Exclusivefocus Spring 2013 - National Association of Professional ...

president’s perspective
Tom Wilson Awakens a Sleeping Giant
In Solidarity
Bob Isacsen
President
NAPAA/OPEIU
Guild 17
During my 52 years of insurance industry experience
I have never witnessed such a lack of overall
leadership as that currently being displayed by Tom
Wilson. It’s astounding. In my view, his leadership
– or lack thereof – has produced an unprecedented
reduction in the agency sales force: a corporate
strategy he first disowned, but now freely admits
was his plan all along. This strategy has decimated
the agency force and caused a great deal of suffering
for untold thousands of our brothers and sisters,
some of whom ended their own lives in the process.
The result is that a once-proud agency force that
numbered 14,000 is fast approaching 8,000.
The implementation of draconian commission
cuts, coupled with a decline in overall market share
has led to the mass resignations of some of the best
agents in the company, many of whom sought and
found more rewarding opportunities elsewhere.
Apparently, this exodus of better than average
agents was unexpected because Allstate is now
offering referral bonuses up to $10,000 in certain
states for new agent hires. It seems to me if the
Allstate opportunity was as good as the company
proclaims it to be, there would be no need to offer
a bounty. Word gets around, whether positive or
negative, and these days, the word on the street is
that Allstate is not a place where agents can expect
stability or permanence in their professional lives.
And the turnover hasn’t been confined to the
agency force. We have also seen the exodus of some
of the brightest and best insurance and sales executives
in the business. From what I’ve observed, nobody
is safe, including those in the upper echelons
of power at Home Office. Just in the past few years,
we have lost some remarkable members of the senior
staff, including George Ruebenson, Joe Lacher,
Mark LeNeve and Joe Richardson, Jr. While these
names won’t be familiar to new agents, they can be
easily searched online.
So, as Tom Wilson fiddles, his empire is burning
out of control. Yet he is generously compensated.
The slash and burn management tactics that have
endeared him to the Allstate Board of Directors
have caused animosity among some – if not most
– of his former colleagues, and likely some in his
current inner circle. In my opinion, his careeningout-of-control
management style has severely
weakened the company and opened doors of opportunity
to the competition.
The struggles of the Allstate agency force are
legendary and are well known among savvy competitors,
some of whom are now taking advantage
of Mr. Wilson’s missteps and his lack of popularity
among rank and file Allstate agents.
One example is the Farmers Insurance Group,
where some former Allstate executives landed after
their Allstate careers abruptly ended. This “sleeping
giant,” whose parent company is Zurich Financial
Services – the second largest financial services
company in the world – is aggressively expanding
in the eastern U.S. The Farmers Insurance Group
had its beginnings in 1928 and currently operates
in 41 states. Farmers has 15,000 agents, mostly
west of the Mississippi, and together with its sister
companies – Foremost Insurance, 21st Century
Insurance, Bristol West and their brokering company,
Kraft Lake Insurance – it is one of the largest
personal lines insurers in the nation.
Believe me, selling personal insurance is not
rocket science, so what has the Farmers Group
done to leverage its brand above the competition
Quite simply, they have replaced much of the
onerous language in the agent contracts of their
competitors with softer and gentler wording, as
well as a one-of-a-kind option that allows agents
to transfer ownership of all or part of their agency
to an acceptable/approved member of the agent’s
immediate family. Also, Farmers does not have the
legacy problems that go along with the long tenure
of operating in a given state, so at least in the
eastern U.S., it will be able to offer take-away rates
and broader product offerings.
I have not written this message to promote the
Farmers Group over Allstate Insurance Company;
I merely want to highlight the damage that Tom
Wilson’s regime has done to the company and its
talented agency force.
Many of you reading this message are newer
Allstate agents. I wish my message could be more
upbeat, but I have seen too many careers ruined
and too many lives torn asunder by the actions of
the current management regime. You are fortunate
PRESIDENT continued on page 8.
6 — Exclusivefocus Spring 2013