Complaint Review: Senior Healthcare Consultants - SHC - Nationwide

No offense, but the fact that this company's agents ask for the sale doesn't make them a rip-off. Guess what? All salespeople ask for the sale on the first meeting. Insurance agents don't make a habit of having several meetings with prospective clients before trying to make a sale. That would be ridiculous and they would never get anything accomplished.

No offense, but the fact that this company's agents ask for the sale doesn't make them a rip-off. Guess what? All salespeople ask for the sale on the first meeting. Insurance agents don't make a habit of having several meetings with prospective clients before trying to make a sale. That would be ridiculous and they would never get anything accomplished.

No offense, but the fact that this company's agents ask for the sale doesn't make them a rip-off. Guess what? All salespeople ask for the sale on the first meeting. Insurance agents don't make a habit of having several meetings with prospective clients before trying to make a sale. That would be ridiculous and they would never get anything accomplished.

No offense, but the fact that this company's agents ask for the sale doesn't make them a rip-off. Guess what? All salespeople ask for the sale on the first meeting. Insurance agents don't make a habit of having several meetings with prospective clients before trying to make a sale. That would be ridiculous and they would never get anything accomplished.

Thank you so much to all! I was considering trying to work for SHC but then I googled them and found this report. thank goodness!

I am still interested in working in the insurance industry. any advice would be greatly appreciated. I like what I read about Metlife offering a salary for the first 2 years of employment before going straight commission. Thanks again everyone!

I read part of all the nonsense on here and realized that most of you don't have a grasp of the facts about Medicare Supplements. I work for Western & Southern Life Insurance Company, a member of the Western & Southern Financial Group.

I looked at SHC before coming to work here. And I have recently ran across them again and wanted some more info on them in the event I came across them in my business. That is how I came across this.

Now to set the record straight on Medicare Supplements. There is no reason if you have a valid lead not to do a one-stop close with these people. I don't know anything about the supplements marketed by SHC, I have not come across them. As long as the companies they are dealing with are "A" rated companies by the rating agencies you can't go wrong.

Supplements are uniform from one carrier to the next, they are required to be by Federal law. The only thing these are sold on are price. If you got a highly rated company and they are cheaper than what the senior is on, you are doing them a FAVOR getting them to switch.

I don't sell a lot of supplements because my core product line is life insurance. I do sell the supplements issued by United World, a subsidiary of the Mutual of Omaha. Most of my sells are one stop sells. Only one or two have required two visits.

I won't schedule a second visit on a Med Sup because it is a waste of my time. If the client doesn't take it on the first visit it is up to them to call me back. The reason, of course, is that supplements just don't pay as well as life insurance.

Bottom line, if you're selling a good product. One visit close is the only way to go on Medicare Supplements.

Second, MOST insurance companies use independent contractors "1099" employees. I work for one of the few companies left that does not. If you want to be in this business, you have to do your research on that ahead of time so you know what you are getting into.

I made the mistake of getting my L & H license and then joining SHC. What I did not know as a brand new agent is that SHC could take away my livelihood for 6 months once I quit. I joined another company after I left SHC after just 3 weeks. What I did not realize what that SHC will not release me to continue my line of work since the agency I am with has contracts with some of the same companies.

Most companies will issue you a release, but not SHC. This should be illegal. Now I am not allowed to sell for our main insurance companies for 6 months thanks to SHC. I don't know how these guys sleep at nights.

My question is this. Why Whine about it? I Think that the real problem is a website that does not care what is put up..and what accusations are made however unfounded they may be.

Also, It is amazing to me how information is disregarded even though it is given.

*Individuals are told in the interview that they will have to cover their own expenses to get started.

*Individuals are told they are 1099. This means they are not employees.

*Individuals are told that this is extremely hard to be successful at.

*Individuals are told that the appts aren't perfect. there will be no shows, defense mechanisms etc. welcome to sales!

*If you think you will be check collectors go work for The gas company.

*Individuals are told what fortune 500 companies they will be working with. and yes one of them is MOO.

*Individuals are told that this isnt for most people.

*Individuals are told...right in the interview...that this is a one call close and if they werent comfortable with that, this isn't for them.

For individuals that do not think they can handle that..the opportunity is not even extended.

So...my question is what part of that was not understood or what part was ignored?

This is NOT a get rich quick scheme. This is a business opportunity for you to be build your own business with a regimented business plan. They have the best products and best customer service after the sale of any that I have seen. Did you know that keep in contact with their policy holders..if not in person but by phone at minimum once a week for the first two months and then check on them regularly after that? How many of you have had an insurance policy that was sold to you and you never heard from the man again? With the real Better Business Bureau they have 0 complaints in the past 3 years.

What it all boils down to is that I dont see people that are not successful with McDonalds complaining. I dont see people that jobs didnt work out at Walgreens complaining. I dont see People that start their own business and fail complaining because they failed. Excuses Dont go in the bank. In short pick yourself up...dust yourself off..and move to the next opportunity because the information that you are complaining about was shared with you. Why Whine?

Look what I just came across in my saved email!! I've copy/pasted it here!! This is what YOU have to look forward to!!

It follows:

Mr. Cleinmark ?

It was brought to my attention this morning that you are not only in violation of your original agent agreement with our company, but that you have also committed gross business disparagement and slander/libel. You have violated your contract b/c it has been brought to my attention by certain active members of our staff that you have contacted them and attempted to persuade them to leave SHC by making negative statements about our company. This is a direct violation of your contract, which will be forwarded to you shortly, along with your promissory notes that previously I was not going to enforce. Furthermore, and worst, you have made several false statements about our company and myself personally, both verbally and in writing. All of these constitute damages to our company and to myself personally. As a result, you can be sued by not only our company on two different breaches of contract and committing slander/libel, or ?business disparagement?, but I can sue you PERSONALLY for the completely false statements you have made and wrote about myself as an individual.

