How did you get into insurance?
I majored in marketing and minored in management while at college. At the time, I was a big car guy. I worked over the summer going into my senior year at a multi-location Chevrolet dealership. It was a great experience, and I quickly realized that I enjoyed helping people and I liked to sell.
After graduation, I was introduced to Steve Brown, principal at Payne & Brown Insurance, and he extended me an offer to join his agency and learn about the industry. I spent the next eight months building my expertise, assisting the team, and securing my license as an agent. This was an excellent introduction to the industry, but I also wanted to experience the industry through the lens of an insurer.
An opportunity presented itself to be an underwriter for a regional mutual insurance company, so I took it and learned more about the intricacies of an insurance company’s operations and the skills required to be an underwriter.
I rejoined Payne & Brown Insurance as a producer in 2019, and I now have a chance to apply all my experiences daily with each client interaction. It’s meaningful and rewarding work that I enjoy.
What technology is working for you, and what would you like to see more of from insurers?
We have been on a popular, commercially available agency management system since 2008. Overall, it works well for our operation, but there are more opportunities for us to collect data and enhance our insights, actions, and engagement with customers.
Right now, most agents use technology to capture transaction activity, but there are numerous opportunities for us to leverage data to enhance the overall customer experience in this industry. While tracking transaction activity is critically important for an agent, we have a significant amount of data available about our clients that we as an industry could be using more effectively. We are working toward improving the use of the data available to us, as I know many agencies are, and I look forward to the progress we will make together in the next 12-24 months.
How are you responding to transitioning to working remote?
I reside within walking distance of our office, but I used to work from home on a regular basis, so this won’t be much of a change for me personally. Luckily, we were able to act quickly and set our team up to work remotely. What separates our agency from others is our culture and work ethic. This trickles down from the top, as our principal has set the tone and pace for our agency. He’s the first one in the office, and the last one to leave. Our culture is team-oriented and competitive, and regardless of our physical location I expect our culture will remain as strong as ever.
Externally, we are still educating our clients about how much account servicing we can provide at a distance. We are reaching out to our insureds with proactive communication to let them know about the changes to our office and provide empathy for what we are all experiencing. I’m very impressed with all of the carriers and how they have responded to this crisis.
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