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Winter 2013 - Volume 31 - Issue 4TRANSCRIPT
Meet Your 108th IIAI PresidentTerry McDonald, CIC
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West Des Moines, ioWA • 800.274.3531 • WWW.iMtins.coM
WWW.IMTINS.COM
BOARD OF DIRECTORSPresidentTerry McDonald, CIC - Iowa City
President-ElectScott Morningstar, CPCU - Lisbon
TreasurerJerry Mease - Winterset
National DirectorDean Brooks, CPCU, CLU, ALCM - West Des Moines
DirectorsEldon Hunsicker - OttumwaTerry Friedman, CPCU - DubuqueTim English, CIC - DyersvilleJohn Dalton - Council BluffsSteve Madsen - MarshalltownDavid Rowley, CPCU, CIC, AU - Spirit LakeScott Wirtz - EmmetsburgJamie Krist, CIC, MBA - West Des MoinesLuke Horak - Washington
Past PresidentPaul Pohlson - Grinnell
IIAI OFFICE STAFFChief Executive OfficerBob Skow, CPCU, [email protected]
Membership Operations CoordinatorMelissa [email protected] • Ext. 15
Technology & Communications AdministratorJeanne [email protected] • Ext. 17
Membership Services CoordinatorMarilyn Paul, CPCU, AIT, AAM, [email protected] • Ext. 11
Membership Services CoordinatorBrenda Kluger, CIC, CISR, CIIP, [email protected] • Ext. 14
Customer Service RepresentativeMegan [email protected] • Ext. 16
ReceptionistCindy [email protected] • Ext. 12
Independent Insurance Agents of Iowa4000 Westown Parkway
West Des Moines, Iowa 50266(515) 223-6060 • FAX (515) 222-0610
800-272-9312 (In-State only)
Advertising EditorMelissa Meiners
MISSION STATEMENT: The Independent Insurance Agents of Iowa will be an unrelenting advocate of the business, professional and political interests of its members; doing so by working in the public’s best interest and with the highest ethical standards.
Viewpoint is a publication of the Independent Insurance Agents of Iowa. Viewpoint is published quarterly: Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. Viewpoint is mailed to Iowa insurance agents, Iowa Home Office Executives, Affiliate members, and other state associations and organizations.
29 ACUITY
16 Amerisafe
16 Bituminous Insurance Co.
19 Burns & Wilcox
10 EMC Insurance Co.
24 Grinnell Mutual
39 Big “I” Professional Liability
2 The IMT Group
4 IMWCA Iowa Municipalities Workers’ Compensation Association
34 Insurance Associates of America
26 Integrity Insurance
8 Iowa Mutual Insurance Co.
11 Liberty Mutual Insurance
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6 Scobie Group
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36 United Fire Group
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32 Western National Insurance
ADVERTISERS
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PRESIDENT’S REPORTConvention ResultsThe Big “I” staff delivered on their promise to make the Convention a success.
by Terry McDonald, CICPage 5
NATIONAL DIRECTOR’S REPORTTop Five Value AreasThe important first step was to survey members on what they thought important. The survey results show the top five “value areas” members want from the National Association.
by Dean Brooks, CPCU, CLU, ALCMPage 9
In This IssueMeet IIAI’s 108th PresidentTerry McDonald, CICPage 12
2013 IIAI Convention Trade Show and EXPOPage 22
2013 IIAI Trusted Choice® Junior Golf TournamentPage 25
2013 IIAI Convention Golf TournamentPage 25
E&O Considerations for the Automated AgentPage 27
2013 IIAIPAC ContributorsPage 33
2013 InsurPac ContributorsPage 35
50 Awesome Social Media Ideas for InsurancePage 37
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ConventionResultsTerry McDonald, CIC
president’s REPORTI would like to begin my first article by thanking you, IIAI member-ship for electing me your 108th
President. I am one of a list of eight state presidents that have served the Association from my agency. I do not take this duty lightly. Many of you already know, my job is made easy because of the wonderful staff Bob Skow, CPCU, CAE, CEO has assembled over the past several years and having a very involved National Director, Dean Brooks, CPCU, CLU, ALCM. If fact, I would say, without reservation, that we have the BEST staff, CEO and National Director of all the state Associations of IIABA. Believe me that is saying a lot.
I want to thank Paul Pohlson, immediate Past-President for his guidance and leadership over the past year. Through Paul’s leadership and help from the Board of Directors, we took a big risk this year by changing the Convention format. The mem-bership asked that we include more educational breakout sessions on the Convention format and the Board responded and delivered.
The Big “I” staff delivered on their promise to make the Convention a success. The following is a recap of changes implemented at the convention.
GOLF(New) Open trade show for all agents, not just registered attendees(New) Heavy hors d’oeuvres, wine and beer during trade show(New) Attendees could choose from three educational tracks: 1. Agency Management Track a. Sales Success b. Agency Succession Planning c. Agency Tax Planning 2. Agency Technology Track a. Harnessing Social Media b. Email Marketing c. Future of Computing and
Cloud Technology 3. Continuing Education Track a. Insurance Issues When
Writing Accounts that do Business in other Countries
b. Certificates of Insurance Update
c. Employment Practices Liability Issues
4. Optional Class a. Affordable Care Act Update
The biggest complaint heard? Attendees could not attend two classes as once. We are working on a solution to this and maybe we could tape pro-grams for availability on the Big “I” website.
This format allowed attendees and company people the freedom to mingle in a great trade show atmosphere that was free to all agents, not just regis-tered agents. Once the trade show ended, agents were free to go out to dinner with their company reps. I can’t wait to see the agenda for next year. I want to thank everybody that attended and encourage those people
that didn’t to take a look at next year’s Convention, you may be surprised.
The last item I want to bring to your attention is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that went into effect on October 1, 2013. In my office, I like to refer to this as Obamacare. And, not for the political reasons you may think. Obamacare to our agency means:
OpportunityBy
AgentsMaking
Appointments
If you choose to seize the oppor-tunity presented by this sweeping historic event, it will pay dividends to you and your agency. Even if you do not sell health insurance, your custom-ers are confused and want someone to help them with the basics of the new law. This legislation gives another reason to sit down and talk with clients, solidifying you and your agency as the go-to-place when insur-ance questions come up. If you do sell health insurance in your agency, a whole client base has opened up and is waiting for your expertise. If you do not answer their questions, I guarantee another agency will.
