REMEMBER! It's all about me....take care of yourself.....It's a business decision ....... we've all heard it! They will soon pay the devil his dues for short term profit gain. Scary days are coming. Be ready.
55 replies (most recent on top)
@9oja.....More stress! That's a lie!
We have all been trained to wait until Wednesday of each week when you roll out your “new” master plan. Truth is we don’t really buy into any of the corporate vision any longer as you are so far out of touch with reality that our fall to mediocrity is all but guaranteed. The infighting is a direct result of a serious lack of leadership. We are not the greatest any longer, have not been for some time and most likely will not be again. We are still one of the better insurance companies but far from the best, how far do we fall? Depends on how quickly we can get the hubs staffed and running smoothly, I am not optimistic about this as we shed our tenured folks both local and in the op centers to transition to basically a call center where no one takes ownership of anything. Most of us are just crossing days off the calendar to get to our finish line. SF was were we all wanted our kids to work, anyone recommending this place to friends and family now? Me neither.
It's nice to see agents and employees fighting over why the company is going to sh– when in reality it is my master plan that is causing all of the issues.
@9wai.....are you even awake? There are/were thousands of agents who started in Claims. They gave up the stress and secure income for even more stress and the opportunity to either make better income or go bankrupt and start all over.
And to add to the last post.
They ALREADY tried the allow staffing levels in 2018 and it didn’t work!!!
Customer wait times were over an hour!!!
TIPPY -Stop f—ing with our EIP!!!!! You and your goons are the only one to blame for failure.
They need to combine ILR and EXPRESS and CUT the hundreds of incompetent claim associates and cut the front line managers that give those id–t CA’s the “toss the work around” mentality.
SF needs to stop highering CS’s from the outside. They are choosing people with NO claim history for what’s considered to be a professional role.
That Chinese claim executive is going to lose his job in 2021. There WILL be a customer service crisis first quarter this year.
You can not shrink the current staffing level (already understaffed) and increase expectations then expect the customer to be in a good position.
State Farm needs a complete revamp from the VP level up.
NONE OF THE AGENTS would last in claims! All of them say it's the hardest job in the company. Agents are politicians. Full of ......
Your phone can’t make outgoing calls? Because the rest of it’s accurate.
7iqs. That's a lie and you know it.
I know you mr “ my agent never spends time with me “ you are the guy I call 4 times a year to request to meet with and send
Monthly letters to, but refuse to meet with your agent because you are afraid god forbid the “ premium boy” might try to offer you another product based on need. So when a guy like you dies uninsured or has an uncovered loss because of lack of coverage I don’t lose a seconds sleep over you. You realize your phone is capable of outgoing calls also right?
This claims department is awful ;caused us to lose eight customers due to the service. Telling customers wrong information. No responsiveness. No wonder jd power has us ranked BELOW INDUSTRY AVERAGE in the most recent property claim review and at average for auto. But our net worth keeps growing, right? #executivebonus #highfiveson12thFloor
The reason SF is collapsing is directly related to its corporate ethics and morals. Nuf said.
SF Collapsing...
I have a home and auto in one state and a home and 2 autos with PLUP in another state. I hear from both agents annually. You are paying for service if it is not satisfactory get a new agent.
Was it 50 years or 44? Better refer to your notes sparky.
If Agents think Auto Injury CAs are bad now, wait until Corporate replaces us effected by the LOCs closing with Express employees.
You both are right ... and wrong. Agency calls in to claims because CS slack aren't communicating with insureds or returning calls. Agency calls in wanting to force Rental coverage because they fuqed up and didn't include R coverage on new policy. When it comes to handling claims there are agents who don't know their a$$ from a hole in the ground and there are those who worked their way up from EXP and AILR. This fighting is exactly what corporate wants because they think it makes the workforce hungry and aggressive when in reality it is just layers upon layers of management scared by an original thought.
3 vehicles, a home, and an umbrella policy fo me and not one contact in 50 years to review policy. No wonder 'the premium boy' can hit birdies. Cut rates reduce commission.....makes sense to me.
@5xir....You’re absolute cluelessness shows when you refer to agents’ “ salary”.
Agent has not called you in 44 years? That’s because there is not much commission to be made on a 26 year old Chevy citation with minimum limits liability only and a 10,000 coverage level renters policy. We have to concentrate on the clients that make us money.
Just a bit, but it’s ok, it’s legal here. It also makes tolerating jags like you much, much easier.
@6wrl+18yfUlPS you're wasted right now aren't you?
Living rent free in your head, awsome.
Hey, hey, hey, you guys bring me luck, birdie on the first hole, it’s going to be an awesome day. I love my job.
