There is this silly dillusion in SF Systems, that digital is more than a required commodity. Yes an insurance company needs a functional digital app these days because all customers under 50, expect it, but NO ONE is making their purchasing decision based on one web-app versus a competitors, you just need to have one. As long as you can manage claims, manage policies, pay bill,...its covered. Price price price is the differentiator. When SF chooses to attach every online policy purchase to an Agent, agent gets his commission for doing nothing, and that is why my quote for a 4 car family is 36% higher at SF versus gieco. Also when i get quotes online i dont want Rick McLeans office calling within 15 minutes! I used the online channel to avoid that. When will SF surrender their old out-dated agency model for the digital world..? Tipsord had a video on the intranet homepage in June defending the agency model by saying 90% of revenue comes through Agency. What a strawman argument! That is only true because you force all online new policies through an agent!!! What a hayseed.
6 replies (most recent on top)
I'm pretty sure the person dismissing the OP is Fawad...
When I was there, the agents ran State Farm. They were considered "the lifeblood of the company". Probably still true today. Management can't rein them in. First, they would be throwing 18,000 people out on the street. State Farm is super sensitive to negative media. Second, they would be admitting that everything they said regarding strategy over the past several years isn't working. Their egos are too big for that. Third, the agent agreement might have language that requires the company to provide concessions. Multiple that by 18,000. Yikes!
Digital could be a differentiator, but we’re so far away from matching our competitors that it is irrelevant. We need parity before we can talk about differentiating benefit.
To the last post:
I'm not the OP, but you might want to articulate a cogent counter-argument rather than a blanket dismissal. Much of what he said seems legit to me.
It is apparent how clueless you, the OP, are.
All I know is that I lost my job because our leadership can't manage their way out of a paper sack. Tipsord's strawman argument about the value of agency is a perfect example.
The new State Farm is going to be even more inept than the old one. That's why I'm dropping all my State Farm policies ASAP.