Exclusivefocus Summer 2012.pdf - National Association of ...

I had no incentive to increase my financialresults because any production underthe minimum threshold was the same asdoing no production!I should point out that my numbersfor P&C were always really good for newproduction, retention, and profitability.Once again, the wall in my office isadorned with plaques that confirm thisand I was also designated as a PremierService Agency in 2009.As a small scratch agency, cash flowmeans everything and my goal was tobuild a good P&C base, so I could hiresomeone and focus more energy on financialservices, commercial insurance,and specialty items. I believe these addedservices are important and would makemy agency more complete. However,with Allstate’s cost-shifting, extreme rateincreases, and constant general alienationof its customer base, I spend mostof my time trying to save my home/autocustomer base.The setupEach year I’ve struggled to producethe minimum $1,000 in variable productioncredit. In fact, most years it seemsthat I’ve had to purchase products just tokeep my affiliation with Allstate – andlast year was no different.Knowing I needed to meet my minimumsecurities requirement before theJune 30th deadline, I decided to increase aVUL I had on myself. Since I’ve receivedlittle to no training on financial services,I wanted to make sure what I was doingwas correct. Furthermore, since Iwas paying for the coverage increase outof my pocket, I needed to ensure I wasincreasing the policy by enough to meetmy minimum requirement without goingoverboard. So I decided to contactAllstate Financial Services for assistance.AFS told me that I could increase myVUL and that it would provide me withthe credit needed to go towards my minimumsecurities production requirement.However, they could not tell me howmuch coverage I needed sell myself to getthe production amount I needed. Theytold me I would have to contact AF comp,which turned out to be another dead end.They told me that they could only calculateproduction credit after the changewas made and the policy was issued.As a last resort, I contacted my AllstateField Sales Leader, who had onlybeen my FSL for a few weeks. She saidshe could assist me in calculating theamount I needed to increase my policy.She also gave me a good talking to aboutneeding to work towards my ExpectedResults and that I shouldn’t put myselfin this position. I agreed and tried to explainthat I would like to do more, but mycustomers – who were being battered byhuge homeowner rate increases of 35%to 100% – were taking up a large amountof time. Of course, I also explained thatnew production is much easier when youhave decent products to sell.At this point, I informed her that Ihad been trying to sell my agency for ayear or so. But because there were virtuallyno qualified buyers in my area andsince about half of the agencies in myarea are listed for sale on Allstate’s website,I hadn’t had much luck getting out. Ialso explained that due to a business loanon my agency, I didn’t want to take TPPbecause the first 6 payments would go tothe bank, leaving me no income while Isearched for a new job in a hard market.I told her all I needed was to make sureI hit my required FS numbers so that Icould either sell my agency or see if Allstatewould revamp its pricing so I wouldhave competitive products to sell.She showed me how to increase myVUL and calculated out how much Ineeded to increase my policy by to producejust over the required $1,000 productionlimit. I did as she instructed andsubmitted the paperwork. Because wewere getting close to the deadline, I wasdiligent in following up on everything.When I was told by AFS, shortly beforethe deadline, that everything had completed;I breathed a little sigh of relief.It was around this time that I receiveda letter from Allstate saying I had notbeen hitting my Expected Results andthat I was on the naughty list. I was toldthat I needed to make improvementsover the next 6 months and that the letterwas simply a warning.Where things become crookedShortly after my new production reportcame out, I noticed that the variableproduction credit amount was justbelow the $1,000 yearly requirement,even though I increased my VUL as instructedby my FSL.I contacted my FSL immediately andshe stated she didn’t understand what theproblem was and that she would investigateit for me. She also told me I shouldcontact AF Comp. Here is where thingsgot really strange. AF Comp emailedme and told me I had hit my productionamount for the year. However, some ofthe other reports showed I did not. MyFSL told me that she was double checkingeverything and told me not to worry.A few weeks went by and I hadn’theard anything from my FSL. WhatI did receive was a certified letter fromAllstate Financial stating that my contractwith them had been terminated forfailing to meet my minimum productionrequirements. My stomach immediatelyturned sour. The first thing I did waspick up the phone to call the FSL andwhen I received no answer, I left messagefor her to call me back. Then I decidedto email her and when I opened my InboxI saw there was an email stating thatshe had been promoted and that we nowhad a new FSL. Somehow, I was gettingthe feeling I had been had. To this dateI’m not sure if the FSL was just that incompetentor if I was being setup, but itseemed a lot like sabotage to me. In caseyou are wondering, I never heard fromher again, ever.For the next few weeks, I contactedeveryone I could think of to get helpwith my predicament. During this time Ireceived another certified letter, this onefrom Allstate Insurance stating that dueto losing my FS contract they were terminatingme, effective November 30th.My new FSL told me there was nothingshe could do, but she would help metry and find a buyer for my agency. Shenever sent any buyers my way.For five months I asked various peopleto please review my termination. I informedeach of them that I had documentationshowing I had enough credit,and that everything I did was at my manager’sdirection. I received no assistancefrom any of the departments I reachedout to, or from any of the dozen or sopeople I contacted about the problem. In50 — Exclusivefocus Summer 2012