In closing, I want to congratulate my personal friend and colleague, Hans Boehm, CPCU, from Boone, for being
named the recipient of the H.H. Red Nelson Agent of the Year Award at the Convention. I know of no other agent that has given so much time and effort to the Independent Insurance Agents of Iowa Association over the past several years. Congrats Hans!
Also, congratulations to the C. Daniel Fulwider Young Agent Award winner, Jeremy Helmers, from Spirit Lake, IA. As a past award winner, I take pride in being involved with this award. Dan Fulwider was a personal friend of mine and I know he would take great pride in knowing Jeremy is this year’s recipient.
I look forward to serving as your Association’s President and encourage anyone with questions or concerns to call me. I look forward to the challenges that lay head.
Terry McDonald, CICIIAI 108th President
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Top FiveValue AreasDean Brooks, CPCU, CLU, ALCM
national director’s REPORTYour Association has a wide range of initiatives going on right now — it is an exciting
time at the National level. But first a comment about your Association’s financial condition would be appropri-ate. I don’t know about you but I’ve always found financial statements to be rather boring; however, knowing where you are financially is absolutely critical to the successful operation of your agency. Of course, the same is true with our National Association. At the recently completed Fall Board meeting, we reviewed and approved a 137 page budget. I’m pleased to report that IIABA continues to be in excellent financial condition, as prudent finan-cial management continues. The 2014 budget has no new programs or major initiatives, nor does it call for the elimi-nation of any programs. It is important to note that part of the overall financial strategy for several years has been to de-emphasize the reliance on dues revenue in the operating budget. Only 27% of total operating revenue will come from member dues in 2014. In other words, IIABA currently receives approximately 73% of its operating revenues from non-dues sources.
Our National Association is a com-plex organization, including numerous separate entities and committees necessary to conduct all of the busi-ness of a large Association. All of these various entities function for the benefit of you, the individual mem-ber, under one unifying mission: “To provide members with a sustainable competitive advantage.”
In that regard, IIABA is currently engaged in a comprehensive strategic planning process to reevaluate how to best and most effectively fulfill that mission. The important first step was to survey members on what they thought important. The survey results show that the top five “value areas” members want from the National Association are:• Markets and insurance products• Information, education and meetings• Advocacy• Agency operations and management • Branding
With this information in hand, the
planning process is now moving to the next step which is to look at three stra-tegic areas that support and enhance what our members identified: 1) eval-uation, development and delivery of products, programs and services; 2) talent recruitment and development; and 3) communica-tions. This step in the process is just being formulated, so there is nothing yet to report. As this part of the planning process is finalized, probably in the spring of next year, I will report back to you.
Much of National’s work flies under the radar to one degree or another.
This is especially true when it comes to advocacy for the independent agency system. For example, A.M Best recently released one of their “Trend Reviews” in which they analyze distri-bution trends in the private passenger auto market. The report is worth reading in its entirety but the summary is that Best is considering distribu-tion management as an increasingly important component in its evaluation of a private passenger auto insurer’s business profile, a key rating differ-entiator at Best’s higher rating levels. Representatives from your National Association plan to meet with A.M. Best to be sure they understand the significant value the independent agency distribution channel brings to the distribution of insurance in this country.
Another example of National’s work behind the scenes relates to the Affordable Care Act. Although the ACA is law, a great deal of staff time cur-rently is directed to the details of implementation, particularly in the
regulation of navigators, focusing on how to ensure consumer protection and a level playing field for agents in the delivery of health insurance.
Another example is NARAB II,
“although the aca is law, a great deal of staff time currently is
directed to the details of implementation, particularly in the regulation of navigators,
focusing on how to ensure consumer protection and a level playing
field for agents in the delivery of health insurance”
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the effort to streamline non-resident agency licensing. With NARAB, once you qualify in your home state, such things as non-resident licensing fees, CE requirements, and the burden-some corporate qualifications required in many states are eliminated. This results in a significant reduction in expense and administrative hassle for agencies licensed in multiple states. NARAB has passed the House over-whelmingly but one single member of the Senate is holding up consideration.
Our National staff is working hard to get the bill moving in the Senate at this time.
These are but a few of the many examples of all the great “behind the scenes” work done by our Washington staff to ensure our continued livelihood as independent agents. Don’t forget: An important component of our con-tinued success in Washington is our InsurPac. Through early September, InsurPac has raised over $700,000 toward the goal of becoming a one
million dollar PAC again. PLEASE: if you haven’t invested in this import-ant effort yet this year, contact the Iowa Big “I” office and they will help you. It is an investment in your future.
In closing, I would encourage you to drop me a note or call if you have any thoughts about how our Association can better serve you. I can be reached at Miller, Fidler & Hinke Insurance Agency, direct line: 515-868-0484 or email: [email protected]
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VIEWPOINT: We are in Iowa City, Iowa visiting with the 108th President of the Independent Insurance Agents of Iowa, Terry McDonald, CIC, of A.W. Welt Ambrisco
Insurance, Inc. Terry, tell us about growing up in Iowa.
TERRY: I was born in Clinton, Iowa in 1958. When I was 12 years old, my dad was killed in a car accident and my mom remarried my current stepdad, a farmer from West Liberty, Iowa. Consequently, I moved to West Liberty and graduated from West Liberty high school.
VIEWPOINT: When you were growing up in West Liberty, what did you do for fun?
TERRY: Being a city kid put on a farm was a little bit of a culture shock at first. Growing up in Clinton, a river town, there was the river and neighbor-hoods with something to do every day. When I moved to the farm, there was work to be done every day but also forced you be creative for your entertain-ment. So, as I look back on my days on farm, that is where my work ethic came from. Instead of going out to play with the local kids in the hood, I was helping out with baling hay, doing field work and farm chores.
VIEWPOINT: Were you involved in 4H?
TERRY: Yes, I was in 4H and FFA. I started raising and showing cattle, which I really enjoyed. You could say I became somewhat of a “steer jock”. I showed steers at the Muscatine County Fair and the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines.
VIEWPOINT: What sports did you participate in?