Bottom-line, I was fair with you and tried my best to offer whatever I could to help you before your exodus from our company. I gave you a company car to drive, did not charge you back the thousands of dollars worth of post-November '04 Mutual of Omaha chargebacks of unearned-advanced commission, etc? I even tried to keep us friends. What you are doing is wrong. So, this is the ONLY time I will offer this. Stop everything you are doing that is in violation of your contract, stop all libel/slander. Otherwise, I will sue you twice, once from RJR/SHC and another from myself personally. You will have to appear in the courts of Tarrant county, Fort Worth, Texas multiple times at your own expense and attorney costs. You will lose w/o a doubt and you know that. You will pay my attorney costs plus any and all damages you have caused to our company and myself as an individual. I will also request the court order you pay your entire balance of advance commissions that cancelled prior to advance earning out back to our company due to the likelihood that you are also contacting your former clients and attempting to roll business. Should that happen, you will likely have additional lawsuits from the insurance carrier(s). If you think the money you will be out after you lose my lawsuits (don't forget, you owe use for all of those negative recruiter profit-shares AND those damages to the car I loaned you PER THE CONTRACT YOU SIGNED!). I am very serious. This is not a threat, but a promise. I find your actions personally offending.

I will give you until 12:00 Central Time tomorrow to respond to this email that you will act according to as I have requested. If I don't hear back from you, I will assume you are going to continue and will respond accordingly to that as I have outlined above. All further correspondence you receive will be from our company attorney(s) and my personal attorneys. I advise you show this email to your attorney.

I await your response.

-RJR


Richard P. Dale, Jr.
President/CEO - RJR Insurance Services, Inc.
Chief Director Senior Consultant Sales
4545 Fuller Drive, Suite 250
Irving, TX 75038

I received a solicitation from Monster.com today for "Outside Sales/ Preset appointments" with RJR Med-Advantage. I reviewed their website, gathering all info. I went to my state insurance commissioner's website... no info to be found. I went to NAIC website, again, no info. RED FLAG! Viewed all online job offers and saw they had the same ad in every major metropolitan area. RED FLAG #2! Googled SHC/ RJR and learned everything I could find, which led me to this site. Came to same conclusion as "Strike 3"....'nuff said, Thank you very much.

A special thanks to K from Bloomington, IL for his comments/info.

I've contacted SHC 3 times over tha last week in an attempt to get someone to call back re: the opportunity (here in NY) and... haven't received so much as a courtesy auto responder email or a vmail in that time.

It DOES NOT RELECT WELL on a company that cannont even be bothered to follow up on their hiring solicitations (mine came from CareerBuilder).

To clarify on my 'qualifications: I have (VERY successful) one call close experience, and I'm currentl LAH (life accident and health) licensed in NY.

MY GOOD FORTUNE that they didn't respond!

Thanks for everyones input. Good luck out there.

I read the letters regarding SHC...both good and bad. I have just a few comments:

1. It could be worse for SHC representatives. You could be working for The Assurance Group in Archdale, NC. If you think SHC is bad you will find it horribly worse with TAG. They are heavy into the senior market also and advertise all over the US...CareerBuilder...local newspapers, etc. BEWARE of this company! Your leads suck (you pay for them): you will receive about 1/2 street level commissions: and they overlook important contract issues, like releases, etc. Avoid this group!

2. You could be working for United American Insurance Company...another heavy hitter in the supp market. They probably have the highest, or near to it, turnover in the industry. BEWARE of them too. Unit Managers work the cream of the crop on leads. They promise free leads...but they forget to tell you they have been recycled 20 times. The day I decided to quit ALL 10 of my free
leads were DECEASESD!!! Avoid this company also.

3. If you like the supp business the best way to go about it is to get your own contracts with three or so companies. Get your own leads and work them. Get referrals when you can. This way you are your own boss. If you fail then you know who to blame.

4. There are also some GREAT independent insurance marketing groups. You just have to find them. Unfortunately, The Assurance Group and United American Insurance Company are NOT your best choices. Good luck! Seniors appreciate honesty. Treat them like you want your own parents treated.

I worked for them very briefly. It looked good, except they scheduled 14 appointments for me, and 12 of them weren't home (no shows) when I got there. That's all I had to see to know it wasn't for me. If these people were interested in seeing me and they were made 24 hours in advance, they would have been there!

I WASTED 2 years of my life with SHC. I was consistently in the top TEN of the leader boards for the ENTIRE Mutual of Omaha NATION-WIDE company sales in Med Supps.

That WAS, until SHC LOST THE CONTRACT with MOO because of their tactics and all of the complaints filed against SHC SALESPEOPLE. NO, they're NOT consultants'. They're high pressure one call closers and a good 1/3 of their sales change their mind and cancel within a month!

Then they brought in some company names that these seniors have NEVER HEARD OF with WEISS ratings of C-D! We were trained on using the WEISS ratings with are the only honest ratings of companies because they're not PAID BY THE COMPANIES for their reports.

Seniors buy on reputation and trust. NOT JUST ON THE CHEAPER PREMIUM. Which, of course, JUMPS dramatically when the company raises the rates and then the senior is stuck with them because they no longer qualify to move to another company.

I resigned because I COULD NOT ETHICALLY sell' the men and women victims' (aka applicants' in front of me) on working for SHC. The success rate is about ONE PERCENT lasting over 3 months. This is a fact and I've got old spreadsheets and emails showing the names of the victims' on the recruiting and weekly sales reports to prove it!

