Beginning the Real Work

This week has been pretty hectic for me. We are supposed to start regular activity as interns, which, truth be told, I’m having a hard time doing what with moving into Plantz for the summer and working my night job at Lombardi’s. But I’m going to step up to the plate tonight and for the rest of the summer. It’s time to start making phone calls and getting people to meet with me.

I’m a little apprehensive about how the whole process will go. Everyone else in my office seems pretty confident in what they’re doing and I’m not 100% sure I can meet the standards they set for our team. I guess all I can do is my best. Hopefully my charming personality and dazzling smile will win people over. In all seriousness though, I really hope people will take the time to meet with me the first time so they can actually see how we at NMFN work. It’s not a sales pitch. It really is assessing your goals and current situation to help you find the best solution for your financial stability, if one is even needed. Wish me luck!

(Mallory Carl, ’08 is an Economics major interning at Northwestern Mutual Financial Network in Appleton, WI.)

If you’re participating in a Lawrence University Internship this summer and would like to blog about your experience, submit an entry here.

Sales School

I’ve been telling everyone that this week is training week for me at Northwestern Mutual (which will from now on be referred to as NM…Northwestern Mutual takes too long to type out ) but technically I’m attending NM’s “Sales School” all this week.

Today was the first day, bright and early at 8am right here in the Appleton office. It was actually a very interesting and informative day. I was able to get a better feeling for the entire process that financial representatives go through, which, by the way, is more than pushing the product. In fact, as financial reps, the last thing we think about in the process is the actual products. That doesn’t mean we won’t know what we’re talking about, but rather that we focus in on what the client’s situation currently is and where they want to be. We then take all the info we collect and use that to determine what would be the best products to “fill the gaps” in their current financial plan. I really love that I’m working for a company that honestly DOES put the customer’s needs first.

[Side note: Did you know that even though 9/11 was officially considered an act of WAR, meaning life insurance policies don't have to pay out death benefits, NM defined it as an act of TERRORISM and paid out millions to cover people's losses? And they did so without a lot of death certificates.]

I’m still feeling pretty good about this experience and am excited to get out there. It’s stressful right now, though, because the sales school classes fell right on finals week here at Lawrence. Ah, the disadvantages of the trimester system. But my professors have been very understanding and are letting me take my finals in the evening so I don’t have to miss class.

I’ll definitely be glad when finals are over, though, so I can put all of my energy into this internship.

(Mallory Carl, ’08 is an Economics major interning at Northwestern Mutual Financial Network in Appleton, WI.)

If you’re participating in a Lawrence University Internship this summer and would like to blog about your experience, submit an entry here.

And so begins the internship

Today was orientation day for my internship at Northwestern Mutual. I met the other interns from the Appleton office as well as those from the Green Bay and Steven’s Point offices. The day basically consisted of an overview of what we’ll be doing as interns (getting in touch with as many people as possible, discussing their current situations and goals for life, and hopefully selling policies) as well as getting helpful hints from our Unit Directors on getting people to meet with us and feel comfortable talking about their lives with us. We also focused in on goals we as interns have for the summer program and markets we plan on focusing in on.

It was really exciting to be in an office setting for the first time. It made me feel like an employee, not just an intern. And I won’t be fetching coffee and making copies like you hear in so many horror stories about internships; I’ll actually be taking on clients and helping them manage their financial situations.

I’m not going to lie, though. I am kind of nervous about setting up a client base. I’m originally from the Milwaukee area, so I’m not sure that I know enough people in the Appleton area to be successful. I guess we’ll see!

(Mallory Carl, ’08 is an Economics major interning at Northwestern Mutual Financial Network in Appleton, WI.)

If you’re participating in a Lawrence University Internship this summer and would like to blog about your experience, submit an entry here.