TERRY: I was involved in all sports – football, basketball, track and baseball. In our household if you were out for sports you didn’t have to be
home doing chores. So, it was kind of a tradeoff. I saw sports as a lot more fun than doing chores to tell you the truth. Basketball and baseball were my favorite, but I enjoyed all sports. West Liberty was a small, 2A school, so you pretty much had to play all sports.
VIEWPOINT: I understand baseball became your sport of choice and when you left high school you went to rookie league?
MEET IIAI’S108TH PRESIDENTTERRY MCDONALD, CIC
FALL 2013 | | 13
TERRY: Yes, I moved down to Corpus Christi, Texas and they had a rookie league, semi-pro team, called the Corpus Christi Cardinals. I went to the tryouts and actually made the team; playing in that league for two years. I enjoyed baseball and I had the passion to go on to play baseball at a higher level, but I soon found out that I was at the highest level for my skills. Reality hit me and I moved back to Iowa with my wife and went back to school.
VIEWPOINT: We understand your insurance career started while you were in college.
TERRY: Yes, I was attend-ing Kirkwood College and the Johnson County Farm Bureau agency manager, Earl Phillips contacted me about selling insurance. Earl gave me the opportunity to get into insur-ance even though I was going to school and doing other things at the time. He said that was okay and if I could balance it all, Farm Bureau would work around my schedules. I told Earl that was great and I would give it a shot. It was something I was always interested in and growing up in West Liberty, I looked up to Bob Fulwider, Past President and agency owner from West Liberty. The Insurance Industry intrigued me and it was something that I thought I would like to do someday when I was older. I worked for Farm Bureau for three years and at that point I figured out there was more to the insurance business being an independent agent. With Farm Bureau you worked as a “captive” agent so to speak and I wanted more. I left and formed my own agency in West Liberty and became an independent agent from scratch.
VIEWPOINT: How long did you run your own agency in West Liberty?
TERRY: I ran it for two years and it became evident to me that Iowa City was where I would rather be. The opportuni-ties for me in West Liberty weren’t quite what I was looking for since Bob Fulwider and Jack Martin already had long time established agencies in West Liberty. I went to Iowa City and started working for another small agency called Eden Smothers.
VIEWPOINT: What was the transition in your career from Eden Smothers?
TERRY: When I was working for Eden Smothers I was writing a lot of homeowners, auto and small commercial lines, but I really wanted to do bigger things. I started to truly understand insurance, and I wanted to be involved in Independent Agents of Iowa especially the Young Agents. I remember, at that time, the owners came to me and told me they wished I wouldn’t spend so much time going to the Young Agents and the Big “I” and wanted me to spend more time on the agency side. I felt I was really getting my professional development from the Independent Agents and the Young Agents so; I went across town and talked to Bill Ambrisco from the Welt Ambrisco Insurance Agency. I spoke with Bill and told him I wanted to work for a company that embraces involvement in the Big “I” and he said by all means he would encourage my participation. I started with
the Welt Ambrisco agency in August 1989.
VIEWPOINT: From 1989 to the current time you have been part of the Welt Ambrisco agency, and somewhere in history there was a merger with the A.W., Alderman and Wilson, side of the agency, correct?
TERRY: Yes, Bob Alderman had retired from the agency, and Ed Wilson, Carlton Johnson and Don Flack were
the agency principals of the AW Group. We were talking one day, comparing strengths/weaknesses and noticed we could bring a lot to the table for each other and have a synergy built if we sat down and talked. That meeting led us to contact Carol Hammes to help us complete an assess-ment of the agencies and determine if it was a feasible merger and what would be the next step in our new found agency. Carol finished her assessment and said by all means this would be one of the best mergers she could remember putting together. I do remember a profound statement she made at the document signing ceremony. She told us to look around the room and remember how happy we were to complete this merger, because this will be the best you guys will get along from here on out. Carol could not have been more wrong.
“I AM A BIG HAWKEYE FAN AND IT IS THAT TIME OF THE YEAR AGAIN. I ALWAYS TELL PEOPLE THAT I LIVE IN THE “BELLY OF THE BEAST.” EVERYTHING AROUND HERE CENTERS ON UNIVERSITY OF IOWA AND THE HAWKEYES. IT IS A SMALL COMMUNITY YET IT HAS A HUGE UNIVERSITY WITH NATIONAL IMPLICATIONS”
14 | | FALL 2013
VIEWPOINT: When the merger took place both agencies had their own offices, what did you do?
TERRY: We decided we should be in one location in a neutral spot between Coralville and Iowa City off Highway 1 and 218. We met with my wife and her employer Chuck Bruggeman to design us a building specifically for an insur-ance office. They did a great job and have since designed additional offices for other insurance agencies.
VIEWPOINT: Tell us what the agency looks like today.
TERRY: Since the merger the insurance agency has dou-bled in revenue size. We have 35 employees. The merger itself actually was exactly what Carol thought it would be and helped both agencies put resources together to really make a stronger and larger agency. The agency is made up of 10 producers counting myself; Dave Winegarden, CPCU; Craig Welt, CPCU, CWCA; Joe Campanelli, LUTCF; CLTC, REBC; Joe Wegman, CPCU, CWCA, LUTCF; Craig Schroeder, CIC, CWCA; Scott Enyart, AIC; Eric Upchurch; Brian McConnell; Mike Sabers, FIC; and Michelle Wolter, CWS. We have P&C agents that concentrate on auto, home and small commercial and large commercial. Our financial services department has one person who does life insurance and three people that do health insurance, Medicare supple-ments, disability and maybe long-term care.
VIEWPOINT: What is the agency business profile?
TERRY: Today, it is 60% Commercial Lines, 21% Personal Lines and 19% Life & Health.
VIEWPOINT: What is your market territory?
TERRY: Mainly Iowa. Johnson and Linn Counties provide the bulk of our business. We are licensed in almost every state, but that is because we have a few customers that have operations all over the country and overseas.
VIEWPOINT: What is the agency sweet business spot?
TERRY: Our strengths lie in the middle market. Accounts anywhere from $2,000 to $70,000/$80,000 are probably where we shine the best. The bulk of our business, the bread-and-butter is in the Commercial lines category. The Iowa City Corridor is a very close-knit community and cus-tomers like to deal locally with us as long as we can provide them with the products and services they expect.
VIEWPOINT: How many partners are in the agency?
TERRY: Six currently.
VIEWPOINT: How do you split the management duties up between the partners?
