EF summer 08.indd - National Association of Professional Allstate ...

letters to NAPAA
Well done. I had an agency close
within the last year in my town and all of
his accounts were transferred to a different
city! At least Simon got “something”
out of it. Good luck to Simon - keep
your chin up.
I’m not an agent, but a support staff
for the agent here. I just read the letter
to Mr. Wilson in Exclusivefocus and
just wanted to thank you. We also are in
a small rural town. I see the agent here
have to deal with a few issues that only a
small town agent would. Sometimes you
really just want to scream at the big dogs
at Allstate to “wake the heck up!"
Anyway, thanks again for printing
Mr. Ortiz’s letter…
I expect you’ve received a number of
emails from EAs around the country.
I’m also writing to Wilson, but certainly
don’t hold out any hope for concern or
consideration.
I just read the letter to Tom Wilson
and could not agree more. For some reason
Allstate does not seem to understand that
the agents are the heart of the company.
My wife and I are in a similar situation.
The only other agent in our small town is
being forced to sell for lack of production
after 20 plus years of service. As yet, he
has no takers and I anticipate what happened
to Simon will happen to us too.
I am looking at that very thing happening
to me. I live in a small community
that doesn’t have a lot of growth.
There is one other Allstate agent in town
and an independent. The Allstate agent
has 700+ accounts and is trying to retire.
I also have been told I cannot buy his
book but will get to service them until
the company decides what to do. The
agent is hoping for a buyer, but so far
that hasn’t happened and he has not met
his financial goals for 2 years in a row. He
just wants to retire now. We’ll see how
this plays out, but I have no doubt that
I will be servicing his accounts without
pay for at least a period of time then
only get partial commissions. I appreciated
you publishing the letter. I have felt
like I’ve been butting heads with Allstate
on so many other issues and see this as
another exhausting time-consuming energy
drainer.
For a moment I thought someone
was writing an article about MY agency.
My circumstances are almost identical.
I think the letter struck a nerve among
many agency owners. I should write a
letter too, but I would not be so eloquent
or diplomatic. Thank you for sticking up
for what’s right, and for Allstate customers,
who usually bear the brunt of Allstate’s
decisions.
I have to say I am pleasantly relieved
to see an agent say something about the
way Allstate treats agents compared to
the expectations required. I also am an
exclusive agent trying to survive in a
small town. I will have been with Allstate
four years this summer and my attitude
and feeling for this company has turned
a complete 360. First let me say I am a
very personable and positive person. I
have talked to four others agents who
have over million dollar books and they
are worried, angry and very discouraged
with Allstate, its direction and its level
of non-concern for us. This uncertainty
among the veteran agents of this company
is worrisome and does not give me
a lot to look forward to. We have voiced
our complaints and concerns to our Territory
Managers but it is like talking to a
concrete block. State Farm, Nationwide
and Farm Bureau are absolutely kicking
our butts. It is a mess here and I know
that other agents have made their concerns
known but it just falls on deaf ears.
It was refreshing to read Simon’s letter
- I am glad to see someone else stand up
and say what’s on their mind.
I just finished reading the letter to
Wilson in the Exclusivefocus magazine.
I want to say HOOORAH! I’m not the
only person that thinks the emperor is
not wearing any clothes. As an agent of a
hard 2 years, I have to say that I thought I
was making my last career move as well.
The reduction of the already low financial
services commissions was the
straw that broke the proverbial camel’s
back. Hopefully, I won’t find myself in a
predicament where I have to sell. At this
point I simply am abandoning ship, and
am hoping to cut my losses. From my
vantage point, I am frustrated that I can’t
grow by purchasing other books of business
and by the fact that it’s difficult to sell
because the best prospective buyers (other
Allstate Agents) can’t buy my book.
Call me crazy, call me conspiratorial,
but I think some actuary at Allstate
realized it was more profitable and advantageous
to acquire agency clients by
pushing agents out of the business than
acquiring clients the hard way through
marketing and sales. Management is in
it for one reason. Money, money, money!
Earnings baby! A free market for agencies
would reduce the number of agencies
surrendered for TPP.
Summer 2008 Exclusivefocus — 13