Decent, hardworking, etc.....another agent sales job not telling the truth. They're never in their office. For 44 years as a state farm customer NOT ONE TIME has my agent called me and asked to go over my business. Hardworking? Really! Blood s—ing premium boys. Don't buy their overrated salesman garbage.
BS....then pay the staff the agents salary. They're all overpaid, includes operations. Cut the fat! Focus on the customer. Bye bye fat!
A lot of operations people should be fired. So much incompetence in claims, support, and underwriting. Some tenured folks have pride in their job, and are helpful, but we see bad experiences in customers with claims, such as money sent incorrectly to ph, claims filed on wrong policies, etc. Call three times, get three different answers in underwriting. Ccc misquotes policies, sometimes I think just to get the sale. It lapses off which is why the lapse rate is so high compared to agent channel. they look like expense geniuses up there because they shifted the expense to the agent office with loooooonnnnggg hold times, and agents subsidize the corporate marketing thru agent tag media program. And the whole agents playing golf grievance. Who cares? Most are adequately staffed to take care of customer needs . This is a business. That is why staff are hired.
Yep! Useless agents! They're never in their office and out playing golf and screwing off while the poor operations people (considered claim scum, minions and kids) are working their tails off trying to meet unreasonable metrics to keep the promises "the almighty" agents make. It is absolutely disgusting what they think of operations people behind closed doors. Get ready is right! No normal person in their right mind would take the abuse.
Looks like another ops person unable to make the agency competency interview cut. It’s gotta be tough.
“Useless Agents” are the ONLY thing keeping this foundering ship afloat. Your uninformed BS is evidence of your ignorance.
Ha Ha winner winner...obviously struck a nerve! Good luck fellas....wish you the best!
Exactly, he you painted all agents as unfaithful dirtbags he lost all credibility. I am no boyscout but by and large most agents are. The one you see adding discounts, gaming the system ect, from what I see are 05 contract agents just trying to hit their numbers to survive, a direct result of the shtty contract they are saddled with. Frankly his blowhard know it all attitude is a dead giveaway that he does not have a clue what he is talking about. Now we will wait for his next chapter.
Another cubical cop frustrated and miserable. Agents will continue to be the foundation and driving force in growth for State Farm well into the future. Buyouts could be coming and more larger agency with multiple MOA’s.
Anybody that makes decisions and knows what’s going to happen certainly isn’t on this site. The operations side needed a overhaul, we had to many people trying to look busy. Sales Leaders AFS’s and VPA’s probably are going to be on the endangered list shortly.
There are more marital indiscretions at the enterprise level. If walls could talk. For unlawful carnal knowledge.
I said 12-14% you say 10-11%..... I stand corrected on that 1-2% on the avg...commission... you caught me..god bless! Yes the bonus is/was a joke! I think the point is made. Back to the point of this post was "Get Ready"....agents are useless and have just dragged the company down over the last several decades. Operations did also have a lot of dead weight, but what we replaced them with was actually worse if that is even possible. Agents-My continued interactions with them are they usually cause more problems then they ever solve. Most are sleezy, messing around on their wives/husbands, and right above or below a used car salesman. Putting on discounts, gold, silver, bronze, packages....S— on this swab and sign here! Manipulating prior insurance, household members, CRIs, kick back to the mortgage brokers , real estate agents, and title loan places and coaching insureds on claims. Forget reviewing their book and interaction with policyholders. I wanted no part of it and not selling my soul. Average agency compensation is around $380,000 a year...some less and some in the millions. It can completely be done without them and a lot of employees are going to be cut too. Ed should have done it in 2000 but didn't have the stomach from what I was told. MT does and is going too....people just have to get ready. Glad you have your house in order and so do I. I took advantage, created other income streams and will get a pretty decent pension when I decide to bolt. At the end of the day SF is a very poorly run company and a lot people are really going to suffer because of it...regardless of where they are at in the food chain. Time does tell and neither you or I can do anything about what SF is going to do. It will either live or die.....but history is against us..agent and employee!
Man, you like to blow it like you know it, you don’t. Average across all contracts and you might average 10-11%, maybe. Are there agents hitting the percentages you throw out? Yes but they are the exception. Scorecard bonus you say? That was a carrot the company paraded out to entice agents to change to the 97 contract, the company has fked with the formula every year since and what started as a 50-100k bonus has gone down every year since, not even worth chasing at this point. I certainly agree with your alternative income stream of reliable income, I took the path of real estate, company considers it passive activity so they don fk with you over outside activity. I make close to 3 time my SF income on that. I prefer the self storage segment. I also agree the co will tweak the contract at some point, I don’t think they can do it in the next few years, no one to pick up the slack. Happy Holidays to all.