TERRY: Again, Carol Hammes helped us put this together. Every one of us has a different area that we are responsible for at the monthly board meetings. My responsibilities are the building operations and IT items.
Another partner is responsible for the Personal and Commercial Lines Departments. They have monthly depart-mental meetings with the managers to discuss what is going on. We delegate a lot of authority to the managers and
Eric Upchurch, Brenda Pryz, RHU Financial Services Manager - Financial Services.
Terry McDonald CIC, Craig Schroeder CIC, CWCA Joe Wegman CPCU, CWCA LUTCF and Dave Winegarden CPCU - Agency Principals. Not pictured Craig Welt CPCU, CWCA and Scott Enyart CIC AIC.
FALL 2013 | | 15
employees as a whole. They develop policies and proce-dures to handle problems before escalating to the Board of Directors. Very seldom do problems get escalated to our Board of Directors, because the problems get taken care of promptly by a well trained and experienced staff.
One of the partners is our CFO and he is in charge of bringing financial statements to the monthly meeting. The CFO also keeps track of loss ratios, reserves and company volume commitments.
Then, of course, we have the President, who oversees everyone. You could say the partners are the chapters and the President is the binder who is charged with keeping everyone together.
We have another partner that is in charge of Marketing, Advertising and Sales. This would be anything to do with the Producers – their sales, commitments and what they are doing. This person is in charge of a marketing person that handles community-wide advertising or marketing that we do within the community.
We have a Chairman of the Board that does a lot of public relations items at community events.
Last, but certainly not least, a partner that is in charge of our Financial Services Department. This partner keeps us updated with all items from Obamacare to Long Term Care.
VIEWPOINT: You have an agency plan called AW360, what is that?
TERRY: AW360 has been in the works for many years, but we perfected it in the last 3-5 years. The staff and principals met and went through a book titled Good to Great by Jim Collins. Within the book it gives a roadmap of the charac-
teristics of the companies that went from good to great also the characteristics of companies that failed. Through that exercise we developed a strategic game plan called AW360. It has to do with the 4-C’s: Community, Customers, Clients, and Co-workers. Then we split our employees up into these four groups forming subcommittees. Each subcommittee is charged with developing plans to enhance our agency value in their particular area.
For example, the Community subcommittee concentrates on how our staff can volunteer for organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, or making donations to charities with agency wide fundraiser.
The Clients subcommittee focuses on what we are doing for our clients and makes sure we are responding to their needs.
The Company subcommittee helps builds on relationships with current carriers. We do not take on a new company unless we discuss our plan to fill a niche with our current companies. Also, we try to recognize underwriters that go above and beyond the call of duty.
Last, but not least, the co-worker subcommittee comes up with fun things. It might be a bowling party or a meet-and-greet. Once our subcommittees were developed it was a clear picture of what were are all about; not just servicing insurance policies.
VIEWPOINT: We understand the agency has used outside experts, why?
TERRY: We brought in Chris Burand of Burand and Associates approximately four years ago to examine our entire operation. He spent time with employees, looked at
Johanna Laing, Personal Lines Manager and Michelle Steckly CISR Personal Lines CSA.
Beth Ambrisco, CIC, CISR, Nicci Keck, CISR Commercial Lines Accounts Manager, Kristi Nielson CIC, CISR, Commercial Lines Manager.
Workers’ Comp InsuranCeFor more InFormatIon Call: (888) 758-5042 www.amerIsaFe.com
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FALL 2013 | | 17
our companies, reviewed our agency financials and prepared a detailed report defining what we were doing right and where we needed improvement. This report really made us a stronger agency today.
VIEWPOINT: Would you recommend using consultants to other agencies?
TERRY: I would highly recommend every agency hire a consultant to come in and give you advice about how your agency compares to other agencies in your category. You can look at the Best Practices numbers to help compare benchmarks, but we felt it didn’t really give us areas we needed to work on in our entire agency operation. If you hire a consultant, such as Chris Burand or Dirk Nohre, you can really open up some inefficiencies within your organiza-tion. You don’t have to take all the advice and some things you will disagree with, but this is okay. You know what does and does not work in your community. For instance, the consultant may advise you to quit writing commercial business with premium under $3,000. That does not work for us because we continue to be a “neighborhood” agency catering to all clients. It might cost us a little bit more money to service those clients, but those people depend on us and are referred to us by our other customers. If we start turning them away then our other customers are going to really look at us and ask themselves if we are an agency they want to deal with. It works for us, we do lose money on these small accounts, but we’re okay with it.
VIEWPOINT: Tell us about the companies that you have in the agency.
TERRY: The companies in our office would be Cincinnati; United Fire; West Bend; NSI; Travelers; IMT; Pekin; Westfield; Selective; EMC; Allied; Continental Western; Western National; Society and Grinnell Mutual. We have some monoline workers’ compensation companies like Accident Fund & United Heartland, Argent and SFM. On the Health Insurance side we deal 90% of the time with Blue Cross and Blue Shield, but do have some other contracts.
VIEWPOINT: What agency management system do you use?
TERRY: We are on what they call Applied’s TAM® Online. Everything is done online and is done through the Cloud. Several years ago we made the commitment to make Personal Lines paperless, followed by Commercial Lines. We brought Carlton Johnson dragging and kicking with us, but he agreed to it. Today, we are paperless on all lines of insurance.
VIEWPOINT: What are the keys to the agency’s success here at A.W. Welt Ambrisco?
TERRY: Our staff. We feel we have the best staff in Iowa if not the nation for our size of agency. Many of our CSA’s have designations such as CIC and CISR. Education is a key factor with our employees. The other key to success is our commitment to AW360, which is the four C’s – Community, Customers, Clients and Co-workers. It is making sure we are paying attention to all areas of agency operation.
Terry explains the agency’s AW360 program. The agency’s very first company contract with Employers Liability Assurance Corp. dated December, 1912.
18 | | FALL 2013
VIEWPOINT: Can you tell us about your agency’s customer service goals?
TERRY: Our mission statement is: To protect our clients and professionally service their needs beyond expectations. We help businesses and individuals manage risk through precise strategies tailored to fit their unique needs. We realize that home, life, health, business and auto insurance needs are ever-changing. What works for someone today may not work as well tomorrow. With our attentive staff giving personalized service, we can monitor and adjust the risk management program as the family and/or business evolves and grows. We are here to help each step of the way. VIEWPOINT: Give us an example of things you do in the agency to service your customers.
