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 Auto Glass In the News 

October 4, 2000

Safelite Rewards Program

Referral of Repairs & Replacements Get American Family agents gift certificates.

(A Glasslinks Exclusive)
The following is text of marketing letter sent
to an American Family Agency in Wisconsin.

Wednesday October 04, 2000

For the past 15 months, Safelite Auto Glass has been the vendor of choice for American Family because of our ability to deliver the service and savings your company and your policyholders need. The level of service and savings Safelite has delivered in the past is one reason to use Safelite In the future. Here's another.

To thank American Family agents and staff for their support, Safelite is introducing the Safelite Rewards Program. Through this program, anyone in your office who refers a policyholder directly to our local Safelite facility will receive either a $25 Super Certificate good at more than 600 businesses nationwide for every replacement or a $10 gift certificate from one of five popular choices for every repair.

It's easy to earn Safelite Rewards. Here's how it works:

    Tell your policyholder that Safelite will call him/her back within 30 minutes to schedule a convenient appointment and fax us the attached FaxForm, which I have customized for your agency. If you prefer, you can also call us with the information. We'll take it from there:

  • We'll call your policyholder to schedule a convenient appointment and conference him/her with Lynx to set up the claim;
  • We'll bill American Family through Lynx at American Family's market price.
  • We'll send you a gift certificate In the mail. The $10.00 repair options we listed on the FaxForm. You can see the $25.00 replacement options at giftcertificates.com and/or I will bring you more information about those options the next time I visit.

We know that any company can offer a promotion. We're backing up our offer with a continuing commitment to keeping your costs competitive and delivering the highest levels of service to your policyholders and your agency. Here's how…

Repair Savings & Service
Safelite delivered a 42% repair ratio for American Family and its agents, resulting in savings of over $5 million for the company since July 1999. Our repair and replacement services combined saved American Family over $15 million. Savings like that help ensure American Family's rates can remain competitive.

Policyholder Satisfaction
Surveys of American Family policyholders indicate a satisfaction level of 98%, with the courtesy of the customer service representative and the technician owning satisfaction ratings of 99.3%.

I am committed to ensuring that your agency has the information you need and want to be successful in today's competitive environment. Sending your business directly to Safelite will save you money, deliver guaranteed satisfaction to your policyholders and provide a little extra "thank you". And, the claim will be reported to Lynx and billed at the American Family price through Lynx. If I can be of further assistance, please don't hesitate to contact me.

source: American Family Insurance Agency

Follow Up News November 15, 2000

From AGRR Magazine, a Key Communications Publication

"Safelite Allegedly Terminates 'Rewards' Program"

    Safelite has terminated its Rewards program, which it recently instated to provide American Family Insurance agents with rewards for referring policyholders to Safelite Autoglass shops, according to Judy Lowell of American Family Insurance Company. The program, which began just last month, would have provided American Family insurance agents with gift certificates of $25 for every windshield replacement referral and $10 for every repair referral, according to a letter Safelite sent to an American Family agency in Madison, Wis., in early October.

    “It’s my understanding that the Safelite Rewards program involving American Family has been terminated,” Lowell said. “You would have to contact Safelite to confirm that, but we have received word from Safelite that it has been terminated.”

    However, Safelite would not comment on the program, citing it as a confidential marketing effort that it cannot share with other companies.

    “It’s like giving away the secret ingredients in Coca Cola—we can’t share our marketing schemes with other companies,” said Dee Uttermohlen, the company’s marketing manager, before the program was cancelled.

Denise Klapper of Safelite also refused to comment on the possibility of its termination.

    “It’s still a confidential marketing effort on which we cannot comment,” Klapper said. Uttermohlen was out of the office and unable to comment on the program’s termination.

    Despite unanswered questions about the Safelite Rewards program, Lowell said American Family has always discouraged agents from accepting rewards for their efforts in guiding policyholders to particular shops.

    “In regards to the rewards program, American Family has a long history of conducting business in a fair and ethical manner,” Lowell said. “We adhere to the standards of the Fair Claims Practice Act and we take all the necessary steps to preserve the integrity of policyholder choice and one of these steps is to discourage the acceptance of gratuities of any kind.”