Thread regarding State Farm Insurance layoffs

@STq56C9-5men - Amen brother! Start by canning those reckless Execs and bring in accountable people. Those areas have spent too much money and produced zilch. Agents are the only channel right now. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.

Guys, let's get real here for a second. The agent model may or may not be a relic of the past. I'm not here to comment on it one way or another because I think it's totally, completely irrelevant to what's going on right now and it's a total distraction.

Makes me wonder if our feckless executives are posting the anti-agent stuff just to drum up support for eventually sh---canning the agents.

So if agency is irrelevant to what's happening, then what IS relevant you ask? Simple: The executives themselves and their terrible decision making, particularly in claims and in Systems, have absolutely tanked our competitive advantage and our brand. And most of the layoffs can be traced back to the previous failed initiatives of those executives.

So stop hammering on the damned agents and put blame where it lies.

JD Power just released their 2018 Auto Insurance Shopping Study (15,000 participants.) The 3 most important factors, in order, Price, Distribution Channel and Policy Offerings. In terms of distribution an omnichannel experience was critical with digital capability essential. Direct writers had the highest satisfaction, independent agent companies were next with exclusive agent companies bringing up the rear.

SF tied for 17th out of 20.

Texting and email are dinosaurs in 2018 technology! We need to come up with other ways to communicate to customers. Think outside the box! Invent and innovate ! We follow and react. Those options use to work. We now need to lead! We should have claims service through Twitter or a different outlet! Think big picture! The lemonade insurance of the millennial generation is going to really have an impact on State Farm.

Not sure were you have been what do u think State Farm is doing already do texting and e-mail for changes. Online access is here to facilitate changes. Already working social media on recruiting. WONDER why we are laying off the dead wood. Wow

With the ill-informed decision and wreckless 'transition' plans, I truly feel they are bailing water out of the boat trying to keep it afloat. They haven't ever adapted and changed quickly enough and they are continuing to get further and further behind.

@STq56C9-4qar - Great idea to bind coverage or pay claims in seconds. Problem is, we will lose our asses with that type of thinking. Quick doesn't necessarily mean better. Any underwriter will tell you that there is a reason we need to look at the business coming in the door, to make sure it meets our underwriting guidelines. Also, as a proximity rep, I can't tell you how many times I have been sent out on inspections after coverage was affirmed by FCC, only to discover that the loss was not covered. Quick decision, not necessarily the right one. I agree that the company needs to evolve, but make the right decisions, for the right reasons. Don't go making changes because attention spans have become non-existent.

TL/DR: Quick decisions are not always the right ones.

State Farm has a dinosaur approach to Insurance. Word of mouth and face to face sales use to work well! No one wants to take the time to buy anything face to face! We need more ways to streamline the sales process for all policies and banking products. A great way to sell anything to anyone right now is through an App or Facebook! We need to bind insurance apps in seconds and pay some auto claims in seconds. If we don’t change we are going to lose 1.5 million policies this year alone.

Great points! State Farm is (not could be) Blockbuster. The agent model is a relic of the past. State Farm is losing the key Gen Y and Gen Z demographics, doubling down on the agent model while ignoring new tech approaches. Trouble is, they can't evolve at the speed of technology. Nothing in the way of business development moves forward. State Farm is ungovernable.

Well, it certainly seems that State Farm has been successful at "divide and conquer". It's amazing to see the employees turning on the agents here. The agent is the ONLY actual contact the customer has with SF now. Even Claims doesn't talk to the customer anymore. Nope, every letter and every piece of paper that goes out to a customer says "if you have questions, contact your agent". The agent, BTW, has nobody they can contact for that info now. They get no new training or info from anywhere. They're just expected to know everything about every single department in the Company through osmosis.

the shipwreck can be averted by getting rid of their agents. who needs agents? Most are a bunch of over paid, good ol boys.

@STq56C9, You must be a millennial with very limited experience. The agent's and agent model might be the only thing that helps SF survive this next transition if they do intact. The company wants people like you who they can pay less, or independents that have no benefits.

You poor naïve person! You don't get the fact that SF is a huge, unwieldy colossus incapable of doing anything fast. By the time that SF makes a change, it is already years out of date. We are incapable of making the changes you thoughtfully listed, and will eventually fail. There is enough money in reserves to carry us for a while, and we can temporarily buy policyholders by cutting rates, but the end is clear. We are incapable of adapting and will fail. The only question is when...