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 Allstate to purchase Esurance and Answer Financial!

 NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Allstate Corp. /quotes/comstock/13*!all/quotes/nls/all ALL -0.46% agreed Wednesday to buy auto insurer Esurance and insurance agency Answer Financial from White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd. /quotes/comstock/13*!wtm/quotes/nls/wtm WTM +13.10% for about $1 billion to expand its online presence.

The acquisition of Esurance gives Allstate, the nation's largest publicly traded home and auto insurer, traction in its fight against Progressive Corp. /quotes/comstock/13*!pgr/quotes/nls/pgr PGR +0.47% and Geico Corp., the two leaders in online car-insurance sales. A growing number of consumers are buying car insurance online instead of turning to their local insurance agents, and Allstate has steadily lost ground to its online rivals in recent years.

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5 Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires

By Kristyn Kusek Lewis

They’re just like you. But with lots of money.

When you think “millionaire,” what image comes to mind? For many of us, it’s a flashy Wall Street banker type who flies a private jet, collects cars and lives the kind of decadent lifestyle that would make Donald Trump proud. 

But many modern millionaires live in middle-class neighborhoods, work full-time and shop in discount stores like the rest of us. What motivates them isn’t material possessions but the choices that money can bring: “For the rich, it’s not about getting more stuff. It’s about having the freedom to make almost any decision you want,” says T. Harv Eker, author of Secrets of the Millionaire Mind. Wealth means you can send your child to any school or quit a job you don’t like.

According to the Spectrem Wealth Study, an annual survey of America’s wealthy, there are more people living the good life than ever before—the number of millionaires nearly doubled in the last decade. And the rich are getting richer. To make it onto the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans, a mere billionaire no longer makes the cut. This year you needed a net worth of at least $1.3 billion.

If more people are getting richer than ever, why shouldn’t you be one of them? Here, five people who have at least a million dollars in liquid assets share the secrets that helped them get there.

1. Set your sights on where you’re going

Twenty years ago, Jeff Harris hardly seemed on the road to wealth. He was a college dropout who struggled to support his wife, DeAnn, and three kids, working as a grocery store clerk and at a junkyard where he melted scrap metal alongside convicts. “At times we were so broke that we washed our clothes in the bathtub because we couldn’t afford the Laundromat.” Now he’s a 49-year-old investment advisor and multimillionaire in York, South Carolina.

There was one big reason Jeff pulled ahead of the pack: He always knew he’d be rich. The reality is that 80 percent of Americans worth at least $5 million grew up in middle-class or lesser households, just like Jeff.

Wanting to be wealthy is a crucial first step. Says Eker, “The biggest obstacle to wealth is fear. People are afraid to think big, but if you think small, you’ll only achieve small things.” 

It all started for Jeff when he met a stockbroker at a Christmas party. “Talking to him, it felt like discovering fire,” he says. “I started reading books about investing during my breaks at the grocery store, and I began putting $25 a month in a mutual fund.” Next he taught a class at a local community college on investing. His students became his first clients, which led to his investment practice. “There were lots of struggles,” says Jeff, “but what got me through it was believing with all my heart that I would succeed.”

2. Educate yourself

When Steve Maxwell graduated from college, he had an engineering degree and a high-tech job—but he couldn’t balance his checkbook. “I took one finance class in college but dropped it to go on a ski trip,” says the 45-year-old father of three, who lives in Windsor, Colorado. “I actually had to go to my bank and ask them to teach me how to read my statement.”

One of the biggest obstacles to making money is not understanding it: Thousands of us avoid investing because we just don’t get it. But to make money, you must be financially literate. “It bothered me that I didn’t understand this stuff,” says Steve, “so I read books and magazines about money management and investing, and I asked every financial whiz I knew to explain things to me.”

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Readers Digest Magazine Article

 Allstate to agents: Bulk up

Allstate Corp. is setting ambitious new revenue standards for its massive salesforce, sparking agent fears that a large-scale culling of their ranks is beginning.

The Northbrook-based insurance giant, addressing marketshare losses to online insurers such as Geico Corp. as well as lagging customer satisfaction, in recent months has set a new expectation that Allstate agencies have at least $4 million in annual premiums and 4,000 policies within the next three to five years, according to internal company communications obtained by Crain's.

With more than 14,000 agents in the U.S. who generated $27 billion in 2008 premiums and deposits, that $4-million standard is more than double Allstate's current average premium per agency of $1.9 million. It's also 60% higher than the $2.5-million average per agent at the country's largest auto and home insurer, Bloomington-based State Farm Insurance Cos., which has more than 17,000 agents.

No one forecasts that Allstate, whose premiums have been essentially flat in recent years, will double them in the next five years. So the agent initiative — dubbed the "ideal agency model" by the company — is likely to slash the number of agents.

"The agents are fearful their jobs are at stake," says Jim Fish, a former Allstate agent and executive director of the National Assn. of Professional Allstate Agents Inc. in Gulfport, Miss., a group representing more than 1,000 agents that has criticized the company over its treatment of its salesforce. "From the numbers, it appears as though the company wants to reduce the size of the agency force substantially."

Some agents privately say they think this will be Allstate's biggest agent initiative since the late 1990s, when former CEO Edward Liddy forced employee reps to become independent contractors, a move that provoked a flurry of lawsuits.

An Allstate spokeswoman declines to comment other than to provide a statement: "Our goal is to help Allstate agencies grow and succeed by giving them the incentives and tools to provide superior customer service."

