Aflac 2007 Annual Report Download - page 16

direct and expeditious interaction with
our sales force. Our new sales organization
allows sales offices to report directly to
their territory director without an
intermediary.
In addition, we continued to employ
New Associates Basic Training, which
we launched in November 2006. This
six-month training curriculum is primarily
aimed at training newly recruited individual
sales associates. It combines classroom
and field training to improve associates’
face-to-face consultation skills. The trainers,
who are Aflac Japan field employees, com-
municate with the trainees regularly to
motivate them to succeed. By the end of
2007, we had trained approximately 3,300
newly recruited sales associates through
this new program.
Aflac Service Shops also encourage
face-to-face sales techniques through
convenient locations and knowledgeable
sales associates. By the end of 2007, we had
604 Aflac Service Shops throughout Japan.
To continue to enhance the level of service
we offer, we began an “e-learning” system
that is combined with a series of internal
seminars aimed at providing a one-year
training program to service shops. In
addition to individual agencies and
independent corporate agencies, affiliated
corporate agencies have also seen the
benefits and opened service shops. For
example, the company that operates
Tokyo’s subway system has service shops
at subway stations, which naturally attract
a large number of customers.
We continued to reach consumers
through our strategic marketing alliance
with Dai-ichi Mutual Life. We believe this
alliance has been one of the most successful
partnerships in the insurance industry. In
2007, Dai-ichi Life sold nearly 244,000
of our market-leading cancer life policies,
retaining its distinction as the number two
seller of cancer insurance behind only Aflac.
We also spent 2007 preparing for new
distribution opportunities, including sales
through banks. While we have sold our
products to employees of banks since our
entry into Japan in 1974, banks were not
permitted to sell third sector products
to their customers. That ban was lifted
in December 2007, creating a new
opportunity for Aflac. We have been
preparing for this new sales channel
since 2004, and we have many long-term
relationships within the banking sector,
which leads us to believe we are well-
positioned for this new distribution
opportunity. By the end of January 2008,
we had agreements with 41 banks to
market Aflac's products through more
than 3,300 branches nationwide.
Another distribution opportunity for Aflac
was announced in November 2007 when
Japan Post Network Co. selected Aflac
Japan as the provider of cancer insurance
to be sold through Japan’s vast post office
network. Japan Post Network Co. operates
the 24,000 post offices located throughout
Japan, providing a significant opportunity
for us to reach new consumers.
12
Policies Annualized Total New Total
and Riders Premiums Annualized Number of
In Force* In Force** Premiums** Agencies
2007 28,443 ¥1,125,561 ¥114,636 18,461
2006 27,334 1,083,127 117,455 18,432
2005 26,014 1,027,762 128,784 17,960
2004 24,477 961,895 122,525 16,410
2003 23,097 900,251 121,170 14,643
2002 21,867 834,424 108,320 12,056
2001 20,802 782,249 91,865 9,839
2000 19,674 740,445 99,755 8,938
1999 18,510 696,622 87,043 8,283
1998 16,963 640,796 75,425 7,010
*In thousands **In millions
Aflac Japan
Sales Results
A 2.5% increase in the second
half of the year helped Aflac
Japan achieve its sales
objective, although total new
annualized premium sales
declined 2.4% for the full year.
There’s Only One Aflac