Pros
+ Extremely results-oriented, despite the politics (at least on the face of it... see bullet three under "Cons" later). +Strictly inbound calls from live TV and radio ads. The decision to "cold call" or make other outbound calls is entirely up to you and is neither encouraged/discouraged. You are not a telemarketer per se because the customers phoned you first. +Extremely competitive: stealing clients from fellow loan agents is encouraged and expected, subject to some loose restrictions. These agents are known as "fishers". If you "fish" another agent's client and close the deal, the fisher will get the potential commission and the other agent will be reprimanded for not properly closing the deal. You could substantially supplement your income by becoming successful at this, but you will make a lot of enemies who will try to do the same (with varying success). That said, the parking lot has seen its fair share of shouting matches. + Potential for huge pay: As a personal-loan salesman, base pay was about $12/hr plus tiered commission based on sales, which kicked in after a certain minimum quota was met. For example, less than 19 loans sold for the month would result in you being paid just your hourly. Between 20-25 loans sold would mean you get your hourly plus a certain amount of commission. This is said to be "making tier"; the higher tier you reach, the more extra you are paid (and it scales very high). If you don't hit tier but do work the expected 70 hours per week, you will gross about ~$3300 monthly with your hourly and your time-and-a-half. However you are only paid for up to 55 of those hours due to California labor restrictions. Sales agents who sold both personal loans AND mortgage loans often made over $6k per month. In times past, good agents working during good times were making $7k to $25k per month gross. + "You earn what you work for" attitude: the passive and uninspired will not make it here. + CashCall is not "MLM" or similar: you are not asked to bring on others after you. You are only to put out or get out regarding your sales. + Casual environment: people often work in their pajamas and sandals. (Unless the owner happens to be parading investors through the joint in an effort to sell the business, in which case everyone must dress professionally. You are informed ahead of time of this to prepare and sent home to change if you didn't show up professionally that day).
Cons
+ This company profits by way of high-interest personal loans and low-rate mortgage refinances-- these products are polar opposites to each other on the loan industry spectrum. Ideally, most sales are mortgage refinances as they have the highest profit per unit sold. CashCall sells THE lowest priced, 30-year-fixed refi's but also lends personal loans for around $2000 with interest rates of 150%+. If you are making extremely good money here as a salesman, that necessarily means you are a respectable, trustworthy mortgage salesman while also being a cut-throat loan shark. Take that as you will. + Boiler room environment. Regardless of whether you are also selling conventional mortgages as a licensed mortgage agent (who are considered more posh), you will be packed shoulder-to-shoulder along long desks, taking calls, pitching triple digit interest rates for different personal-loan programs, constantly redialing those clients who told you to take a hike, and just generally hustling people into taking questionable financial products under serious consideration. If you ARE a mortgage agent, mortgages are generally an easy sell as CashCall focuses on being the In-N-Out Burger of mortgage houses: the same simple mortgage products, delivered to you cheap and easy. However, mortgage agents are not exempt from selling triple-digit-interest personal loans and must always be doing that as well. The sales floor is accessible 24/7 and is rarely empty; agents frequently spend the night, sleeping on/under their desks with pillows they brought from home to better ease into the next 14 hour day. + Extremely political, despite results. Some agents seem to be "fed" higher quality inbound-calls and more calls than other agents. Being on good terms or bad terms with certain people will definitely affect your income. No manager ever admitted to anything like this going on, but it's hard to ignore certain agents who somehow get 20+ consecutive calls in one day from the same prime area code(s) while the other agents seem to receive calls from random places like normal. + Tiered commission system is basically designed such that if you work less than 56 hours per week, you will likely not achieve tier. Management expects salespersons to work ~70 hours or more to reach the first tier, and if you work less than 56 hours it can be difficult to keep your job. Recently, business has been so slow that it has been difficult to reach first tier even after working a 70 hour week. + "Revolving door" sales floor: new people arrive and incumbents leave just as frequently. Can be hard to make and keep good company.