They've got some pretty slick stuff on their website now, but that is all FLUFF. The company just wants it's latest victims' to get out there and sell a few policies and then quit so that THEY, THE COMPANY, gets all of the renewals. OH, and SHC WAS NOT STARTED IN 1966 or whatever it states on the site! SHC is a smoke/mirrors company that RJR created using his father's history in insurance from many years ago.

Check out RJR insurance services on the Texas Dept. of Insurance site and get the real details. RUN PEOPLE RUN! As far as you can AWAY from SHC!

A last note of interest here too. ANYONE, who was IN ANY WAY ASSOCIATED WITH SHC when they had the contract with MOO IS BANNED FROM EVER WORKING FOR MOO EVER AGAIN! Even someone like myself, and others that were in the top 10 every month, can NEVER work with MOO again because we were unknowingly associated with SHC and their tactics and are now blackballed from working for a national leader in the insurance business.

And I'm sure I'll received another THREATENING email from RJR for this posting. Just like the one that everyone that leaves the company gets. He believes in threatening lawsuits against anyone that leaves SHC to keep them quiet. Enough is enough, and I am not scared.

But YOU SHOULD BE! Don't even consider 'contracting' with SHC because you're NEVER going to go on those fabled trips to exotic locations. You'll NEVER see the co-called benefits because you won't be able to last more than a few months.

I have just started with SHC. I noticed with most of the responses that most of the people with complaints are new to the insurance industry. I know this because they speak of their travel to training. If you are an experienced agent starting with SHC they only provide telephone training.

First let me say that I have been selling insurance for 5 years now for 3 different companies. The first was a health insurance company and they provided telemarketing leads that were mostly worthless. I still owe that company money from backcharges. This was my experience working "Directly for an agent of the company.

The second company I went to work for was a national P&C company and I was a top 10 agent for them in my state for almost 2 years. I worked all the time, no leads, I even wrote a policy on Christmas Day! The sad thing is I didnt even make 20k a year there!

You would think by now I would give up but I was introduced to a "broker agency" which is what SHC is like. There is a main agent that gets appointed with several insurance companies and you act as a sub agent under them. The benefit of doing this is that they spend the money doing the advertising and generate leads and you can either get these for free or pay for them. I was paying $21 a piece for mine. The only other option is to market for the leads myself which is far more expensive (I tried it).

So basically what you are "buying" is your way in front of people. Let me say this loud and clear "No matter who you work for in the insurance industry you will always pay to be in front of people". The ways of payment are your time (knocking on doors perhaps), money (either buying leads from the company or purchasing leads from a third party) or if you are recieving leads for free you are probably getting paid less or may be required to meet a quota. There is absolutely no way around this.

SHC is a company that spends money on leads to provide you with appointments. They require you meet a quota or you are charged with a share of what it costs to provide those leads. There is nothing wrong with this it is just business.
As far as the pressure sale, there are all different types of people in this world and if you are new to sales my best advice is just be yourself, be honest with people and do right by them and you will make money. As soon as you pressure someone you loose. Closing a sale can be as easy as telling your client "I have presented all the information I have and feel this policy would benefit you, Do you see any reason why we shouldnt fill out the paperwork?" If you dont start filling out the app the client will tell you what you did wrong by giving you an objection. This is how you learn to sell! Once you become experienced you will handle objections before they are even brought up.

There is alot of money to be made in life insurance but you must get in front of people, be confident of your product and most importantly have integrity in yourself no matter who you work for or you will spend alot of time on web sites like this.

I also recommend "How I raised myself from a failure to a success in selling" by Frank Betger (sorry if I didn't spell that right). It is like being trained by the best of the best.

To all:

There are many healthcare marketing companies out there. They all seem to use the "one time close". If they were confident in their products they would treat people nice and not pressure their salesmen in this way.

I'm looking for an insurance company that believes in it's product and training.

I got my life and health license and had some of these same problems with another company, then another, so I went to work directly (oops not directly, I was an independent contractor, it wasn't a marketing company) for a company that you all see on TV 3 to 4 times a day. My big surprise there was no leads were given to anyone. What about that advertising?

You were to look up small businesses and sell them on employee paid supplements, so the owners would have no premium expense. However, I found out this company attempts to put 1,000 new reps on the street every month. That is just in one small metro area of about 7 counties. So finding business owners who weren't ready to greet the next rep who mentioned the company with a shotgun was impossible.

And to Brent to mention the Navy SEALS, an organization that is about honor and taking care of each other, in the same sentence with a healthcare marketing company degrades the name of the SEALS.

I wish all good luck as I too am looking for an insurance job that will let me sleep at night, (not spend it on the phone calling stale leads who thought I was gonna send them a brochure in the mail).

My name is Angela (((Rip-off REDACTED))) and my mother Doris recently purchased two plans from Senior Healthcare Consultants. My mother is over 80 so I felt I should be there for the presentation. Two young men came by my mother's home and they were very, very nice folks. She had a plan with Blue Cross Blue Shield and the consultant was able to give my mother a plan J Medicare supplement with United Teachers with more coverage for less moenty than her plan G.

I did a google search on this company and this is what I came up with. This company is on the up and up and were very knowledgeable. We received her policy in the mail yesterday. We didn't feel pressured to make a decision and my mother was very happy with the gentlemen.

I looked up United Teachers and they are an A rated company and offered my mother a good premium and an even better plan. I feel I must say that a lot of what I read on this site on Senior Healthcare Consultants sounds very dubious, although 100% I have read are from former employees who seem disgruntled and this happens with every company with former employees who seem to want to get revenge.

Not one posting I have read mentions how satisfied customers like my mother and I are. Their customer service is very sweet also on the phone with my mother. THANK YOU SHC!

