Remembering Dick and Myra Larkin - National Association of ...

pecially hard these past four or five yearsto have what I call a “total success attitude.”My friend Jon Keel and I share asimilar philosophy in that we both agreethat winners in any business are thosewho possess positive mental attitudes,are open to new ideas and who can spotopportunities in whatever hand they’vebeen dealt.There are good reasons why peoplebecome successful – they stay ahead ofthe curve by being innovative and arenever satisfied with the status quo. Theycontinue to refine, refresh and reinventtheir business models. The trick is to associatewith successful people. They learnnew ideas from other successful peopleand adapt them in their businesses.Is every new idea or strategy a homerun? Heck no. In fact, I don’t believe Iknow any successful people who haven’texperienced some failures along the way.But when successful folks get knockeddown, they get up, dust themselves off andmove on. Nobody likes to fail, but winnersaccept their failures along with their successes– and they learn from them.Exclusivefocus:You know and associatewith many successful Allstate agents, manyof whom were affected by the company’s announcementthat it was canceling the 2009award trips. This must have caused quite astir among those who had worked so hardto earn the trips. After all, isn’t a big partof earning award trips the opportunity tomeet and mingle with senior managementand other top producers?Bill Gough: Yes, I got quite a fewcalls about it. I feel bad for those agencyowners who really worked hard to earnthe trip to Paris or wherever. We’re livingin a different economy and Allstatemade a tough decision based on whatthey thought was best.Exclusivefocus: Based on your conversationswith other agents, will cash awardsever replace the desire to experience the glitz,glamour and camaraderie of award trips?Bill Gough: Not for me. This ismainly because Jim Claudio and histeam in Home Office are the best in thebusiness at conference trips. I’ve heardvery few complaints on the bigger cashawards given this year.Exclusivefocus: One of the challengesagents are facing today is achieving andmaintaining a positive Agency LoyaltyIndex (ALI). We were taken aback by thenumber of agents with great retention ratioswhose agencies are now at risk becauseof their ALI results. Is the ALI a challengein your agency?Bill Gough: It’s a challenge in a waybecause it is a new process and a veryimportant process that will need managing.We will deal with it like we deal withother programs. Our monthly newslettersand welcome kits for new customerswill address the three areas of concern foragency owners. We will make it a part ofour culture here in the agency and ourresults will improve.Exclusivefocus: I am familiar with someof the proactive customer processes you havein your agency, such as the monthly newsletteryou mail to your customers. What otherprocesses have you been using to keep yourcustomers happy, informed and involved?Bill Gough: The monthly newsletterI write every month is, by far, the verybest retention, referral and new businesstool. It’s all about relationship marketing.Other things we do are voice broadcaststhrough ART (Automatic ResponseTechnology), a company-approved vendor,two to three client events annually,annual reviews, email marketing/nurturing,an ongoing referral program andcharity giving.Exclusivefocus: Yet, even with all thesehands-on processes in place, you still find itnecessary to do more, perhaps much more, toraise your ALI score, right? What new ALIstrategies will you be implementing in youragencies?Bill Gough: We will be talking abouttheir complete satisfaction with ouragency, their willingness to refer friendsto our agency and wanting them to renewwith us. There will be a minimumof four messages on the back cover of ourmonthly newsletter on this topic.Exclusivefocus: Are you willing to sharesome of your strategies with our readers?Bill Gough: We are also changingthe auto-signatures on our emails for ourcustomers. We will make the culture ofour agency that of a very loyal customer.The same is true for making our agencya referral culture. We’ve had a formal referralprogram in place since 2005.Exclusivefocus: Many small and mediumsize agencies cannot meet their productionquotas in auto, EB or AFS. Somesay the auto product is uncompetitive, otherssay they are undercapitalized and can’tobtain the financing that will allow themto market aggressively and others complainthat they do not have access to an EFS.Your main agency is in Florence, Alabama,a town with a total population of lessthan 38,000. The 2000 census estimatedthe number of households in Florence at lessthan 16,000. According to the agent locator,there are four other Allstate agencies competingfor business in your community. So,you have five agents competing for 16,000households – that’s some pretty slim pickins.If you could share the one strategy thathas helped you achieve your goals more thanany other, what would it be?Bill Gough: I have what I call the“home field advantage” because I grewup here and have been in business for 25years. We do tons of public relations andstay involved in the community. The onebig strategy for me has been to form the attitudeof a winner while dedicating myselfto a lifelong learning process. Most peopledon’t try to improve themselves after highschool or college - a big mistake. Schooling,in itself, cannot prepare you for thereal world. You must constantly improveyour skills to make yourself more valuable.This is a mistake that 98% of people in thiscountry make. People become content witha small taste of success. Consequently, theynever take it to the next level or imaginethemselves achieving anything bigger orbetter in their business or in their life. Thisis sad and a waste of potential and talent.Exclusivefocus: Have you tried usingInternet leads? How have they worked foryou? Any tips you can share?Bill Gough: We have used them since2003 and they have worked well for usbecause we were taught by the best. I flewout to see the top agent in the country atthe time and paid for a day of consultingand learned how to set up the process.It was very profitable back then because30 — Exclusivefocus Summer 2009