NAPAA - National Association of Professional Allstate Agents, Inc.

footstool. “He called him ‘Lidster,’ that’s
my nickname for him,” Wilson mumbled
to himself. With a pouting lower lip protruding
from his downturned face, Wilson
dressed quickly and quietly skulked
out of the now vacant locker room and
left the club.
Arriving back at his office, Wilson
briskly snatched a small stack of messages
from his personal secretary’s outstretched
hand. Sensing his foul mood,
she slowly turned away and began typing
busily on her computer keyboard.
Once back at his desk, Wilson dropped
into his leather chair and as a result of
slamming the handful of messages down
on his desktop, his computer monitor
blinked to life. He slid the keyboard
closer to his chair and after logging on,
opened his private email account and
began scrolling through the inbox. With
his inbox count at three hundred for the
day, at least Wilson knew he was still
popular with the rest of his friends, even
if Ed Liddy had forgotten him.
Near the top of the list was an instant
message from his squash partner about
the missed game. As he scrolled past
that message, he spotted one from “Lidster.
AllstateCEO.” Wilson’s lips twisted
into a wry smile as he moved the mouse
over the delete function. He never understood
why Liddy still used his former
title in his email account. He surmised
that Liddy just wasn’t ready to let go.
But before sending the message to the
Recycle Bin, he began to contemplate
what had happened earlier that day. Why
did his longtime friend and mentor allow
a stranger to call him by the special
moniker he and Liddy had used for all
those years Was this other guy Liddy’s
new protégé Was Liddy grooming this
new guy to take his place Sure, the stock
price was in the tank, but the market was
hammering every company wasn’t it
And yes, profits were also tanking, but
it wasn’t his fault Geico and Progressive
had better ad campaigns. And what’s
with all of those whining, disgruntled
EAs Instead of complaining, shouldn’t
they be thanking him for having a job
in this economy Wilson shook his head
in an attempt to dislodge the image of
thousands of agents complaining about
quotas, mandatory office hours, and “90-
day improvement” letters.
Just as he was about to refocus on the
computer monitor, an unsettling image
of the nightmare he had during his power
nap began to creep into his consciousness.
Jail. “Oh boy, that’s not for me,” he
mused. He could barely stand to have
his vichyssoise served at 60 degrees. The
very thought of eating cold prison food
sent a new set of chills down his spine.
Wilson’s shoulders did quick impression
of an earthquake as he tried the shake the
image from his mind.
But Wilson felt certain that the prospect
of real jail time was unlikely. After
all, other CEOs had gotten away with
worse without serving any hard time. So
what if Allstate “accidentally” misclassified
a few thousand pabulum-eating,
whiner-butt agents So far, even the IRS
has looked the other way… Can you say
“campaign contribution”
Wilson’s attention drifted back to his
email account and as he looked back at
the monitor, he noticed his cursor was
no longer poised over the “delete” function.
Instead, it was flashing furiously as
it hovered over the “read” option.
Wilson leaned closer and noticed that
the subject field had been highlighted and
appeared to be pulsating. The message
read: “Your Expected Results for 2010” in
a 12 point, Times New Roman font.
Wilson’s head suddenly felt as if a vise
had been applied to his temples. The
sick, icy nausea he once felt as a rejected
school boy looking for a prom date made
his head swim. “Wha… what… what’s
this” he demanded. “Ed Liddy sent me
a review”
Wilson’s fingers trembled as they
tightened around the mouse. He nervously
double-clicked the button, not
knowing what to expect. This had to be
a joke. He was the head honcho, for crying
out loud. He didn’t have reviews. He
didn’t have “Expected Results.” He was
Allstate’s “Supreme Independent Contractor”
as CEO.
Forgetting he had left is speakers on,
Wilson was startled when he heard a
loud electronic pop when the e-mail
suddenly snapped open on his monitor.
Regaining his composure and refocusing
his eyes on the screen, he eyed the message
in disbelief. It was titled “My CEO
Results.” There were four review categories.
His Expected Results and his Actual
Results were depicted to the right of
each of the four category headings, and
were followed by a brief description in
below each one.
Agency Loyalty: Expected Result
95% Actual Result 10.25%
This number represents the percentage of
agents who would like to continue their relationship
with Allstate under your current
Allstate management scheme.
New Agency Turnover: Expected Result
12% Actual Result 85%
This number represents the 3-year turnover
average of newly hired agents who resign
or are terminated.
Ability to Communicate with
Agents: Expected Result 98% Actual
Result 0%
This number represents your ability as
CEO to address agent concerns and communicate
directly with a representative association
for the agents.
Correctly Classifies Agents: Expected
Result 100% Actual Result 0%
This number represents your ability to
comply with IRS PLR 8925018 for correct
classification of EA R3001 agents.
Wilson slumped back in his chair, his
fingers still clutching the now sweatslicked
mouse. Was this meant to be a
joke After all, it was common knowledge
that the Lidster was also a prankster.
But no, this was no joking matter.
Realizing this, Wilson’s mind quickly
returned to the scene in the locker room.
He deduced that the guy Liddy playfully
snapped with the wet towel must be his
new protégé. Was his ride at the top over
that quick What about all the promises
made by McKinsey & Company about
the mega riches he would have So far,
he had only implemented the first half
of the redistribution program McKinsey
and Liddy had designed for the agents.
Wilson knew the plan like the back of
his hand. Hire as many greenhorn agents
as possible. Let them fail and then hire
more agents. Repeat the process perpetually
so Allstate would always be staffed
Summer 2011 Exclusivefocus — 25