Hey guys, just want to thank all of you for your useful information regarding SHC. I was almost sucked in from the ad on hotjobs.com and was almost ready to e-mail the recruiter back to setup an interview time, but luckily I "googled" the company name and this was one of the first links that came up on Google. I think I'll try my luck with ***** now...


sorry, allowing you to give a competitors name would instigate others to just file against their competition, to only come back later to suggest their company your comments on this policy are welcome! CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.

Hey guys, just want to thank all of you for your useful information regarding SHC. I was almost sucked in from the ad on hotjobs.com and was almost ready to e-mail the recruiter back to setup an interview time, but luckily I "googled" the company name and this was one of the first links that came up on Google. I think I'll try my luck with ***** now...


sorry, allowing you to give a competitors name would instigate others to just file against their competition, to only come back later to suggest their company your comments on this policy are welcome! CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.

Hey guys, just want to thank all of you for your useful information regarding SHC. I was almost sucked in from the ad on hotjobs.com and was almost ready to e-mail the recruiter back to setup an interview time, but luckily I "googled" the company name and this was one of the first links that came up on Google. I think I'll try my luck with ***** now...


sorry, allowing you to give a competitors name would instigate others to just file against their competition, to only come back later to suggest their company your comments on this policy are welcome! CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.

Hey guys, just want to thank all of you for your useful information regarding SHC. I was almost sucked in from the ad on hotjobs.com and was almost ready to e-mail the recruiter back to setup an interview time, but luckily I "googled" the company name and this was one of the first links that came up on Google. I think I'll try my luck with ***** now...


sorry, allowing you to give a competitors name would instigate others to just file against their competition, to only come back later to suggest their company your comments on this policy are welcome! CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.

I'm almost out of college and was looking for a job. I stumbled across SHC on "Monster.com". It looked tempting, but I have always been wary of companies such as SHC and companies that does not appear to be reputable or have a long history. I was glad that I found this site to help me learn more about SHC.

SHC had a good point about the dependency of senior citizens. However, on its website, they're portrayed as if SHC is their only chance. If I was a senior citizen, I wouldn't be too happy at the amount of respect at this point. Whatever happened to capitalism and competition? Anyway, I knew nothing about their medi-gap program, but gave them the benefit of the doubt and assumed it is quality material. SHC says it works for Fortune 500 companies but doesn't say who, again, benefit of the doubt, but I'm starting to get that uneasy feeling. From past experience, I know how difficult it can be to build up a client base, so when SHC revealed that the clients were lined up ready to be sold, I thought this was a Godsend. With the minimum income, that's very understandable. If someone isn't pulling their own weight, that person needs to be relieved. The travel, reimbursed only if you're meeting a quota, so it's sell or lose your own money. Not very appealing there. The beginning base pay is nice, but if I expect to last I shouldn't even have to think about that. Training, I have to pay for that personally? Sounds like being a realtor. Testimonials weren't bad except there were multiple people who said they had to overcome their sense of guilt by selling insurance, not good, this is what I'm trying to avoid from happening again. The website said certain factors didn't apply to brokerage, but there was no brokerage link to be found. I had to become a consultant it seemed. I had no problem with the one time sell.

Several things that troubled my mind you may already have figured out. I don't like giving anyone the benefit of the doubt more than once, but on this website I read that their products is indeed good. The part about not being able to revisit the seniors is absurd. If someone came to me and tried to sell me a product and it was either right there or not again for a long time, it'd feel like a gamble, a gamble that I won't take with my limited retirement money. But you're losing out on a golden opportunity on quality supplements, supplements that you must have! No one tells me what's good for me or not. Whatever I do is my choice. If I was a senior who didn't do any research, how would I know that the stuff the consultant was selling is quality stuff anyway? It shows that the salesman isn't dedicated to helping me, because if he was, he'd respect my decision to think it over. This is America, there is competition and another company will come by with an offer just as good if not better. That's my opinion and I can tell you that I've suffered my share of gimmicks in the past. No amount of excitement from a healthcare salesman is going to rattle my bones, nor any senior that I know for that matter.Well, what about if the senior gets excited and wants to buy right there? What if people aren't as cautious as myself? If that's the case, then the senior gets the quality supplement he/she needs and the transaction is a success. If I was the senior, I'll miss out on the quality supplements, but it was because of the fact that the salesman can't return again. Moreover, such excitement from seniors may fade over time and the senior may decide to cancel. From what I read here, the consultant has to make up for that difference, NOT GOOD! Also, there is no such thing as one size fits all or perfection, so sooner or later a consultant is going to encounter a senior who won't buy. If this is the case, then the consultant has lost for reasons above regarding respecting the decision to think it over (meaning eventually the consultant will run into someone who thinks like I do). Moving on. If it costs a significant amount of money to get the license and as SHC puts it, only 25% succeed, then it is a gamble for the consultants themselves. You had better be sure that you've got what it takes or you're going to kick yourself for the lost time, energy, and money. SHC's website mentions the Navy SEALs and uses it in comparison to itself. In BUD/S, the attrition rate isn't 75% as in SHC, it's more like 85%. Keep in mind that those that show up to BUD/S are already considered fit, otherwise the Navy wouldn't be wasting time on candidates that it feels won't have some chance of making it. For each class, its members usually number over 100 men at the beginning, but that's the creme of the crop. Whereas for SHC it's simply commonfolk, folks that may not have had any sales experience. Was someone from SHC actually a SEAL? Do they even know what they're talking about other than what they see in movies? Any company can (wrongly) make the SEAL comparison to show how hard it is. They're like apples and oranges, you can't compare them other than they're both fruit. Residual income, a term that I didn't want to hear again, makes a return in SHC.

All in all, I was still interested in SHC, until now. I believe I can hack it where others have failed, but thanks to this website, I have made up my mind not to work for this company and it's shady practice of treating consultants. If I continued with SHC, since I'm a college student, I will be deeper in debt from all my initial expenses, on top of the thousands that I already owe. That alone distinguishes any further thought of work with SHC. There are better companies with much longer histories that are established, have more money & benefits, and treat their employees and clients with respect.

