Primerica's Life Insurance Pep Rally in Atlanta

About 35,000 salespeople waved towels and banged noisemakers as Primerica’s co-chief executive officer, John Addison Jr., walked across the stage of the Georgia Dome in front of exploding fireworks. “What we need, Primerica needs, is you, you—you in your seat right now—at your best to commit to go to a level you’ve never been,” Addison bellowed, pacing and pointing at the crowd, who traveled to Atlanta at their own expense for the insurer’s four-day conference in mid-June. “We are the answer. You are the answer. It’s our time.”

While other companies have cut back on hiring salespeople and stockbrokers to save money, Primerica, the country’s top seller of term life insurance, continues to recruit people to pitch its financial products. In a multilevel system similar to those at Avon Products and Herbalife, representatives who sign up new recruits earn commissions on their underlings’ sales. Primerica isn’t like those “juice or soap companies” because it doesn’t pressure its workers to buy its products, says Bill Kelly, head of the company’s investment business.