TERRY: We segment clients by several criteria. One criteria is for personal lines is rate the account as A, B or C. This gives us an opportunity to see which accounts are stable, which accounts are a revolv-ing door and which accounts we want to focus our time and energy towards too build a relationship of longevity. In Commercial lines, we have a Small Business Unit, Middle Market Unit and Large accounts Unit. This is something new that has evolved from staff recommendations on how best to service clients.
Another important item is the implementation of CSR/24, a 24-hour answering service that has access to client infor-mation. Whenever a live person cannot answer the phone because we are closed, a representative from CSR/24 is there to help. CSR/24 has all of our client information through uploading of computer files. If there is a claim that comes in after 5 p.m. we give them an on-call list of producers to help. No matter what time of day or night something happens with an insured a producer will get a call.
VIEWPOINT: Why did you get involved with the Independent Insurance Agents of Iowa?
TERRY: My first experience with the Big “I” was the involvement in the Young Agents. I didn’t really know at the time what the Big “I” was all about until I went to work a small agency in Iowa City. I still remember to this day sign-ing up for the YAC and being asked to serve as a committee member. Sure enough I got on the committee. I went to Des Moines and met with all these young agents in the same
situation I was in and they were struggling with the same issues that I was dealing with. This committee really helped me learn to navigate the waters of the insurance industry. Then I attended National Young Agent Conferences and was lucky enough to be chosen to serve on the Young Agents National Committee. As I look back through years being an agent, that was a very important part of my career devel-opment. I look at any producer’s career as a 3-legged stool: education, sales, and professional development. Today, I feel the clear choice for professional development is through the Big “I”.
VIEWPOINT: Insurance education has always been important to you, why?
TERRY: Insurance education is very important since insur-ance changes so much and it opens up opportunities. You hear people say just wait five minutes and the insurance industry will change and it may, but every time it does change, it opens up more opportunities and reasons to go out and talk to people. The flavor of the day now is Cyber Liability. This was relatively unheard of five years ago for small to medium size business. The threat total is very real for even your smallest customer.
VIEWPOINT: The agency has a rich tradition of being involved with the Association and as President you will be the 8th from your agency, correct?
TERRY: Yes, I will be the 8th person in the history of our agency to be President of the Independent Insurance Agents of Iowa Association. Starting with S.T. Morrison (founder of the agency in 1879) Lyle Jones, Clark Caldwell, Bob Alderman, Bill Ambrisco, Ed Wilson, and Carlton Johnson are all Past Presidents.
VIEWPOINT: If you could give advice to someone new getting into the business, what would it be?
TERRY: My advice would be to be a producer your work day is not 8 to 5 or a 5-day workweek. If you are really committed, not just involved and you want to work at it, you have to spend the hours needed to make yourself successful. The difference of being between involved and committed is like having ham and eggs for breakfast. To make this breakfast possible, the chicken was involved, but the pig was committed. I have always said insurance is the worst paying, easy job in the world, but it is the highest paid,
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VIEWPOINT: As you look at the insurance business what worries you most about the future as an independent agent?
TERRY: First, internet sales could be a huge competitor for the independent agent as we move down the road. We need to be prepared for this and I think CAP may be our best opportunity to address this concern. Secondly, Cyber Liability in our own offices. Finally, government action would be the third item. This may be proven by the imple-mentation of the ACA.
VIEWPOINT: As an agency owner what keeps you awake at night?
TERRY: Government policies and procedures. Obamacare is a prime example.
VIEWPOINT: Tell us about your family.
TERRY: I have been married for 36 years to my wife Sandy, and we have 3 children: Tyson (32); Trey (17) who is a senior at West High School in Iowa City; and a daughter Tannor (15), a sophomore at West High. (Also, a very close foreign exchange student, Aliou Keita, who we treat like a son, is 32.)
VIEWPOINT: What do you like to do when you are not working?
TERRY: I like to go golfing and fishing in northern lakes.
VIEWPOINT: One of the things we know about you is that you have taken some of the athletic skills you have learned and helped others by coaching. Tell us about that.
TERRY: After I played rookie baseball in Texas and came back, I kept playing softball, competing in district, state and national events. When my oldest son, Tyson was nine, I stopped playing myself and I committed to coach his teams. It is most rewarding thing done in my life. I went from coaching little league teams to travel teams playing in sev-eral different states. By the time Tyson was 13 or 14 years old we were attending national competitions in the AAU. We won the Creighton Cardinal Classic held in Omaha during the College World Series, edging out a team from Little Rock Arkansas in the finals. That year we went on to the National AAU tournament in Oklahoma, ending up 14th in the nation. When my younger son Trey was 10 years old, I coached his team as well. By the time he was 13 years old, his team won the Class A 13U USSSA World Series in Kansas City, Missouri. It has been a rewarding experience for me, both teaching the kids and also watching their success.
VIEWPOINT: What other ways have you assisted?
TERRY: I helped a foreign exchange student from Dakar, Sengal (Africa) come over and attend high school in the U.S. The way this came about was after Dr. Tom Davis was fired as the coach at Iowa his assistant coach, Gary Close became the basketball coach at Regina High School. Coach Close came to me with the idea of hosting this student named Aliou Keita. I did not have enough room to have Aliou stay with us, but I had a friend that agreed to take Aliou in. Aliou arrived in Iowa City in the middle of the winter with no coat and only the clothes on his back. So my friend, Dan Ahrens, went to Brad Lohaus, who was playing for the Boston Celtics, and was able to get some much need clothing for Aliou. Aliou practically lived at my place on the weekends since he became best friends with my son. After high school graduation, Aliou received a full ride scholarship from the University of Tulsa. After one year, we brought him back to Iowa and with the help of Mark Egly and Dr. Tom Davis, Aliou enrolled at Drake University where he graduated and with degrees in MIS, IT and Finance. He still works and resides in West Des Moines today.
VIEWPOINT: Are you an Iowa Hawkeye fan?
TERRY: I am a big Hawkeye fan and it is that time of the year again. I always tell people that I live in the “belly of the beast.” Everything around here centers on University of Iowa and the Hawkeyes. It is a small community yet it has a huge university with national implications. Now, as every-body knows, some years the Hawkeyes are very good and some years they are not, but you have to remember students are revolving through here at a very rapid pace.