Here's a tidbit for those still looking for a job... Throughout my job hunt, I found that it often is best to contact the employer directly instead of using middle-man services such as "Monster", "HotJobs", etc. Those sites came up with jobs that were for smaller, lesser known companies, or companies involving risk such as SHC. It is rare to find any big name companies on those sites, they recruit from their own sites.

Not everyone can be a Navy Seal. Still, many give it their best shot to see if they have what it takes to make it through Navy Seal training. Some individuals are cut from the program during training, some just quit because they can't hack it. If success was easy, there would be no failures. SHC, in comparison, only wants the best of the best, literally. The rest can go be insurance agents or just return to the little cubicle from which they came. After all, the Navy needs Petty Officers, same as the insurance industry needs insurance agents.

That is really all there is to with SHC, period.

The real percentage of people that "MAKE IT" is NOT 25%. That is what they tell you b/c everyone thinks they can will be the 25% that will make tons of money. SURE? I thought I could do it and I did make it longer than anyone in my training class.

DAY 1 -Training Class "11" eager guys fresh from receiving their TX State Insurance Lincenses. Which takes about 6-8 weeks. THIS was going to be my career !!!

End of 1st WEEK- "8" tired driven guys
End of 4th WEEK- "4" worn out still with faith
End of 8th WEEK- "2" broke and broken. I was praying every night to make this work for my future. I'd already put close to 6000 miles on my car.(over $650 on GAS at 25 miles per gallon)
End of 13th WEEK- "ME" SHC recruiter found the other guy's resume on careerbuilder. They got rid of him. "had a bad attitude" and "doesn't have what it takes"-D.C.

That is ONE training class for that ONE week. Training classes are almost EVERY week.
NOW, you do the math.
11/1= 9% "MADE IT" more than three months. I made about $3,500 during that time. Remember the weekly cost- motels, gas, appointments, faxing, oil changes,copies, cell phone, internet in SOME road motels. It's amazing! I slept in motels that would make you puke.

SHC WILL "contract" over 200 people next year. About 10% (20) guys will make it three months. I would say 2 or 3 will make it one year. Every "Consultant" can see the weekly leader board. You can see how you stack up with every one.
There was anywhere from 12-37 "Consultants" selling at one time, while I was there for my 10 months. Four guys were there before me and were still there when I left. 5-15 NEW Consultants would train per week. CAN YOU SAY TURNOVER!?!?!?! It's sad to think what some of these guys gave up to make the financial dream happen for their families. I'm NOT the only one that lost almost everything.

A)
You have to spend a MINIMUM of $600 before you sit in front of one person.
1)State License
2)Supplies
3)Head-set for computer meetings
4)Three tanks of gas for training
5)Motel for three nights training
(Just try to do it cheaper. I dare you)

B)
Appointments cost $18. Ave. 16 appointments per week = $288 out of YOUR pocket. That really isn't bad if the following wasn't EVERYDAY:

1)(NO-SHOW)- the senior was NOT home

2)(PORCHED)- they had NO idea why I was standing on their front porch with a "Silly Smile"-R.D. on my face. This is supposed to make seniors feel more at ease? They don't want a stange man in their home and they were told I'm "dropping information off" My TWO HOUR presentation IS the information I'm dropping off.

3)(BETTER-DEALED)- they are already covered by some of the BEST medsup coverage companies in the country and have plan F or G. (Best plans)

4)(DNQ-Does Not Qualify)- they ALREADY have a health issue. Now I can't do ANYTHING for them. (besides sell the drug plan (SHP) that pays close to nothing in commission-($18)

There are four examples of BURNING $18 of MY money for something that is out of my control. In a typical week you will have a real chance to sell HALF of your appointments. HALF of the appointments are DNQ, Better-Dealer, Porched, or No-Show

Spending $1,152 per month for maybe 32 shots at a sale... i don't think so.

Everything I've read is from others that have worked at SHC is right-on.

You can read an interesting post from someone who worked for this company under the Health Insurance section on this website. If you really want a career in health or life insurance it does involve completing STATE approved and required education, passing a STATE exam, being cleared by the state police or FBI or both before receiving a state license and being appointed by a director of an insurance dept.in each state.

Only state licensed agents and insurance companies are allowed to sell insurance products in each state no matter what some marketing company may tell you. Each state has a Dept. of Insurance and you can contact them to find out the information you will need to become an agent. The dept.'s can also provide you with alist of legitimate licensed insurance companies in your state that you may contact to be appointed with them after you receive your license.

There are many high rated insurance companies in the country that offer quality life and health legitimate INSURANCE products. Please read about many health discount savings plans that are being offered to the consumer as INSURANCE plans and they are NOT insurance and to sell them as INSURANCE plans is considered fraud. They go by many different names and many can be found listed under the heading of health insurance on this website.

Any company that tells you they sell insurance must be licensed by the states they operate in and they should have an NAIC number. When in doubt ALWAYS check with your dept. of insurance in your state or any state the company tells you it sells in. This will protect you from being ripped off!

I am a state licensed health/life agent and I am appointed with several major companies in both health and life and I have never been asked to pay any money for training or materials. It is simply not done as major licensed companies are more than happy to provide for free any and all materials or training as they support their agents so they can provide quality service to the client. Some companies may require a small appointment fee such as 15.00 and many do not even require that.

Never pay for any sales packages or training from any company that states they sell insurance.

I am meetign with a representative of SHC in a few days to consider becoming a conultant. I am not afraid of work, rejection, or a one-time close but was wondering of anyone has any new comments on SHC or it's practices. Most of the comments seem to be from 2005. I can't afford to get into a bogus deal. I need to make money!

