WellPoint Named to List of 25 Best Sales Forces

WellPoint Health Networks Inc. in Thousand Oaks has been named one of America’s 25 Best Sales Forces in the July issue of Sales and Marketing Management magazine.

In recognizing WellPoint, the magazine’s editors wrote that “in an industry marked most notably by failure and frustration, one health care company continues to excel. . . . WellPoint makes client service a priority.”

The magazine also cited WellPoint’s Web-based technology to serve independent brokers through AgentConnect--a program that allows independent agents and brokers to link their agencies’ home pages to the sales tools available on WellPoint’s Web site.

“While some of our competitors are using the Internet to try to displace agents, WellPoint recognizes the tremendous value they provide consumers,” said Alan Katz, senior vice president of individual and group sales. “AgentConnect is an example of how we’re using technology to help them enhance that value and to sell more.”

According to Sales and Marketing Management magazine, the winners were determined by a survey of analysts, business school professors and executives with expertise in a range of industries. The three criteria were superior sales performance during the past three years, reputation for customer satisfaction, and reputation for a satisfied sales force.

WellPoint has 7.5 million medical and nearly 31 million specialty members through Blue Cross of California in California and through UNICARE in other parts of the country.