The insurer’s chief exec seeks to purchase more independent agencies to build on newly acquired business.
According to Chief Executive Office Tom Wilson, the insurance company is seeking more Allstate independent agents, according to a recent Reuters report.
The plan is to build on the business the insurer acquired when it took on National General.
That said, the Allstate independent agents the insurance company is seeking are those who will be able to hold in depth discussions with customers. The plan isn’t simply to hire people for data entry to generate a quote through a computer, explained Wilson in the Reuters report on the Reuters Future of Insurance U.S.A. 2021 conference.
“There’s no future in that – no need for a human modem anymore,” explained the CEO. Instead, the insurance company is aiming to provide its agents with usable customer data through the computer, in order to make it possible to hold “a real conversation.” He underscored the importance of holding an actual discussion that allows the agents and customers to work together to find the perfect fit. “‘What about your 16-year-old? Is your son or daughter at college actually driving the car?’ You can have a different kind of conversation. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
This strategy for Allstate independent agents takes a sharp turn from the company’s recent direction.
Over the last year, the insurance company had been heavily focused on accelerating their “digital transformation” in response to the needs to allow people to work from home during the pandemic, while consumers increasingly turned to online resources to interact with their insurers.
Earlier in 2021, the insurer sold off its life and annuity businesses. Nearly simultaneously, it acquired National General Holdings Corp. This made it possible for the insurer to significantly increase its agent network selling from a spectrum of providers, even as Allstate’s own phone and web-based sales revealed considerable growth.
Now, to continue this growth trend and move with the acquisitions made with the purchase of National General, the insurer is moving to bring in more Allstate independent agents to complement the digital resources it has rolled out over recent months.
