Young Agent Spotlight: Tom Bearor at Cross Insurance

How did you get into insurance?

After graduating college, I began my job hunt. I applied to Cross and, a few hours later, I received a call from the Head of HR. We scheduled an interview for the following day. The conversation went well, and I went on to interview with the CEO, Royce Cross. He spoke to me about how the insurance industry is for renaissance people: you build relationships in many sectors and learn about each one. This point resonated with me.

I began at Cross as an intern. I worked directly with the CEO, helping him with his presentations. This was a fantastic experience, as I was able to see firsthand how an agency operated during a time of tremendous growth. I later moved to the commercial lines team at the company’s headquarters. Since I joined the agency, we have doubled our employees in six years through acquisition and organic growth.

I now manage the commercial lines operations at our headquarters. Twelve producers work on my team as well as a dedicated claims manager. We also have individuals that help us with the account servicing and processing.

Can you speak about how technology supports your operations?

We have areas where we could improve the use of our technology. We are transitioning from a paper-based organization to one that is more digitally enabled. Working in a remote environment highlighted some challenges of our older processes.

We use a popular, commercially available AMS. Our system connects with some of our carriers, which improves our processing speed and accuracy.

For placing business with carriers, we rely on our industry knowledge. We are extremely lucky because we have a large number of experienced team members. Last week, I gave awards to colleagues on our team who have worked at Cross for 35, 30, and 15 years. From this depth and experience, we know our carrier partners well and understand their target markets.

How do you create a differentiating client experience?

We take pride in our claims servicing. We have a specialist on staff who shepherds our client through the process. In the event of a claim, our client has a direct line to call our specialist, who gathers information for the first notice of loss.

We then send the information to the carriers. Our specialist has relationships with the adjusters and can help manage expectations for our client and the carrier and keep communication channels open. This allows our producers to focus on their jobs and provides a better customer experience to our clients during a difficult time.

What advice do you have for new producers entering the industry?

New producers should look to shadow more experienced agents whenever they can. Listening to an experienced person explain coverages and risks will help new producers develop their voices and approaches. Most successful people in this industry are charismatic, but the ability to ask insightful questions, learn quickly, and gain feedback will put you at an advantage.

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