. . . . . . . . . . . . .I was reading the Agent Informer newslettertoday and everything in th<strong>at</strong> article<strong>is</strong> true about Allst<strong>at</strong>e.I’ve been with Allst<strong>at</strong>e 26 years and inthe last week they have called me twice becausewhen I left my office in the eveningand transferred calls, I transferred the calls<strong>at</strong> 5:29 instead of 5:30, one minute early.Then I was told “I was not in compliance.”Talk about micro-management!On top of th<strong>is</strong>, we have been pricedout of the market. We w<strong>at</strong>ch our booksdwindle down to nothing. When a customer’sauto and home premiums double,or in some cases triple, do you think thesepeople are going to stay with us? Our increasesaren’t like normal companies, wetake 20% year after year and forget it ifyour credit has gotten worse.After all these years you would thinkour jobs would be safe, but not a chance.They’re always demanding more production- more of th<strong>is</strong> and more of th<strong>at</strong>,and if we don’t meet those quotas, guesswh<strong>at</strong>? We’re gone.Wilson and the rest of those numbnutsdon’t give a damn about the agentsthey’re going to get their big bonuses nom<strong>at</strong>ter wh<strong>at</strong>.... . . . . . . . . . . . .The October <strong>is</strong>sue of the Agent Informernewsletter was the strongest and,unfortun<strong>at</strong>ely, most accur<strong>at</strong>e Agent InsiderI have seen yet. Gre<strong>at</strong> Job!Editor’s note: The Agent Informer newslettercan be viewed online in the Hot Newssection <strong>at</strong> www.napaaUSA.org. It <strong>is</strong> publ<strong>is</strong>hedmonthly and <strong>is</strong> posted between the15th and 20th of each month.. . . . . . . . . . . . .I am proud to be a NAPAA memberand constantly try to get local agents tojoin NAPAA. They all l<strong>is</strong>ten intentlybut don’t seem to be motiv<strong>at</strong>ed to getinvolved. Like most people, they wantletters to NAPAAsomeone else to fight their fight and sitback and w<strong>at</strong>ch.I make no bones about being a memberand d<strong>is</strong>play my NAPAA decals and windowsticker on my office and in my office.Thanks for all you do!. . . . . . . . . . . . .Things are getting crazy with Allst<strong>at</strong>e.Everyone knows someone being termin<strong>at</strong>ed.Hey, th<strong>at</strong> last <strong>is</strong>sue of Exclusivefocuswas DYNAMITE! Any agent whodoesn’t send in those petitions <strong>is</strong>n’t worthh<strong>is</strong> weight in salt!. . . . . . . . . . . . .An agent in the one of the major citiesin my st<strong>at</strong>e wrote over a hundred EBitems last month and all the companycould tell him was, “they better be legitor we will fire you!” Nice company towork for, eh?As was written about in one of yourpast articles, we were adv<strong>is</strong>ed by agencymanagement to write as many renters aswe needed in December 2007 to increaseour policy growth numbers.The article st<strong>at</strong>ed th<strong>at</strong> <strong>at</strong>torneys fromHome Office were sent to investig<strong>at</strong>e,but th<strong>at</strong> no one had been termin<strong>at</strong>ed.I received a call today from my TDLadv<strong>is</strong>ing me th<strong>at</strong> the company was pullingthe binding authority of one of mystaff who wrote several of those renters’policies. He suggested I fire her, yetit was my MDL’s suggestion to run theyear-end renters promotion. In fact, themanager <strong>is</strong> the one who told me wh<strong>at</strong>to do and exactly how to accompl<strong>is</strong>h it.Now, if I fire my staff person, she couldturn around and sue me.I am sure other agents were told theexact same thing. I remember a Leaders’Forum where an agent boasted th<strong>at</strong> he“demanded” th<strong>at</strong> each of h<strong>is</strong> staff write50 renters policies th<strong>at</strong> month. Th<strong>at</strong>’show he got there.Initially we were told th<strong>at</strong> as long asthe customer knew they had the policywe would be okay, but now after it’s allsaid and done, I have just been adv<strong>is</strong>edif the customer has no intent to keep thepolicy there could be a problem.It’s really frustr<strong>at</strong>ing to be told to dosomething and then be fired for l<strong>is</strong>teningand obeying your boss.Editor’s response: There are a lot of agentswho implicitly trust their MSLs. Unfortun<strong>at</strong>ely,some of them are unscrupulous.NAPAA has always suggested th<strong>at</strong> agentsbe cautious when dealing with management.Typically, they are in it only to benefitthemselves and have little regard wh<strong>at</strong> happensto the agent.. . . . . . . . . . . . .I was never told you will lose your bookof business if you do not have productioncredit for 6 and 63 (securities licenses).Th<strong>is</strong> <strong>is</strong> a major deception. If they hadtold me th<strong>is</strong>, I would have never invested$500k and lost it all to Allst<strong>at</strong>e.Editor’s response: Thanks for writing. Weagree th<strong>at</strong> Allst<strong>at</strong>e should inform prospectiveagents about th<strong>is</strong> quota. It seems th<strong>at</strong>a lot of agents don’t find out about it untilafter they sign the contract and have alreadyinvested thousands of dollars. We also agreeth<strong>at</strong> the company should be held accountablefor such deception, but of course, litig<strong>at</strong>ioncosts money, and lots of it, especially whenyou’re up against Allst<strong>at</strong>e.. . . . . . . . . . . . .I just received the fall <strong>is</strong>sue of Exclusivefocus.The article and the ad both lookgre<strong>at</strong>! Thanks so much for including Aptela.I’d be happy to also add a link backto your organiz<strong>at</strong>ion or post somethingto our blog to promote your good work.Just let me know how we can continue tobest work together.Thanks again,Jackie FunkDirector of MarketingLetters continued on page 5812 — Exclusivefocus Winter 2009/2010
Are Agency Profits Being Squeezed?Cut agency expenses with the new“Recession Fighter Payroll Program”It’s guaranteed to save you money!For a limited time any Allst<strong>at</strong>e agent may receive thesame gre<strong>at</strong> r<strong>at</strong>e as NAPAA members.Save up to 25% off processing fees when you convert yourpayroll to E-chx by December 31st, 2009.*Charles Parkhurst866-341-3504cparkhurst@e-chx.com*Typical savings when switching from a n<strong>at</strong>ional competitor. A n<strong>at</strong>ional competitor <strong>is</strong> one th<strong>at</strong> has processing centers loc<strong>at</strong>ed in each time zone.Winter 2009/2010 Exclusivefocus — 13
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