Hmmm, well I stand behind what I posted if you have different figures/percentages or facts please post them. If it has changed by a percent or two since the last time I looked then fair enough, and I'm more than happy to learn new information since the last time I looked at those stats. Obviously I have spent a lot of years on both sides of the fence...very familiar with the 97 and 05! I opted in and got my 6/63, mortgage broker license, wrote that Phoenix c-ap before we ran them into the ground! Laughed the first time I did a 401k rollover and got a couple hundred bucks and my Edward Jones buddy down the street was getting thousands for the same thing and retired at 45 with all the trailing commissions! Loved that $125 for a mortgage when brokers were getting 1-2% commissions! Woo hooo $50 for credit card and auto loan!!! Loved spending thousands for sending out all those mailers/bundles to useless addresses! Was even more fun with all the return mail! But with all that said, yes agent's clean up a lot messes from claims, SFPP and U/W but in the scope of the millions of transactions a day it is minuscule. For every 1 agent that solves those problems and get's involved there are 10 that don't. You see it....the folks that are engaged in meetings and the ones you only see at the yearly compliance/mandatory meetings! If you are an agent you already know the world on the street for agent's on out 100th anniversary. I feel for agents...its hard work but it is no future for SF or any other organization. A retail store front in today's and future world will be about useless except for the few select few, and agent's know this and the smart ones have alternate income and really care less about SF as agency was away to raise capital for real business ventures that have sustainable income/cash flow. Sorry it is nothing personal, the employees have been getting shafted for the last decade and it is only going to get worse for everyone. As far as you keep saying being impressed with myself.....just kind of pointless and really doesn't make a lot of sense. I post what I position..agree or disagree your choice but I know what I know and share it because I want people to make somewhat of an informed decision. I don't have all the answers but sharing what I do know is not a self absorbed activity!
Again, you’re awfully impressed with yourself, but your agent contract knowledge seems embellished at best. Agency 2000 were on the true AA97. I’m one of them. You’re talking about agents a few years younger than me being on the old 15%contract. They would have had to start in their mid twenties at the latest. I don’t know how people survive on the AA05. The truth is a lot of them don’t. And while they would have you believe agents do very little service anymore, the customers expect very differently. We end up re-doing all kinds of service and claims work that State Farm would have you believe they are handling. As for marketing, we all just went through the annual meetings with management where we had to lay out our spending for them. They are not small numbers. But we can only use their materials and their vendors now. We can’t even work local community awards into an ad. It’s crazy.
Actually you are not correct, sorry. There are actually 5 contracts out there but the one that is referred to as the old 15% contract still represents about 20% of our agency work force with an average age of 54 years old. The new contract (as it is called that started with Agency 2000) starts off at 8% and if you hit your scorecard/growth metrics you can get up to a 16% renewal commission with a bonus that the old contract agents are not eligible for. Most agent are usually between 12-14% on renewal commissions! The agent does basically no servicing or expense savings for the company these days. Agent comp was also designed for the agent's to market but the company has taken that over for the most part into the tune of billions in national/local marketing with no reduction in agency comp/commission or bonuses. Agents rarely take or report claims and they enter information that is sent to auto/fire/life underwriting and they process the work. Yes that takes some time/expense but regardless what column you put it in, agent comp is still money spent and on what it is spent on is of no consequence from an SF expense standpoint. Eliminate the agent, you mostly eliminate that redundant expense or any overlap with operations. Why State Farm's combined ratio is on average .20 cents on the dollar higher than Geico or Progressive. 92% vs. 107%... because we are still behind. Automation is going to eliminate most of the remaining service agent's do these days (and U/W) hence why they are going to get it pretty soon too! The omni-channel distribution model will expose the useless exclusive agent model. Progressive and Geico basically use agents but with independents that receive little to no servicing/renewal commissions and get bigger acquisition bonuses and could care less about the agent as long as they sells a policy. Apple sells iPhones through almost all retail distribution channels. If they just went to say.... an AT&T only in store exclusive distribution model they would be out of business probably in 5 years! Even car dealers now sell multiple manufacturers under the same umbrella and are focusing on on-line sales! Heck will subleased one of our buildings in Arizona to Carvana...that might be a hint SF..ha ha! Cheers!
You’re awfully impressed with yourself. 15% for agents? Nobody’s received a contract like that in 25 years. There are very few of those folks left. In any case, 50% or more of the money that goes to agents is actually spent by the agents....to pay for offices and staff to do State Farm’s work. I would be surprised if agents don’t employ more people than State Farm does at this point.