Cliff Wuerflein, an American Family Insurance agent in Albert Lea, has been recognized for customer satisfaction excellence under the J.D. Power and Associates Distinguished Insurance Agency Program. Wuerflein joins other American Family agents who have demonstrated the highest level of commitment to outstanding customer service.

Wuerflein has been an agent for American Family since January, 1985. His office is located at 1907 E. Main St. in Albert Lea.

“This is our fifth year of applying the Distinguished Insurance Agency criteria to our agents,” said Jack Salzwedel, American Family president and chief operating officer “With each passing calendar quarter, American Family has witnessed ap improvement in customer service. Our agents are strongly attuned to the needs of our customers and how best to meet those needs.”

The service excellence distinction was determined through a two-part evaluation process conducted by J.D. Power and Associates. The first part consists of a customer satisfaction survey, which measures customers’ overall experience with their current American Family agent. In order to proceed to the second step, agents must meet or exceed the standards measured on a national benchmark established by J.D- Power and Associates’ annual auto and home insurance customer satisfaction studies. Only agencies that perform in the top 20 percent of all agencies nationwide based on customer satisfaction surveys are eligible to become a Distinguished Insurance Agency.

Agents who meet or surpass the overall national average must then pass a rigorous on-site evaluation based on five best practice areas: proactive reviews of customer insurance needSy claims handling, positive customer contacts, responsiveness and office environment.