Exclusivefocus Spring 2013 - National Association of Professional ...
Exclusivefocus Spring 2013 - National Association of Professional ...
Exclusivefocus Spring 2013 - National Association of Professional ...
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feature<br />
The Saboteurs<br />
By Dave Thorpe<br />
I<br />
wanted to write an article describing<br />
how low-level employees can sabotage<br />
a company in the eyes <strong>of</strong> its clients<br />
and do more harm collectively than an<br />
incompetent CEO might. I thought I’d<br />
start with a few personal experiences and<br />
build from there. First, let me say that<br />
I didn’t want to limit my study to just<br />
the insurance industry. And rather than<br />
limit this article to my own personal experiences<br />
and those <strong>of</strong> people I know, I<br />
decided to use statistics compiled by JD<br />
Power for credibility and to add a national<br />
perspective. Easier said than done.<br />
Before we get started on this endeavor,<br />
I have always found it interesting how<br />
few retired Allstate agents have kept<br />
their personal policies with Allstate. As a<br />
case in point, I know <strong>of</strong> no retirees – other<br />
than me – who have done so. They’re<br />
now with AARP, USAA, State Farm<br />
and others. In other words, they are insured<br />
with anyone but the company that<br />
feathered their nests and nurtured them<br />
during their insurance-selling years. Clients<br />
don’t simply leave companies for a<br />
few dollars after a 35 or 40 year relationship.<br />
They leave because they’ve been<br />
badly treated. Personally, I would love to<br />
switch to State Farm, but because I sold<br />
my agency to another agent – who still<br />
owes me a bunch <strong>of</strong> money – I don’t want<br />
to rock the boat. But let me tell you what<br />
got me going on this disloyalty kick.<br />
Twenty or so years ago, and during<br />
some national conference or another, the<br />
company awarded me a Rolex watch. It<br />
was recently stolen and I decided to make<br />
a claim. Because there were personal issues<br />
involved, including the fact I couldn’t<br />
remember exactly which Rolex model it<br />
was, I decided to make the claim directly<br />
to Allstate via myaccount.allstate.com.<br />
When I hit the claims link, a popup informed<br />
I had to make a phone call and<br />
provided me with a number to call.<br />
Let me digress for a moment so I can<br />
explain that I’ve been deaf for more than<br />
ten years. It may or may not have been<br />
due to my Marine Corps experience.<br />
To continue, the popup on the screen<br />
didn’t <strong>of</strong>fer any options for the hearing<br />
impaired or deaf. Since I didn’t want to<br />
trouble anyone else with the claim, I decided<br />
to try conversing with claims using<br />
my closed captioned phone. I asked them<br />
to speak slowly so the captions would<br />
catch up on my phone screen. Instead,<br />
they tried talking over me and we ended<br />
up getting in a shouting match due to<br />
the deafness as well as mutual frustration.<br />
Finally, I got one particularly rude<br />
person to give me an email address. Four<br />
emails covering ten days and he never<br />
responded. I obtained the claims manager’s<br />
email address and tried again. Still<br />
no response. Then it occurred to me that<br />
if a company treated its deaf and disabled<br />
in such a cavalier manner, how were they<br />
<strong>Spring</strong> <strong>2013</strong> <strong>Exclusivefocus</strong> — 37