I want to thank all of you who replied to this topic. A representative of SHC contacted me earlier today. I did review the website that was emailed to me via career builder. I definitely have put the breaks on and will not move forward.

Wouldn't it be nice if we were contacted by a company who actualy viewed your resume/cv and truly were interested in what you have to offer.

Are there any insurance companies out there that are reputable and worthy of working with/for?

Thanks again.

Brian, after reading your response I couldn't figure out if you were sincerely giving Joshua constructive criticism regarding one call closing or if you just wanted to stroke your own ego. Either way, just as you stated there is hope for Joshua, maybe there is hope for you. Let me tell you about one call closing. I had it down to an "art" as you like to put it. I one call closed several appointments in which I sold a senior citizen a medicare supplement policy to replace their existing policy and increased their premiums by as much as $1800 to $2200 a year and was able to "get the check" that day. That my friend is a strong one call close. This was a common everyday practice while working for SHC. However, I could do this with a clear conscience (yeah right!) because I was also selling them a prescription drug plan (available to SHC for free) that would save the customer hundreds of dollars a month. I would sell this plan for as much as $500 for the enrollment fee. Oh yeah, I would also get that $500 check the same day. Is that srong enough one call closing to be considered an "artist" of the one call close in your book Brian. It didn't take me long to realize I was "RIPPING PEOPLE OFF" to help pad the pockets of the "Boiler Room" wannabe front office management of SHC. This is what I was trained to do during the teleconference training sessions that would last well past midnight 3 days a week. I had never sold insurance prior to working as a Senior Healthcare Consultant so everything I learned was trained by this Company. My point Brian, do not question the lack of conviction expressed by Joshua until you have done a little research and know what you are talking about. You have no idea what it took to have conviction in their product. Actually, as everyone has stated, the product was very good and reputable. It is the SHC practice that stinks. Today I am no longer in insurance and can sleep without keeping one eye open. I would strongly advise anyone looking to go to work with this company to decide if your integrity is of any value.

The one-call close has been and is currently used by almost every insurance company as well as thousands of companies that sells a product or a service. But is an art that needs to be learned and mastered with much practice, and as already pointed out a positive attitude. As an art and without an investment in the learning process, many who enter sales don't comprehend this fact and therefore become the overly aggressive "tin-man" or "insurance guy". But also as an art, one call closing can lead to financial success when learned and done properly. It need not be pushy or forciful but rather must be persuasive so that after making the presentation the buyer/client will have all the information to make an educated decision. And, one-call closing is absolutely necessary to any good selling process due to the physcology of the sale.

What you see in Joshua's comments is someone who has not learned the art of the one-call close and is one of numerous "saleman" who lost hope in, and became negative toward, a company whose product or service they were selling. They do not understand the art they were dealing with. Many years ago I was in a similar place as Joshua so I can emphathize with him. What is clearly not professional; however, is his attitude toward SHC, or any company, due to his less than positive experience. Joshua admits that the products being sold are a good investment. Griping about the system of delivering that product misses the point completely. There is hope for Joshua if he will learn this art, however, character will also need to be learned.

There are many excellent books on the art of the one call close. One I want to recommend to you, Joshua, is a classic: "How I raised myself from failure to success in selling" by Frank Bettger. Joshua please learn the art, have some character, and then do the right thing by withdrawing this report. It only makes you look unprofessional. And, please don't respond by again repeating that you sometimes close on the 1st call, that can and does happen by chance. There is a big difference; however, between being an order taker and a one-call closer.One pays a lot better than the other.

A veteran of one-call closing.

Phil and Joshua are on track. I also allowed myself to fall into this difunctional system of marketing. The major issue I had was the appointments. I knew I was in deep when I was told you never , ever call and question appointment setters ability. Man I believe cold calling naked would be warmer than those appointments. I showed up for an appointment set by a 32 year old mentally retarded man in a diaper. He supposedly was 72 year old female. I have been in insurance for 7 years and called my manager and called it quits early on and kicked myself for falling into such a pitiful opportunity.

Where do I start with this one. I guess you can say that two people can see the exact same information and come up with opposite opinions. That has always amazed me. Andrew is correct about CRL, UTA and Physicians Life. All solid companies with excellent products. Everyone, including myself has made that point. In fact I work for Physicians Life now. On page 4 of the Physicians Agent Handbook. Under the title of Business Courtesy. It says.

Scheduling a follow up meeting is preferred over long meetings and is considered more professional. Over staying on an appointment can give the impression of pressure selling and result in consumer complaints and/or withdrawn applications.

You don't have to close in one sale. Unless the client is ready. I make some one close sales, but the majority are on the second appointment. If you perform the sale correctly the emotion is still there on the next visit. Plus it gives the client piece of mind that you're not trying to rush them into a decision. My callbacks are usually within a week of the first appointment. So it's not like they have to pay Blue Cross their excessive premiums for months before I can come back. Which by the way is what SHC would have you do.

Andrew's point about it being a positive place. Of course it is. Everyone has to be positive at SHC. It's in the Policy book. You're not allowed to have constructive criticism. You could be corrected or even fined. You do have to call the National Sales Director after every appointment. If you don't close their lousy leads often enough. He will scold you like a child. Maybe he doesn't yell. It's unnecessary. In my opinion it's a complete waste of cell minutes. He just repeats the same worn out lines over and over.

Thank you Andrew for noting that you can't have a family or personal life while working for SHC. That's dead on. It's also very unnecessary.

