Articles:

This issue of Vision magazine is dedicated to you, the Exclusive Agents, Unit Managers, and Branch Managers of United American. Because of your hard work, United American is consistently ranked one of the top supplemental insurance companies in the United States. 

Aristotle said, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.” The people featured in this issue have achieved success by making excellence their habit. They have set goals and achieved them through commitment and desire. This excellence is acknowledged, not only by Management, but also by the Home Office staff and the policyholders themselves. One customer writes:

The Summer 2001 issue of Gallup Management Journal discusses the idea of “The Constant Customer.” In today’s challenging marketplace, customer loyalty has become a hot topic. What Gallup and other market researchers are discovering is that customer loyalty depends less on price and even product than it does emotion. In the article Frederik Broden comments on his favorite coffee shop, “It is not just that I know I will get a good value and pleasant experience every time I am there. I trust the staff with my time, my money, and my friends.” In other words, prolonged consumer loyalty requires much more than mere customer satisfaction. People remain loyal to companies which earn both their trust and affection.

United American is in an unique position to earn customer affection due to the very nature of our business. People depend on us in emotional times, and this emotional bonding enables us to tap into a client’s affection in a way that shoe manufacturers or widget pushers are harder pressed to do. The very nature of our business allows us to build customer loyalty, which is often passed from mother to daughter, or husband to wife as evidenced in the aforeprinted letter. In fact, Frederick F. Reichheld, author of The Loyalty Effect: The Hidden Force Behind Growth, found that “making loyalists out of just 5% more customers would lead, on average, to an increase in profit per customer of between 25% and 100%.” Great service pays great dividends.

All of this underscores the absolute importance of the Agent. It is the Agent who is able to build personal, reliable relationships with clients which in turn create consumer loyalty. Agents committed to excellence are the absolute cornerstone of UA; they are good for the Company and the policyholder and contribute greatly to their own personal affluence. Their efforts never can be over-acknowledged or over-appreciated.

In this issue of Vision, we recognize the very best of United American. The individuals on the following pages make all of our successes possible. They are not only good salespeople and managers, but they connect with their customers through exceptional service to create lasting relationships. For those of you aspiring to be featured on these pages, any successful Agent will tell you to just keep trying...before you know it, your picture will be among the Top Producers or President’s Club. As additional incentive, the new Divisional Contest location is announced on page 4. Lastly, beginning with this issue three outstanding members of T.E.A.M. UA will be recognized on this page each month. On behalf of the Home Office staff and our policyholders, we would like to thank each and every one of you, our exceptional Agents, Unit Managers, and Branch Managers, for your unique contribution to UA. This issue is just a small token of our much greater appreciation.