VIEWPOINT: Who influenced you the most in your insur-ance career?
TERRY: Bill Ambrisco and Bob Fulwider. I really respected and looked up to these individuals as my insurance career evolved. I think their integrity is beyond reproach and that is a great quality in any person.
VIEWPOINT: What is your favorite food and restaurant?
TERRY: Growing up on the farm leads me to say steak is my favorite food. But my favorite restaurant is the Wig and Pen Pizza restaurant.
VIEWPOINT: As President this next year is there a mes-sage you would like to send to fellow agents?
TERRY: Get involved in the Big “I” and in the political pro-cess, because your livelihood really depends on it. If we are not acting as advocates for our clients then nobody else will. It is a huge responsibility to put on Independent Agents, but it is a challenge that we embrace and can go forward with.
VIEWPOINT: Thank you for your time and we look forward to your leadership over the next year.
FALL 2013 | | 21
2013 IIAI CONVENTIONTRADESHOWThe 107th Annual Convention was the place to be last September! A huge crowd of agents and company partners filled the West Des Moines Sheraton Hotel. Jam-packed with great speakers, a fantastic golf outing and our largest ever trade show made the 2013 Conventional a success.
Bryan Tilden, CIC, CPCU, CLU, ChFC, ARM, ALCM, of North Carolina conducted Workers’ Compensation and Writing International Insurance Workshops.
EXPO&
Cloud Technology was the topic of discussion by automation expert Doug Mitchell.
Always a favorite – CPA Tom Ahlers and partner Mike Collins provided attendees with an “Agency Tax Planning” session that had everyone talking.
Attorney James Gilliam conducted an Employment Practices Liability Session.
Presidential Citation being presented to Tim English of Dyersville, Iowa.
2013 H.H. Red Nelson Agent of the Year is Hans Boehm, CPCU of Boone.
Todd Standtlander of Manning Insurance Agency is recognized for his work on IIAI Education Programs.
22 | | FALL 2013
Bill Perkins received rave reviews for his Ethics Seminar and Certificates of Insurance Update.
Alan Richardson of Transition Point Business Advisors discussed succession planning.
Internet marketing Guru from Albany, NY, Ryan Hanley packed his two workshops with agents looking for great ideas.
The Affordable Care Act Update by Brian Gillette was a huge hit with attendees.
Larry Jansen, President and CEO of Grinnell Mutual, makes a point during the Industry Leadership Panel.
Continental Western’s new President Mike Connor discussing an answer to a question from the audience.
Insurance Commissioner, Nick Gerhart on left and John Bykowski, President and CEO of Secura on right.
IMT’s CEO, Richard Keith, receives a Presidential Citation for his year of sup-port and work with independent agents.
2013 C. Daniel Fulwider Young Agent of the Year recipient Jeremy Helmers of Spirit Lake.
FALL 2013 | | 23
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JUNIOR GOLF TOURNAMENTAlmost 100 Junior Golfers participated in the 2013 State Tournament.
A special thank you to Allied Insurance for sponsoring the tournament.
Tournament workers and winners. Pictured left to right – Agent Dustin Smith, Runner up Jeff Swegle of West Des Moines, winner Grant Smith of West Des Moines, IIAI President Paul Pohlson, Tournament Director and agent Tim English, CIC.
IIAI President Paul Pohlson presenting the 2013 Trusted Choice® Big “I” Golf Tournament winner Grant Smith of Johnson his trophy.
Our 2013 female winner is Emily Snelling of Clear Lake pictured in the middle.
FALL 2013 | | 25
2013 IIAI CONVENTIONGOLF TOURNAMENT
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Technology is providing agents and brokers (“agents”) today with several tools to increase sales and profitability, as well as to provide better cus-tomer service. Automation is also helping many agencies manage their E&O risks more effectively, because of its capabilities to retain accurate data, foster consistent processes, document transactions and conversa-
tions and generate reports to monitor adherence to agency procedures. However, if the agency does not implement its technology in a disciplined way, this same tech-nology can be used against the agency in connection with an E&O claim or lawsuit.
ACT requested the law firm, Keidel, Weldon & Cunningham, to provide this over-view of E&O considerations agents should keep in mind when using technology, given the firm’s expertise in defending agents in E&O lawsuits.
Electronic Delivery of Insurance PoliciesIt is crucial in defending many E&O claims and lawsuits that the agency be able to demonstrate that it delivered the insurance policy to the customer. Without this evidence, we are unable to raise one of our most valuable defenses – the “Duty to Read” defense. However, many agencies are now delivering insurance policies and other insurance documents to customers in
electronic form rather than in paper form. Providing insurance documents to customers in this way can help save both time and money and also allows the agency to provide a higher level of customer service.
Any agency that is contemplating the delivery of electronic copies of insurance documents to customers should follow a few simple steps in order to better serve the customer and help protect against an E&O claim or
FALL 2013 | | 27
E&O CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE AUTOMATED AGENTby Keidel, Weldon & Cunningham, LLP
lawsuit. First, the agency should make certain that the customer consents to electronic delivery and understands that going forward, until such time as he or she indicates otherwise, he or she will only receive electronic copies of insurance documents and will not receive paper copies. The best prac-tice for the agency to follow is to have the customer sign a letter acknowl-edging his or her acceptance of this practice.
If policies are being emailed to customers, the agency should not rely upon automatic receipts, since some-times they can be falsely generated by the recipient’s antivirus software. Instead, the agency should request that a customer who is sent a policy by email affirmatively respond that he or she has, in fact, received the email and attachment. If the customer does not affirmatively respond, the agency should be sure to call the customer to confirm receipt, and then be sure to make a note of that conversation in the agency management system.
If a customer is being provided with an electronic copy of his or her insurance policy that is contained on a CD, the agency should be sure to send or hand deliver that CD along with a letter stating that the electronic document is the policy and that the customer should be sure to review the policy carefully and advise the agency of any questions he or she may have or changes that need to be made. In addition to email or deliv-ering a copy of the insurance policy on a CD, there is also an electronic system whereby an agency sends an email to the insured with a link to a standalone secure server where the client can obtain a copy of his or her policy. If the insured retrieves an electronic copy of his or her policy, the agency management system is docu-mented to show that it was retrieved, by whom it was retrieved and when it was retrieved. However, if the insured does not retrieve the electronic copy of his or her policy, an email is sent to
28 | | FALL 2013
the agent to advise that the policy has not been retrieved. The agency can then either send the customer another email reminding him or her to access the policy through the secure portal or print the policy out and send it the old fashion way via the mail.
