Slowly sinking into poverty - Financial Representative Thrivent Employee Review

Not enough communication of deadlines and demands on performance. All costs are up front and not many are reimbursable. Training pay ends 30 days after three day training at headquarters and you're only trained on how to conduct a meeting, not how to sell a product or explain products to prospects. If solo starter and you don't have/can't afford office space -- meetings must occur in restaurants, coffee shops or prospect homes. This does not make for good confidentiality. Too many hidden fees paid by FR's and no one can explain how to figure the commission on a mutual fund sale. Your initial prospects are your friends, family and your church. Unless you attend a Lutheran church, many people have never heard of Thrivent and are leery of investing with you, a new representative, or a company they've never heard of (although the Christian approach to the company appeals to many church members). You find you have more lunch/coffee dates with no follow ups than you do legitimate sales. All meetings with home office are done via phone conference and there's little support when you're struggling. You're just told to "keep trying", "don't get discouraged" and "call if you need anything". I was encouraged to reach out to veteran representatives in my area but found a closed door atmosphere when I asked for help. It almost seemed that veterans would smile and agree to help when asked by management but then would give little advice/assistance when working with a new representative. I really feel alone in my work and I'm slowly falling behind/failing more and more daily.