I recently came back from the Midwest Collision Industry Forum held in Columbia, Mo., and a recurring frustration among repairers was reinforced to me during the session in which Chris Andreoli, corporate PD process manager of Progressive Insurance, talked about his desire to improve relations between repairers and Progressive.
First of all, let me say that Andreoli gained my respect and many others' by showing up at the meeting to field questions from repairers, many of whom expressed immense frustration with Progressive. Bob Smith, representative for the Missouri Collision Coalition (AASP of Missouri, ASA MOKAN and SCRS MOKAN) jokingly posted a "No Weapons Allowed" sign on the door, and Andreoli also joked that he was a marked man. Andreoli showed much courage and, more importantly, a sincere desire to improve Progressive's reputation in doing business with repairers. He is well aware that Progressive routinely ranks near the bottom in shop surveys and is intent on improving that ranking.
However, despite Andreoli telling the audience what Progresssive's corporate policies and procedures are, repairers time and time again stood up to refute those policies and cite examples of how they're not being followed by field personnel.
Insurance field personnel making their own rules is nothing new to repairers, and Progressive isn't the only one guilty here. How many times have we heard about an industrious field agent all of a sudden declaring that "we don't pay for that procedure" when repairers before had no problem getting compensated for it? It gets to the corporate heads, and they profess to know nothing about it. Repairers often tell me their theory is that the agent is looking to make a name for himself or herself, or trying to impress his or her boss, and is often rewarded for doing so.
The bottom line is that these highly touted policies aren't effectively getting from the corporate heads to the field personnel. Either it's lip service or just a pathetic breakdown of communication. And if the corporate heads are saying one thing but incentivizing employees to do another, then their sincerity and credibility goes out the window.
Andreoli had no real answer for repairers who were telling him how things really go when they deal with Progressive field reps, only to say that Progressive has defined business practices and, if they're not being followed, those reps will be communicated with.
Maybe the responsibility lies with local management. Maybe some of these insurance companies are so big they can't possible babysit or manage their people well. Or maybe they just turn a blind eye to it. The reality is that even though every insurance company says it doesn't steer, we all know they do, and that in and of itself makes us suspect of them. Actions speak louder than words.
If Progressive really wants to mend its relationship with repairers, more effective communication needs to happen between the top officers and the field reps. Right now, Andreoli is saying one thing and repairers are experiencing another. His efforts are commendable, but Progressive has a long road ahead of it...