Progressive 2008 Annual Report Download - page 14

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 14 of the 2008 Progressive annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 39

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39

We measure effectiveness of all such actions in economic terms
as best we can and we will have little to report until 2010, the year
the contestants will offer their solutions. If media interest and
consumer response to date are indicative, these will be dollars
well spent on something that also feels very right. For updates on
this effort and worldwide entries see progressiveautoxprize.org.
Building on our retention gains and providing continuity of cov-
erage throughout a customerΚΌs lifetime Retention of customers
has been a significant focus for some years now, and at times the
slow speed of change in certain measures has posed doubt in our
belief that we could effect more dramatic change. 2008 confirmed
our confidence in the magnitude of change that is possible.
In a moderately increasing rate climate, we continued to see
an increase in customer retention with both our Agency and
Direct auto policy life expectancy measures increasing 11%.
Improvement in our special lines products was numerically less
at around 1% but, as a group, they remain our longest-tenured
customers. Commercial customer measures ended the year
slightly lower than where they started, after some initial gains,
reflecting the somewhat shocking numbers of trucks being taken
out of service and the general economic pull back.
Good luck or hard work? Either way when the sensitivity of one
month of policy life extension is easily valued at over one billion
dollars of lifetime premium, the result is bankable. The answer,
without doubt, is in fact hard work over a prolonged period of time.