Notes of Discussions with Insureds and InsurersThe rule within every agency should be that all employees must consis-tently make notes within the agency management system of any discus-sions with insureds, insurers or anyone else that concern in any way issues related to coverage or claims. The agency management system notes the date and time for any such notes which are entered. These notes can be very powerful proof if needed to defend the agency against an E&O claim or law-suit. There are five important aspects to documenting any communications, and they are as follows:• Note the date, time and duration of
the conversation;• Note the name and title of the
individual that your agency is communicating with;
• Note how the conference took place, such as office conference, telephone conference and/or cell phone conference;
• Note the salient points of the conversation; and,
• If possible, follow-up with the insured in writing to confirm the conversation.While this seems extremely basic,
you would be amazed at how many times we open an agency’s file and the notes are missing such details as whom they spoke with, or where the conversation took place, or even the issues that were discussed. Without some, or all, of this basic information, it may be more difficult or even impos-sible to defend an agent in an E & O claim properly.
Activities Noted in the Agency Management SystemActivities that are created within the agency management system are a great way for employees to diary matters for follow-up. No matter what
agency management system you are utilizing, the first and most important thing to confirm is that any activity performed is reflected by an activity within your system. For example, if your agency creates a certificate of insurance for a customer, your agency management system should create an activity in the activity log that corre-sponds to the creation of the certificate of insurance. This would likewise apply to any other type of task, such as the completion of applications, change endorsements, performing a function on the carrier website, etc.
The second most important thing to keep in mind is that the activities that are created should always be closed when the activity has been completed. A very powerful piece of evidence in defending E&O claims and lawsuits is to demonstrate that an activity was opened, handled and then closed when completed. Conversely, it can be very damaging for an agency to have activ-ities within its agency management system that have never been followed up on; or if they have been followed up on, they have not been closed. Accordingly, every agency should make certain that all employees are creating, following up and then closing all activities within the agency management system.
Voice Mail Messages and DisclaimersVoice mail messages are regularly left by customers on the voice mail system of agencies, asking questions on cover-age, reporting claims, and requesting changes in coverage. For this reason, it is recommended that a voice mail disclaimer be used on both the mes-sage for every employee and also on the main message for the agency. This disclaimer should state that coverage cannot be bound or modified, nor can a claim be reported, by use of the voice mail system.
In addition, it is a good practice for an agency to consider adopting a procedure whereby voice mail mes-sages are retained either in the original recorded form or in written form. Some agency management systems are compatible with phone systems to
allow a copy of voice mail messages to be attached to an insured’s electronic file. There are also programs that exist where you can have a written version of your voice mail messages sent to you by email and then retain that writ-ten version of the message.
Disclaimers for E-mail, Websites and Social Media SitesIn addition to a disclaimer on voice mail, it is also important for every agency to have similar disclaimers on their email transmissions, websites and social media sites. Some agencies advise us that they like to use email for their customers to report claims. For those agencies, the disclaimer might state as follows:
“Please note that an email will not be effective to report a claim or request a coverage change until such time as you receive a confirmation from us that the claim submitted or change requested has been processed.”
Additionally, some agencies have interactive websites that allow custom-ers to report claims or request policy changes. A similar type of disclaimer should be used for those interactive web sites as well.
Where an agency or brokerage is utilizing a social media site like Facebook or Twitter, the agency should use a disclaimer similar to that mentioned above with the addition of advising that these vehicles should not be used to communicate client specific information to the agency, any content the customer provides becomes the property of the agency and the agency is at liberty to add, modify or delete any content that is not acceptable.
Certificates of InsuranceCertificates of insurance are still one of the largest sources of E&O claims and lawsuits. As such, it is important for every agency to have good documenta-tion concerning how certificates were issued in the event an issue arises related to a certificate. The agency should be sure to retain, either in paper form or electronically, a copy of
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every certificate of insurance issued.While agency management systems
will automatically save a copy of the certificates on the system, one problem we have encountered is that many of those systems will only print out the current date (not the date that the actual certificate was issued). Because of the importance of having an exact copy of the actual certificate that is issued (including the exact date it was issued), agents should make certain that if they are saving the copies of certificates electronically, and not in a paper form, that their agency manage-ment system will either:• print out the date that the certificate
was actually issued if the certificate is printed at a later date; or
• scan a copy of the certificate that is actually issued by the system and maintain an electronic copy of it within the respective insured’s file.
ACORD FormsIt is equally important that every agency use the most current and up-to-date ACORD forms in connection with its daily operations. Doing so will help protect the agency from potential E&O claims and lawsuits and will often also help better serve your customers.
For example, the ACORD 80 Homeowners Application was revised in October 2009, but some agencies appear to still be using the earlier versions of the application. The new ACORD Homeowners Application now contains five pages and it is akin to a checklist of coverages and exposures which is one of the best means to dispute a claim by a customer that coverages were never reviewed. Reviewing the completed application with custom-ers will help protect the agency from claims that the agency did not review a particular type of coverage with the customer or ask about a certain expo-sure that may exist.
Another form that is often not used by agencies in its most current ver-
sion is the ACORD 25 Certificate of Insurance. The most recent version of the ACORD 25 is the May 2010 edition. As mentioned above, because certif-icates of insurance are involved in a great many E&O claims and lawsuits, it is of the utmost importance that agencies use the most recent version of the ACORD 25 Certificate of Insurance.
Downloads and UploadsAnother area we would like to address is the agency’s uploading and down-loading documents and information from the insurers with whom they do business. While we understand that uploading and downloading has become a major tool to increase agency efficiency, there are several points to keep in mind: 1. Confirm that your agency man-
agement system is not allowing your agency’s downloads to change the applications from insureds unless it creates a new version.
2. Downloads can greatly enhance the accuracy of the agency’s data which is essential when counsel-ing insureds, but it is important to
audit these down-loads regularly to make sure they are accurate and that the agency’s data-base contains good data overall.