Allstate appears to be betting that larger, better-staffed agencies — albeit fewer of them — will provide better service to customers and keep them from straying to competitors despite rates that generally are higher than its rivals'. Larger agencies also could be better able to provide service to the growing number of U.S. consumers who prefer to buy insurance directly from insurer Web sites rather than agents, a trend analysts expect will persist.

"It is strikingly impressive that the company has so many feet in the street selling the Allstate brand," says Gregory Peters, an analyst at Raymond James & Associates Inc. in Chicago who has a strong "buy" rating on Allstate stock. "But the reality is some of those people are coasting. . . . They're just drawing a renewal check."

"(Allstate) is trying to consolidate them," Mr. Peters says.

Allstate has suffered as the economy has tanked, spurring more consumers to shop for cheaper policies. Its number of auto policies has declined for six straight quarters, while those of Maryland-based Geico, Ohio-based Progressive Corp. and even State Farm, which pursues the same agent-led sales model as Allstate, have risen.

In Illinois, Allstate's auto-liability insurance revenue fell last year for the first time this decade, dropping 3.6% to $338 million, according to data filed with the Illinois Department of Insurance. Geico's, by contrast, rose by 15%, and State Farm's increased 2%.

"We cannot make just incremental progress, we need dramatic change," wrote Joe Richardson, Allstate's senior vice-president for sales and customer service, in an August note to agents. "Regardless of how we measure it, our customer loyalty is below average."

Allstate is betting improved customer service, and better integration of its Web site and call-center operations with its agents, will lure more customers despite its higher prices. Its refusal to match rivals' past rate cuts has made its auto insurance business the most profitable of the four biggest players in the business.

But some analysts believe Allstate will find it tough to reverse its marketshare slide in auto, by far its biggest business, accounting for nearly 60% of revenue last year.

Sales of auto insurance online or over the phone accounted for 24% of total sales in 2007 vs. 17% a decade earlier, New York-based Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analyst Christopher Neczypor noted in a Sept. 11 report. "Captive agents appear to be at the biggest disadvantage. Allstate is thus losing share in personal auto, a trend that may accelerate as consumer shopping remains elevated," he wrote.

He slapped a "sell" rating on Allstate stock, which has more than doubled since March — it closed at $29.23 on Friday — on improved investment results.

©2009 by Crain Communications Inc.

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Free Prospects - Part 2 

In the last newsletter we told you the best 5 places to locate free prospects.

Today we are going to look at some of the best ways to get free prospects.  

 We will look at two in particular: 1. Facebook 2. Blogs - Google  

Facebook: If you don’t have a business facebook page, Shame on you! If you are with one of the companies that frowns on you having a business page, Shame on them!  

You will have to use a personal facebook page and keep it within compliance by not mentioning your company or using facebook to market what you do. It will not be a problem if you do what I am about to suggest since you are utilizing your clients facebook to get your story out.  

 I am limited on space so here it is in a nutshell:  

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Free Prospects Part 1

The best 5 places to find them!

1. Non Profits
2. Associations
3. Niche Markets
4. Business Owner groups
5. Customer Emergency Contacts

FTC Issues Final Telemarketing Sales Rule Amendments Regarding Prerecorded Calls

Rule Will Halt Prerecorded Sales Calls Unless the Seller Obtains Consumer’s Permission

Customers using  Voice Broadcast for solicitation/outbound lead gen MUST ENSURE data lists are Opt-In to receive pre-recorded voice from the particular company in the form of written consent, including the person’s phone number and signature.   The written consent must be specific to agreeing to receive pre-recorded voice calls from the particular company. 

Written consent obtained in compliance with E–SIGN will satisfy the requirements of the law.  For example, agreements obtained via an email or website form, telephone keypress, or voice recording.  Any agreement obtained pursuant to E–SIGN must be sufficient to show that the consumer:

(1) received clear and conspicuous disclosure of the consequences of providing the requested consent — i.e., that the consumer will receive future calls that deliver prerecorded messages—and

(2) having received this information, agrees unambiguously to receive such calls at a telephone number the consumer designates.

Click here to finish reading the exact FTC wording on this new rule 

Message to Allstate Agents; Will the PSA model work?

The PSA model will work for you if. . .
1. You have good money management skills – PSA agents will be expected to have a set amount of licensed producers per PIF, multiple locations they own and operate, as well as money for marketing and prospecting. There are many of you out there that are already hemorrhaging cash to run one agency, what happens when you own three?

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3 Free business marketing tips that really work

I am often asked, “What is the real benefit in working with a Business Mentoring firm?” My answer is always the same:  Good Mentors and consultants work with so many clients on such a variety of topics, concerns, visions and resources that we walk away with a prospective that a business owner in one marketplace rarely if ever has an opportunity to experience.

 I am a marketing expert not because of what I know, but because of what I know that works!

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How to create and manage an x-date

An X-date is an important tool in an insurance agency. This article will give you the actual steps to creating and managing an x-date

1. Step 1

   Identify a prospect or current customer’s renewal date on their current insurance policy. If they have multiple policies, use the policy date that is closest to the current date and set your follow-up date at 45- 60 days prior to renewal.

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P/C Industry Posts $1.3B Loss in Q1; Combined Ratio Up to 102.2

Now is the time to stick with what works, not gimmicks!

The only way out of this as an agent is to increase your total prospect database, while maintaining and deepening the current client relationships you have in place. That is why it is important that you participate in tools like Social Media such as face book, Linked in, Plaxo, Twitter etc., as well as communicating true value to your customers through processes such as “customer policy reviews”, “policy weakness conversations”, and “how can I serve you better contacts”.

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