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agent issuesMr. Wilson: Please ReconsiderYour Decision to Terminate MeEditor’s Note: Following is the uneditedtext of a long-term agent’s letter to AllstateChairman and CEO Tom Wilson askinghim to spare her from termination. Despiteher heartfelt desire to remain with Allstateand her commitment to improve and growher agency, she “never received the courtesyof a reply” from Mr. Wilson. Instead, she receivedphone calls from the Human ResourcesDepartment and the Territorial SalesManager who told her that theirs would bethe only responses to her letter. Ms. Coppolahas now sold her agency and has moved on.Allstate Chairman and CEOThomas J. WilsonAllstate Insurance CompanyNorthbrook, IllinoisDecember 10, 2008Dear Mr. Wilson:Yesterday I met with Olga Otero ofAllstate’s Human Resources Departmentin Palm Beach County, Floridaand with Richard Cairns, DistributionLeader in a private meeting where I hadno representation and no recording orwritten documentation of said meeting.I was told that I was being terminatedand that there was nothing I could doto prevent it. As a veteran 30-plus yearagent I was shocked by such treatment,especially coming as it did on the heelsof one of the worst years for Allstate inFlorida ever.As you are aware, we are in the midstof a huge recession with the largest numberof people unemployed in history. Insuranceand brokerage firms have madeheadlines in very infamous ways. Addedto this, the State of Florida mandateda moratorium on Allstate writing newbusiness in Florida for many months andour Governor, Mr. Charlie Crist, toldFloridians to take their insurance businessto another company. It has been adamaging blow to our reputation. Ontop of all this, Allstate has non-reneweda large portion of my book of business inorder to lower their hurricane exposurerisk. As a 30-year agent I had to spenda large portion of my time and moneytrying to retain clients by rewriting themwith brokered companies and often losingnot only the home insurance policy,but often the multi-car auto policy aswell, due to clients far too disgruntledto stay with Allstate. Newer agents mayhave been able to concentrate their effortsprimarily on new business, but thathas not been the case with my agency.Now, I am being told I will be terminatedfor not growing my agency. Thisseems totally unreasonable to me.I proposed to Mr. Cairns and Ms.Otero that I have a new business plan for2009 that includes maximizing the newAllstate auto product coming out in January2009. I have also recently hired twonew agents who previously worked for avery successful agent in our district and Iam quite confident that this will improveour agency results, as well.When I contacted my manager, EliasSmith, to request assistance with approvalof a new location as my lease isexpires 12/31/08, he indicated to me thatI should not consider signing a new leaseas I was to be terminated soon. I thenasked human resources and sales managementfor more concrete informationbut they avoided me for weeks and havenot sent me anything in writing to confirmwhat they have told me orally.Independent Contractor statusshould not cause me to be terminated forquotas. I am not ready for such abruptaction to be taken. I have always cooperatedwith the company in trying to reachcompany objectives. Many life specialists,hired and trained by the company,have come and gone without ever helpingme reach my financial services goals.Obviously, it is my desire to reach thesegoals as well as it benefits my agencyin many ways. I have invested my ownworking capital in mailings, purchasingleads, hiring staff, advertising, etc. topromote Allstate products and services.Recently, as you are also aware I’m sure,I have even been purchasing paper with42 — Exclusivefocus Spring 2009