I worked for SHC for 3 months. They are a legitimate marketer of quality insurances products for the senior healthcare field. The companies they offer as medsup carriers are Central Reserve Life (owned by the Ceres group), United Teachers (owned by Great American Financial), and Physicians Mutual. These insurance companies offer everything one could want in a medicare supplement - guaranteed renewability for life, affordability for life (premiums are extremely stable), full coverage (Plans F & G), no complaints of delayed reimbursement to doctors, universal acceptance of insurance, and among the lowest recipients of complaints of any insurance in the states I worked. People are paying much more than they should for less coverage since they don't know any better.

Most seniors only know of Blue Cross and AARP for their supplemental medicare coverage. Meanwhile, they could be saving hundreds of dollars a year while getting better coverage than they currently have. This is not high pressure sales. There is no strong arming or abusing the prospect. To close a sale one must educate the prospect on medicare and supplemental coverage and then the prospect usually requests the better product. Its a win-win situation. If you don't believe in SHC products then you won't make it there. If you believe in there products then you will do what you have to in order to get the prospect properly covered.

This means you must close in one appointment for two reasons. One, this is an emotional sale (like most things). You will never get a sale once the emotion of the appointment is gone. Callbacks are most likely a waste of time. Thus, you will have done a disservice to the client as they will most likely refuse to better their position if you don't close the deal on the first attempt. Second, since one only makes $125-$250 per medsup, one can't make money running callbacks. One has to close on the first try in order to make money for himself.

Additionally, I was never yelled at by anyone at the company. The management at this company is by far the most motivating and positive I have ever experienced. Also, everyone of the top producers including the national sales director, is more than willing to give you advice and help. Unfortunately, as I have recently just started a family, I was not able to give this job the time committment necessary in order to succeed financially at SHC as well as balancing my work and family life. This was the right company for me, I was just 5 years too late.

John, Why so mean? You're a sales trainer. Surely you don't think it's a good idea to pressure seniors to buy your products. Especially if you carry outstanding products. These seniors are constant targets of salespeople. Some with good intentions, but many are predators and scam artist. If the product is outstanding you don't have to jam it down their throats. That's one of the things that give salespeople a bad name. Building trust is so important in sales. I don't know you, but I don't think you would teach their system.

Perhaps I judged you too quickly about working with SHC. It did sound as though you had inside information. Now that I know you don't, I wish you would look a little deeper into their practices. (Good luck with that) Since you are a professional sales trainer. You should contact them and contract to train for them because they stink. You let me have it about my writting skills. If you read an article or book I wrote, you would probably say how unprofessional I was. Even if everything I wrote was factually correct. You would probably dismiss it. Well, just try sitting through one of their training classes. They make my writting look like Shakespeare.
You can take shots at me all you want. My mission is to give folks more information than the recruiter and website are giving. It might be the best choice someone can make if they fit into the system. If you looked into it you will find that the system is stacked against you going in. That's the design. I apoligize about my writting in advance. Joshua did a hell of a lot better job than I did in his post.

Phil - I DO NOT WORK FOR SHC. I am a professional sales trainer with my own successful company thank you very much. I checked this company out as a favor to my retired mother (who asked my advice). When I came upon the rip-off report, I felt obligated to post a rebuttal to the original report so that people would not get a horrendously inaccurate view of the company. They sell legitimate medicare supplement insurance based on my further investigation. Now, about your rebuttal to me. You wrote:

"Nice try John. I'm doing quite fine legitamitly selling Medicare Supplements now."

Well, congratulations on landing a salaried job since your "I'm looking for work" posting of ten days ago. Obviously not enough time to be "doing quite fine" on commission. By the way, it's spelled [legitimately]

As far as paying for appointments, etc. I have no idea what you're talking about and it has nothing whatsoever to do with whether or not consumers would be "ripped-off" by this company. Commissioned sales is HARD. Every growing company that uses direct sales has a revolving door sales department. EVERY COMPANY! The overwhelming majority of people will not do what's required to be successful in sales. It is extremely difficult.

Also, a commissioned sales professional cannot afford to jump to erroneous conclusions as you did here: "(yeah you work there, you know what I'm talking about) Some of these seniors probably buy just to get you out of their house. They also cancel."

You then rambled on for two excessively long paragraphs demonstrating your negative attitude. Another killer for sales professionals.

I have no idea what you're talking about here, but your "big print givith, small print taketh away" comment not only expresses more negativity, but PLEASE USE A SPELL CHECKER!

"The SHP. It may sound good, but it won't last. Congress will eventually slam the door on the Canadain Drug scam. The fine print on the application scared more than a couple of my clients away. Have you read that fine print. You're supposed to be their warning the seniors about risk not exposing them to more. Big print givith, small print taketh away."

Then you finish up with this gem:

"In closing John I already know what your rebutal is going to be, "The SHC company line". Spare me, I've heard it enough from R.D., H.F. and my field trainer. You can only lie to yourself for so long. Save your ego. You won't have to post a rebuttal to your rebuttal in a few months. We'll understand."

You already know what I'm going to say? Sure, Phil, you're omniscient! You know everything! I'm rather offended. Perhaps it's fitting that you live in "Stupidville, TX" Let's see, population YOU, right?

Nice try John. I'm doing quite fine legitamitly selling Medicare Supplements now. As a professional courtesy to my clients I will come back to them as many times as they like or that makes them not feel pressured. I even personally deliver their policy. I don't have to tell them that I can't come back for eight months when they live less than ten miles form me. I actually do some one time closes now, but it's not required. I don't have to pay $288 a week for unsatisfactory appointments. I don't have to have 2hr30min to 4hr appointments now to repeat, repeat, repeat... (yeah you work there, you know what I'm talking about) Some of these seniors probably buy just to get you out of their house. They also cancel.

Why do you have to call after every appointment? Other than running your cell bill up. (Why dosen't SHC pay your cell bill since they require you call after every appointment?) R.D. dosen't have a clue about the client. He says the same crap everytime. "Their in a group policy. Tell them that Blue Cross will drop 'em." "Their with United Healthcare. Tell them they'll raise their rates" Duh.

