What is your message to those more skeptical brokers?

That Aflac is different. That the Aflac they know as and individual product company sold through only a field force is vastly different today. Now as not only an individual product company and a leading provider of voluntary insurance and guaranteed renewable insurance in America but also having now a wing of our business through group insurance that's industry leading with some of the highest customization levels as well as the Aflac brand behind what we believe is industry leading accident and critical illness and other product lines on the group side. Add to that product set a different way of working with brokers and embracing the broker community and setting up our systems and compensation to align with what brokers desire and we believe we're meeting the needs of almost every business in America today and that we can help you know drive business for brokers by offering a product that businesses are already demanding in the Aflac brand.

So as far as you're concerned, there's not only a way for your own in-house sales force and brokers to survive together, but actually, in fact, thrive?

There is a way for them to thrive. I don't believe in every case they'll thrive together. Another example of that is the recent opening of Aflac Benefits Solutions out of Atlanta. We recognize the top 50 brokerage firms in America plus the top 11 enrollment firms, wanted business handled in a different manner. In fact, not all of them even wanted it done the same way. In almost all of those cases it becomes a highly customized solution for that individual firm. So we've set up an organization that's responsible for working with each of those particular brokerage houses and enrollment firms to supply them with whatever they need from Aflac to help reap the greatest success between Aflac and their firm. So it's a highly customized solution.

One of your biggest competitors would be Allstate. What do you need to do going forward to keep ahead of them and stay on top?

You know I think you know the reality is that not whether it is existing competitors that are doing well or new competitors and we're seeing a large number of major medical companies and disability companies stepping into our market space that this environment is going to become more fast paced than ever. The need to innovate from a product standpoint as well as to deliver from, a customer experience standpoint will be higher than ever. As a result we continue to not only research what's going on in the marketplace among consumers but also about the needs of business decision-makers and the businesses themselves. We're working with brokerage firms to find out what their needs are and if we can create a solution set that meets the needs of all three of those constituencies, you know the actual employees, the businesses themselves as well as the brokers then we're gonna be staying ahead in the marketplace. The vast majority of that means refining good products and putting those products in their hands and they're gonna make a difference to consumers. In some cases it means adding additional product lines that Aflac may not offer today but maybe interested in offering in the future to meet the needs of each of those three.

Talk to me about your customer service.

We pride ourselves on that we have a claims experience we believe is second to none in the industry. We pay our average claim in four days. We really focus on making sure that as we make a promise to a consumer that we're gonna be there in their time of need. That when that time of need comes, we recognize they need money from us and they need it now. And as a result, we pay those claims in an extremely expedient manner. Additionally, across the board we investigate, understand and work toward creating the best possible customer experience for each of our clients. And we go out of our way to make sure we follow up with them, work with them and that we deliver on what we say we're going to do.

What's your mission is for the company?

Our vision is to be the leading provider of voluntary insurance in the United States. Now we're already the leading provider of voluntary insurance in the United States and as a result we want to stay ahead. So we continue to look broader and realize what the potential for Aflac is and today only 6 percent of businesses in America offer our products. Our goal is to significantly raise that and make sure every American has access to our products so our goal is to make sure that we can get our products within reach of every consumer so they can purchase when they want, how they want.

How does that compare to Japan as far as the penetration rate?

Astronomically different. We insure 95 percent of the companies on the Tokyo stock exchange. And 25 percent of the population in Japan. We only insure 6 percent of businesses in America so the upside for us in America is gigantic.

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Aflac president sees opportunity for brokers, carriers under reform

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