehend unless you have witnessed it first hand. On balance, if I'm honest, I would say Reassured was not a good fit for me personally.