Scare tactics and pressure is what the presentation should be called not the "30K". I'm sorry you've been sucked in John. There are only about five people that will see any long term wealth from SHC, maybe even less than that. The "Consultants" won't be part of the party. The 12-14 hour work day (and that's conservative) makes sure of that. It's a revolving door organization. They want you to burn out in 3, 6, 8 months. Even if you last a couple of years you will never be vested. After you burn out, they keep your business and recruit the next guy and so on and so on. While they sit fat and happy collecting your risiduals. With good folks like Joshua and myself hopefully the next guy won't get sucked in. R.D. Says during training. "You have to follow our system blindly to be successful." Translation. Don't think for yourself, Sell X number of policies and you didn't make quota get lost. Oh and by the way. You can't sell Medicare Supplements for a year or we'll sue you.

The SHP. It may sound good, but it won't last. Congress will eventually slam the door on the Canadain Drug scam. The fine print on the application scared more than a couple of my clients away. Have you read that fine print. You're supposed to be their warning the seniors about risk not exposing them to more. Big print givith, small print taketh away.

In closing John I already know what your rebutal is going to be, "The SHC company line". Spare me, I've heard it enough from R.D., H.F. and my field trainer. You can only lie to yourself for so long. Save your ego. You won't have to post a rebuttal to your rebuttal in a few months. We'll understand.

I read this report and the two rebuttals with interest. Yes, you are providing valuable information for seniors. Yes, you are NOT a government agency. Therefore, you have earned the right to ask for the sale. You stated that the product was great and that you would want your own grandmother to have it. You actually do your customers a disservice by NOT trying to close the sale.

People react emotionally to a situation. You have car insurance (if you can afford a car). You probably never think about getting into a wreck, do you? That's why the law requires it in most states. Nobody would buy it otherwise. The law doesn't require life insurance, but you could get into a wreck and DIE! That would leave your family in a terrible mess. So, a good insurance salesperson will explain the risks and then ASK FOR THE SALE! If you don't close the sale at the moment of greatest emotional urge you will not close the sale 99% of the time. You wasted your time, the companies time and lead, and the prospects time. If you used "high pressure" and had prospects get combative with you, then you simply DO NOT KNOW HOW TO SELL! YOU bullied them, not the company. You have no one to blame for your failure except YOU. The question is, are you going to turn that failure into success or just lick your wounds and place a probably very legitimate company on a web site called "Rip-off Report" just to add fuel to your pity-party? All you have done is caused undeserved harm to a company and probably scared some poor senior into not getting supplemental insurance that they may NEED one day (after the wreck so to speak) when they can no longer qualify for it. That is disgraceful!

Joshua is dead on in his evaluation of SHC. He did however leave out the fact that SHC has you sign a non compete agreement prior to your training. So if you happen to be one of those unlucky agents that don't thrive on their lousy leads. Then all of the money you put out to obtain you license will be a loss. At least for six months anyway.

Also SHC insist that they do not pressure seniors. They are however in denial. When you go into a senior's home and tell them that if they don't get your policy that day then you can't come back for 4-8 months. That is 100% pressure. It is only a courtesy to the client that you give them time to evaluate such a big decision.

Going back to their lousy leads. They claim that their leads are the best in the industry. The term I heard was "golden". You might say that leads like this would always lead to a one time close. Not the case at all. In fact some of these seniors were very combative.

Their training was substandard at best. R. D. is the worst of them all. This training is conducted over an internet confrence. If I had a nickle for everytime he said "bottom line", I would not be looking for work. That's just to say it's a big distraction in the training. They hound you to take notes, but talk in continus circles often repeating the same information over and over. It becomes very obvious that they don't have an established curriculum.

I would warn anyone to stay clear of these guys!!!

I live in NY and responded to an ad for SHC on careerbuilder but no one ever responded. I know they are doing national recruiting but from your report I'm kind of glad no one did. I can care less for assuming all the risk in an opportunity.
My first take on your report is that if your in sales as an independent contractor, and the company is providing leads, then you better learn how to one call close or risk getting leads in the future. My second and last take on this Joshua, is that 90% of selling comes from your convictions on what you're doing, who your working for, what the product can and should do etc. If you're trying to close but the hotel bill is dominating your thoughts then it's not going to work. Being an independent contractor, you have to assume this overhead or"the cost of doing business". The rewards can be had in tax right offs, leads (if there isn't a charge for them)and a unique opportunity to make a whole lot more than what you spend (that's the idea isn't it?). To me what you were spending overcame your convictions and I'm sure as you said, this is why only 25% survive.
You have to look at these opportunities as investments. You are going to fork out a lot of dough upfront and hope your closing skills can get you going in a positive direction. One call closing isn't a bad thing if the product is right for the consumer. SHC should've been more upfront about the risk and how long you can go self supporting until you could fly on your own but because they're losing 75% of who they bring in the door, they're constantly focused on recruiting and don't take the time to be sure they bring on the right people. They ask you to read their entire web sight thoroughly before contacting them so they're leaving a good portion of the human side to recruiting for the internet. I got a bad feeling when I contacted them and no one ever called me back. That to me sends a red flag that, that is probably a strong indicator in how they treat their independent contractors.
Best of luck to you. If your new in the business and even if you aren't new and want to put your licenses to good use, call MetLife. They pay you a salary for the first 2 years and all of your expenses especially initial training & travel costs are all covered. Their name recognition opens doors and with some hard work and direction which you will receive, it may be a good fit for you. There are no one call closes either unless someone of course is asking you to buy on the first call.
GOOD LUCK AND THANKS FOR THE INFO.!