Media room
March 9, 2004
Assurant Employee Benefits honors top achievers
National awards cite excellence in sales and customer service by individuals and teams
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Assurant Employee Benefits – formerly Fortis Benefits – has announced its prestigious national awards for top sales and customer service performance in 2003. The awards recognize sales success achieved through the winners' commitment to crafting creative employee benefit solutions that meet the unique needs of employers and brokers.
“Our top performers succeed through expertise, not salesmanship. It's the difference between just selling insurance policies, and serving as a consultant to help employers solve problems and explore new possibilities,” said Chris Calos, senior vice president for distribution. “It's that approach that sets Assurant Employee Benefits apart, and it is the mastery of that approach, and the expertise needed to implement it, that sets these top performers apart.”
Award winners include:
President's Award – Chris Brno, sales manager of the Orange County, Calif., sales office, is the 2003 President's Award winner. The President's Award is given to an individual who achieves outstanding sales success and demonstrates exemplary professionalism through participation in special projects, continuing education and sales management.
Brno submitted more than $3.7 million in new business premium for the year. He also won the Product Line Solution Award in the True Group Disability category, and was named to the President's Circle for achieving 155 percent of his annual sales goal.
Rookie of the Year – George Sherwood of the Portland, Ore., sales office has been named the 2003 Rookie of the Year Award winner. In his first year of employment in insurance sales, Sherwood submitted more than $1.2 million in new business premium.
Product Line Solution Awards
Product Line Solutions Awards are presented to sales representatives with outstanding success in providing consultative solutions to brokers and employers.
These awards are presented in two categories: Voluntary sales and True Group sales. Voluntary products are sold to employees via payroll deduction. True Group products are sold to companies that provide them to employees as part of a compensation package. Awards are based on the total amount of new business submitted.
Voluntary Prepaid Dental Solutions – Joe Jansen, Dallas, Texas Group Sales Office.
Voluntary Dental Solutions – Larry Meitl, Seattle, Wash./Portland, Ore. Group Sales Office.
Voluntary Disability and Life Solutions – Mark Willis, Dallas, Texas Group Sales Office.
True Group Life Solutions – Terry Boggs, Cincinnati, Ohio Group Sales Office.
True Group Dental Solutions – Shannon Norton, San Francisco, Calif. Group Sales Office.
True Group Disability Solutions – Chris Brno, Orange County, Calif. Group Sales Office.
Office of the Year Awards
The Office of the Year Awards honor outstanding teamwork among all members of the staff. Assurant Employee Benefits classifies sales offices into three divisions by volume. One office in each division is chosen to receive the Office of the Year Award.
Office of the Year Award winners are the Seattle, Wash. and Portland, Ore. Group Sales Offices, Boston Group Sales Office and Milwaukee Group Sales Office.
Assurant Employee Benefits -- The Benefits Solutions PeopleSM -- specializes in non-medical employee benefits. Assurant Employee Benefits provides long-term and short-term disability, life and accidental death and dismemberment coverage, dental insurance, employee absence management services and disability reinsurance management services. Assurant Employee Benefits also offers voluntary (employee-paid) disability, life and dental plans. Underwriting flexibility allows Assurant Employee Benefits to develop tailor-made benefit plans for groups of any size.
Assurant Employee Benefits is part of Assurant, a premier provider of specialized insurance products and related services in North America and selected other markets. Its four key business units -- Assurant Employee Benefits; Assurant Health; Assurant Preneed; and Assurant Solutions -- have partnered with clients who are leaders in their industries and have built leadership positions in a number of specialty insurance market segments in the U.S. and selected international markets.
Assurant is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AIZ. The Assurant Web site is www.assurant.com.
For more information contact:
Jama Akers or John Martellaro
Corporate Communications Group
800-726-2990 or jakers@ccgcorp.com