Minden insurance agent among the distinguished

Mike Eddy, an American Family Insurance agent in Minden, has been recognized for customer satisfaction excellence under the J.D. Power and Associates Distinguished Insurance Agency program.

Eddy has been an agent for American Family since October 2000. His office is located at 1687 Highway 395, Suite 4, Minden.

"Customer service is more important than ever," said Jack Salzwedel, American Family president and chief operating officer. "I'm proud that more American Family Insurance agents made the commitment to meeting the distinguished Insurance Agency criteria this year than in any of the programs previous five years. That's truly saying something about their commitment to meeting our customers' needs."

Eddy has qualified for the award for four years. 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 needs, claims handling, positive customer contacts, responsiveness and office environment.

The name of Minden resident Debbie Totaro's new business explains everything - Bright White Mobile Teeth Whitening.

"I'm able to go to people's houses or businesses and give them a comfortable place to be while getting their teeth whitened," she explained.

Totaro is available 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

For more information, call (775) 240-0225.