Allstate Says Agent Satisfaction Grows

By Mark E. Ruquet

NU Online News Service, Jan. 11, 2:50 p.m. EDT?Allstate, which has a recent history of conflict and dissatisfaction within its agent force, said a new internal survey found 80 percent of its agents are satisfied with the company.[@@]

In a survey of exclusive agents conducted over the Internet, Allstate said that 93 percent of the respondents are proud to represent Allstate, while 80 percent said they are happy with the relationship they have with Allstate. Non-exclusive independent agents were not in the survey.

The results are notable for a company that went through a seismic shift in 1999 when it uprooted its employee captive agents and turned them into independent exclusive agents. The move prompted some to sue the company.

As a result of their complaints December of 2001, the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission filed a suit against the company alleging it engaged in age discrimination against 6,400 agents. The EEOC's action stemmed from a complaint filed by 300 agents against the company charging age discrimination related to the reorganization. In October of 2004, the EEOC filed a class action bias suit against the company. Neither has been settled.

The company has also battled with its agents' association, which has heard calls from some agents to unionize. There have also been private actions by agents against the company.

For Ronald D. McNeil, senior vice president, protection distribution for the Northbrook, Ill.-based insurer, the survey results are a positive. He said 70 percent of the 12,900 exclusive agents took the survey compared to 26 percent in 2002.

Independent contractors "are very busy people," he said. "For them to take the time out to take the survey is first and foremost huge."

What is important, noted Mr. McNeil, is that with over 70 percent of the agents taking the survey, it gives increased credibility to the results and underscores the company's desire to use the results as a tool to ensure it is going in the right direction.

The company, Mr. McNeil said, has received more than 11,000 comments, which are submitted anonymously. The comments and survey are the agents' way to communicate with management, and the growing number of participants indicates that they see this yearly exercise as a "credible" way to communicate, according to Mr. McNeil.

Mr. McNeil said the responses show a lot of enthusiasm among the agents who are "excited and encouraged by where we are."

"They see us going in the right direction," he observed.

But it is not just getting numbers of responses, he added. The survey, he said, is also a tool for the company to make sure that the direction it has taken is the correct one and that it is communicating properly with its exclusive agents.

Where the company sees a less than 70 percent satisfaction rate, it works to take action, which could mean changing direction, or discovering it is not getting its message across?but it takes action, said Mr. McNeil.

One area the company has found it will need to examine is its call center. The survey showed the satisfaction range fell in the less than 60 percent range for a group of questions asked. There is also a marketing tool called Impact, which has not received stellar reviews and needs looking at, Mr. McNeil noted.

He said that some time in the future, Allstate is looking to enlarge this communication tool to its independent agent branch, Encompass, seeking the same sort of feedback.

But the overall impact of the survey, said Mr. McNeil, is to make sure the company is "in lockstep" with its exclusive agents and all are working toward the same goal of service and profitability.

"We will never see 100 percent, but when the vast majority of agents are talking to you, it's a wonderful thing."