Exclusivefocus - National Association of Professional Allstate Agents ...

Hands Commitment that promised “extraordinaryrelationships” with customersand Allstate employees, has gone awry,except, of course, for those employees insenior management.It seems pretty clear that the companyhas forsaken its vision, its stakeholdersand its principles in favor of profitsat any cost, a motive many would call‘greed.’ This imbalance is not healthy forthe company or its stakeholders and isthe root cause for the problems we facetoday. It is also the reason the companyuses the agency force as its favorite whippingboy.Isn’t it time someone pushed the resetbutton to bring the pyramid back inbalance? Allstate customers and Allstateagents were supposed to be stakeholdersin the company’s grand plan, but bothhave plainly suffered since the ascensionof the Liddy regime. Customers have experiencedunprecedented rate increasesand questionable claim practices whileagencies have been under intense productionpressures and increasing control.Now all of a sudden, the companyhas recently implemented “loyalty” measurementsfor its agents and employees.Evidently, the customer attrition rate hasaccelerated and the company wants toknow why and who’s responsible. Andthose agents and employees who don’tdeliver satisfactory loyalty numbers standto be pressured to improve or terminated.The reality is that longtime Allstatecustomers are typically a fiercely loyalbunch. But after enduring several yearsof back-to-back rate increases, they’vehad enough. Every year when they calltheir agents, they get the same song anddance about why rates have increased andthey just don’t buy it anymore. Then afterchecking around, they find out they cansave hundreds of dollars a year. The trustis gone - they leave feeling like suckersfor not shopping sooner.Another stakeholder represented onthe Allstate pyramid is the “Employee.”And when the pyramid was introduced,the vast majority of the agents were stillemployees. Some would argue that we’restill employees or at least ‘indeployees’ assuggested above.Until recently, most agents were alsoloyal to the company. But like thoseloyal customers who have tired of beinggouged time and again, Allstate agentsare weary of being squeezed from allsides. More and more company controls,ever-increasing operating expenses, constantpressure to attain Expected Resultsand a poorly designed RFG, are just afew examples that agencies face today.These and other pressures have mountedsteadily for the past several years andagency owners are fed up. The companyhas over-milked its cash cows (agentsand customers) and the milk is all butdried up. There is nothing left to give.The good news is that Allstate agentshave a professional trade association thatcan voice their concerns and take appropriateactions when needed. NAPAANow all of a sudden,the company hasrecently implemented“loyalty” measurementsfor its agentsand employees.remains the only viable option for agentsto achieve positive changes in their relationshipwith the company. But in orderto effect change, NAPAA needs a majorityof Allstate agents to join. Withoutsignificant membership numbers, itis difficult to convince the company tomake the kind of changes agents needand desire. Would it listen if NAPAAcould boast of 10,000 loyal members?Yes it would. And, there has never beena better time to join NAPAA. With itsstock price languishing, its dividendslashed in half, its continuing loss ofmarket share, its declining revenues, its$1.6 billion net loss last year, its dissatisfiedagency force and its recent downgradesby S&P, Moody’s and Fitch, thecompany has its hands full. And thingswill likely get worse before they get better.The last thing Allstate wants rightnow are more problems, especially laborproblems. That is why this is a perfecttime to build a stronger NAPAA. With amajority of the agency force as members,NAPAA will be able to deal with Allstatefrom a position of strength.The peculiar twist here is that whatis good for the agent is good for thecustomer and good for the company. A10,000 member NAPAA will surely helpthe company improve certain businesspractices that will result in improving thecustomer relationship, retention, and thebottom line.I will close with an appropriate anecdoteI recently saw in The Voice, theUnited Farmers Agent Associationmagazine. It was about a mouse whowitnessed a farmer opening a newly arrivedpackage, only to discover it was amousetrap. The mouse quickly ran outto the barnyard to let his fellow farmanimals know there was a mousetrap inthe house.As you might imagine, the otherfarm animals paid little attention to themouse’s warning. Some were sympathetic,but they all said the same thing,“this is too bad for you, but it doesn’t affectme.”That night, the trap was triggeredby an unexpected prey. In the dark, thefarmer’s wife did not see that it was thetail of a venomous snake caught in thetrap. She was bitten by the snake andrushed to the hospital.When she returned home still ill fromthe poison, the farmer decided nothingwould be better for her recovery thanfresh chicken soup. So went the chicken.As the illness worsened, friends andfamily came to help care for the farmer’swife. In order to feed them, the farmerhad to butcher the pig.Finally, when the farmer’s wife died,the farm was overrun with well-wishers.Again, the farmer found it necessary toshow his gratitude by feeding them, sohe slaughtered the cow.The moral of the story: Don’t ignorethe problems of your fellow agents astheir problems may soon become yourproblems. Like it or not, we’re all in thistogether and we should be watching outfor each other. Meanwhile, please joinNAPAA – it’s our last, best chance forsolving the issues we face.48 — Exclusivefocus Spring 2009