Exclusivefocus Spring 2013 - National Association of Professional ...

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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
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