Restoring Lives After the Unexpected is Focus for Farmers Insurance     
Company Puts Needs of Customers and Community First

A Farmers Customer Care Vehicle mobile field office on site at the recent Summit Fire.

By Nicole Zaro Stahl
NETWORK Editor

When Farmers Insurance moved into the Carr America Center in Hacienda in May, it brought along a well-deserved reputation for outstanding community service.

On March 29 the California Charter Office of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) presented the Los Angeles-headquartered Farmers with its 2008 California Corporate Citizenship Award. On announcing the honor, the nonprofit made a special reference to the insurer’s contributions in both treasure and talent to MADD Bay Area and its mission of “creating safer streets and communities.”

A few months later, on June 3, Farmers’ agents, district managers, and employees all over the United States observed the March of Dimes’ “Be a Hero for Babies Day” by raising a record-breaking total of more than $3.2 million in a series of events and activities held on a single day nationwide.

“This is our 20^th year supporting the March of Dimes,” comments John Weaver, State Executive Director at Farmers’ Hacienda facility. “Here in the Bay Area we raised $240,000 for this year’s ‘Be a Hero’ day. A lot of people put in a lot of effort to publicize the event and solicit donations.  We’re very proud of this partnership.”

Weaver and his fellow employees are also proud of the insurer’s reputation in the business arena. Founded in 1928, the Farmers Insurance Group of Companies is today the country's third-largest writer of both private passenger automobile and homeowners insurance, also providing business and life insurance and financial services. With operations in 41 states, its various divisions serve more than 10 million U.S. households, helping customers “restore their lives when the unexpected happens.”

Housing approximately 200 employees from 10 different business units, the local office supports the 1,200 agents and district managers representing Farmers in Northern California. During the recent spate of fires, local claims representatives were stationed on site in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties to provide assistance to policy-holders who suffered losses. A key component of this effort is Farmers’ Customer Care Vehicle (CCV), essentially a mobile field office that allows the company to operate on the fringes of disaster areas, when and where help is needed most.

“Our CCVs are totally self-contained, complete with electronic equipment so our claims professionals can immediately start assisting any of our displaced customers, including issuing checks on the spot,” Weaver explains. The vehicles also function as hospitality centers, serving food and offering phone and Internet access to those affected by disaster. “Major losses are not a one-day deal,” he points out. “It’s a long process to rebuild. Often, evacuees don’t even know if there has been damage to their homes. We’re there to answer questions and provide support, delivering on our promise to help you restore life back to normal.”

For more information about the company and its full range of services, contact a local agent or visit www.farmers.com.

CIMA Systems Helps Auto Dealers Build New Business  
Hacienda Company Provides Software Solution for Strengthening Relationships Between Dealers, Customers

Company president and CEO Gary Nixon, left, and the rest of CIMA Systems’ Hacienda staff.

By Nicole Zaro Stahl
Special to NETWORK

Parts and service have become a significant profit center for auto dealers, and a new Hacienda tenant is marketing a software solution that maximizes these opportunities--while adding improved productivity and enhanced customer satisfaction to the mix.

The offering from CIMA Systems "combines data mining with interactive phone, email, and text messaging to automatically target, contact, and interact with current and potential customers, improving a wide range of business-critical sales, service and parts activities," according to President and CEO Gary Nixon.

Interfacing with a dealership's inhouse computer, the CIMA system logs in and pulls all the data needed for the next day's customer communications, which can range from a notice that a special-order part has arrived to a promotion tied to the anniversary of a vehicle purchase, or even a Happy Birthday greeting. The CIMA system enables dealers to follow up with customers on a granular level and implement new marketing campaigns with minimal delay. One of its highlights is the ability to communicate in a variety of media, via email, phone, or text message, depending on customer preference. Contact it is not just one way: whatever the format, recipients can follow a link, to schedule a service appointment, for example, that automates the entire transaction. 

Some of these functions have been available independently as stand-alone services from individual vendors, but part of CIMA's innovation is integrating them all into a single, comprehensive package, for a flat—and lower--monthly fee. A CIMA installation typically saves dealerships "a lot of money while dramatically increasing employee productivity and customer satisfaction," Nixon says. Oftentimes, suppliers pick up a portion of the tab for the service since it helps sell more of their products to the dealership's customers.

Originally founded in San Francisco, in 2002, CIMA outgrew two previous offices in Pleasanton before moving into Hacienda Terraces in May.  Right now the company has about 20 employees here at headquarters, an office in Dallas, and an expanding sales force out in the field. Its current customer roster includes the 15-plus northern California dealerships in the AutoNation network, America's largest automotive retailer, with many more well-known names to come. "We just signed Chrysler to private-label our product," relates Nixon, noting that former Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacocca joined CIMA’s Advisory Board and became an investor.

While these lines of communications are very important in today's auto business, they represent just the early stages of CIMA's product pipeline. Soon, our vehicles will be talking to us, Nixon confides. Some aspects of this technology, known as telematics, already exist, like General Motors' OnStar system. Others are in development. "We are currently testing a device that enables us to pull diagnostic data directly from the vehicle’s on-board diagnostic system and communicate the recommended service notification directly to the customer, allowing him to easily make a service appointment. This product also acts as an anti-theft device which allows 24/7 tracking as well as setting notification parameters such as vehicle speed, location, etc.,” Nixon reveals. 

For more information about CIMA, visit the website at www.cimasystems.net.