MetLife should defend and downplay misdeeds to the public

1
MetLife should defend and downplay misdeeds to
the public

• By Jon Kuka

2
Building Success

• Metropolitan Life
• Founded 1868
• Countrys second largest insurance firm
• Rick Urso
• Took the Tampa agency to No. 2 in the whole
  company
• Increased size of office from one-rep to 120
• Became known as the Master Motivator
• Guest speaker at MetLife conferences

3
How it happened

• Growth of Life Insurance Policy
• Concentrated on the Nursing field
• Constant exposure to death
• Easily convinced of the need for economic
  security
• Marketed as a retirement plan
• Salespeople called themselves nursing
  representatives
• Sales tactics led to investigation

4
Token Compliance

• MetLife made a token compliance by sending out
  two rounds of admonitory letters
• MetLife deemed the terms Nursing Representative
  and Retirement savings policy were not
  appropriate
• Report concluded by congratulating the Tampa
  office for its success

5
Reasons to downplay misdeeds

• Dont Argue With Success
• Top MetLife executives may not have been aware of
  the full extent of the hard-selling tactics

• Not that Dangerous
• No safety features were being ignored and
  nobody was in physical danger

6
Reasons to downplay misdeeds

• Policy was in fact part life insurance and part
  savings
• Puffing
• Mild exaggeration in selling or advertising
• Generally accepted business conduct

7
Conclusion

• Who is to say what is a mild exaggeration and an
  outright falsehood?