Allstate Plans Sales Force Expansion in US Midwest, West
April 11, 2014 by Michael Buck
NORTHBROOK, Ill. – Allstate Corp. wants to expand its agency force in several Midwestern and Western U.S. states, building on the company’s trend of growing its sales footprint after years of shrinking.
The company wants to add 67 agencies in seven states, it said in statements. Those new agencies have the potential to create about 206 new jobs, as each new agency is required to have at least two support staff personnel, the company said.
The largest single expansion will come in Colorado, where Allstate wants to add 24 new agency owners. The company wants 14 new agencies in Missouri; nine in Kansas; six each in Nebraska and Iowa; and four each in Montana and Wyoming.
Stephanie Howell, West-Central regional spokesperson for Allstate, said many of the states in her region are showing signs of population growth, which presents opportunity for business. Howell said Colorado has the most agents in Allstate’s West-Central region, and growth in that state is expanding the market. “People want to live here. People want to work here,” she said of Colorado.
This isn’t the first time this year Allstate has said it is looking to recruit new agency owners. Earlier this year, it said it wants to expand in three Midwestern and four Southwest states, with a goal of adding 141 new agencies (Best’s News Service, Jan. 14, 2014). It also wants to add 120 new agencies in Texas.
Adding agencies builds on steam Allstate gained with its sales force numbers in 2013, when its number of U.S. exclusive agencies rose for the first time since 2007. The decline were brought on in part by planned agency consolidations and mergers.
One of the top priorities for Allstate in 2014 is to grow its policies in force count, as it tries to gain some market share. Allstate namesake-branded homeowners business in the fourth quarter reported its policy count was flat from the third quarter, marking the first time in at least the past seven quarters that it did not lose policies in that segment.
Allstate Insurance Group companies currently have a Best’s Financial Strength Rating of A+ (Superior). On the afternoong of April 10, shares of Allstate Corp. (NYSE: ALL) were trading at $55.86, down 0.48% from the previous close.
(By Michael Buck, senior associate editor, BestWeek: Michael.Buck@ambest.com)