Critical to all of these recommen-dations is that the agency incorporate
them into its written procedures, train its employees on them and require that they be followed, as well as audit the agency’s systems regularly to make sure the procedures are being followed.
This overview is not meant to be an exhaustive list of potential E&O issues that you may face when you examine the electronic side of your business. Agencies should always keep in mind all of the other E&O risk management principles that they have learned and how the technology they are using might impact them.
Editor’s Note: Additional ACT articles on agency E&O and risk management issues are available on the ACT website, such as “Don’t Get Caught in the Web” (agency website exposures); “Agency E&O Considerations When Using Social Media”; “Creating a Social Web Policy for Your Independent Agency” (comprehensive checklist); and “ACT Prototype Agency Information Security Plan” (tool to build your agency’s written information security plan). All of these tools are available at the “Websites & Social Media” Quick Link in the gray shaded portion on the left of the ACT home page (www.iiaba.net/act), except the prototype agency information security plan is at the “Security & Privacy” Quick Link.
This article was prepared for ACT by Jim Keidel, Chris Weldon and Darren Renner of Keidel, Weldon & Cunningham, LLP, a law firm located in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Rhode Island, concentrating its practice in the defense of insurance agent and broker E&O claims and litigation, loss control and education, as well as insurance coverage analysis and litigation and insurance regula-tory matters for insurance agents and brokers. Jim or Chris can be reached at 914-948-7000 or by email a [email protected] and [email protected]. This article reflects the views of the authors and should not be construed as an official statement by ACT.
Abens, Maury
Allerman, Jeff
Allison, Barb
Ambrisco, Bill
** Anderson, Brian
** Andreasen, Phil
Andrews, Robert
Austen, Kyle
Axman, Terry
Banyas, Steve
Barnes, Robert
Baughman, Lori
Beert, Robin
Bernhard, Linda
Bernhardt, David
Bernhardt, Jeanne
** Bernhardt, Julie
Bilbrey, Ken
Bilbrey, Val
** Block, Jerry
Boeckman, Larry
Boehm, David
Boehm, Hans
** Bohnenkamp, Jeff
Brasel, Mark
Bright, Drew
** Brooks, Dean
** Brown, Martin
Bushman, Tom
Butler, Ed
** Byl, Michael
Callanan, Casey
Campanelli, Joe
Campbell, Chad
Campbell, Delman
Carter, Dennis
Childs, Quentin
Christensen, Diane L
Christophersen, Scott
Conroy, Robert
** Coppock, Loren
Cunning, Dan
Currie, Mark
Dahms, Debb
** Dalton, John
Davis, Justin
Dencklau, John
** DeSousa, Scott
Dierks, Daniel
Dix, Mark
** Dolan, Pat
Dolezal, Fred
Donhowe, Mark
** Donnelly, Dennis
Douglas, Tom
** Doyle, Patrick
Draper, Scott
Elliott, Luann
** English, Tim
Fisher, Gary
Fitzsimmons, Marian
Follmann, Doug
Foltz, David
Fox, Jim
Franzen, Matt
** Friedman, Richard
** Friedman, Terry
** Fullenkamp, Ron
Fulwider, Bob
Fulwider, Jan
** Gamrath, Tom
Garms, Bill
Garms, Kristy
Gasperi, Bill
Gentry, Chris
Gentry, Glenda
** Gifford, Tom
Greteman, David M.
Greteman, James J.
Greteman, Matthew P.
Greteman, Michael V.
Gruca, John
Grundman, Adam
** Hagge, Jason
** Hagge, Jeff
Haines, Lee
Hallett, Trese
Haman, Dave
Hansen, Clay
Hardie, Hugh
Hardt, Chris
** Harris, Kipp
** Harrison, Michael
Harrison, Tim
Hayes, Curtis
Heckart, Benjamin
** Heitmann, Mike
Helmers, Jason
Hoff, John
** Hoffman, Clarence
** Hollrah, Kent
Hoogendoorn, Teresa
Hopkins, Lori
** Huisenga, Kirk
** Hummel, Kevin
** Hunsicker, Eldon
Jacobson, Gaylen G.
** Jester, Robert
Johnson, Bob
Juffer, Ronald
Junk, Steve
Karns, Carol
** Kimble, Ty
Klever, Mark
Klobassa, Gary
Kluger, Brenda
Koehler, Kasi
** Koele, Marlys
Krall, Mike
Kramer, Ron
Krier, Mary
** Krist, James
Kruckman, Tamman
** Lane Jr, Jim
Lanik, Bruce
Lenz, Ray
Lerdal, Scott
Lillis, Dan
Lillis, John
** Lorber, Paul
** Ludovissy, Dave
Lussem, Ted
Lyons, Mark
Madsen, Steve
Manary, June K
Martin, Doug
Mayhall, Jair
McArtor, Larry
McCoy, William
** McDonald, Terry
McInnis, Greg
McKay, Dan
Mease, Jerry
Merrill, David
Middendorf, James
Miller, Doug
Miller, Jeff
Miller, Lottie
Mills, Lynn
** Miltner, Mike
Moran, John
** Morningstar, Scott
Nelsen, Craig R
Nelson, Gregory
Nelson, John P
Nelson, Mike
Nelson, Scott
Neppl, Jean
** Nielsen, Norm
Niermeyer, Robert
** Norton, Tom
Omdahl, Howard
** Ouren, Thomas
** Owens, Jay
Pearson, Bill
** Pertzborn, Mike
** Petersburg, Brian
Petersen, Kenneth L
** Petersen, Lloyd
Peyton, Larry
Pippett, Marty
** Pohlson, Paul
Power, Jerry
Power, Judy
** Powers, Tom A
Price, Dick
FALL 2013 | | 33
2013 IIAIPAC CONTRIBUTORSOctober 16, 2013
**Leadership Circle Contributors
34 | | FALL 2013
Puetz, Joseph
Quam, Gordon
Ramundt, Dana
Rasmussen, Richard
Ratcliff, Margaret
Reimers, Tim
** Rensink, Ron
Reynolds, Jeanne
** Richardson, Tom
Rohde, Mark
Root, John
** Rowley, David
** Samuelson, Dennis
Saunders, Robert
** Schaefer, Gene
Schneidermann, Craig
Schnittjer, Staci
** Schnobrich, Forrest
Schonhorst, Doug
Schroeder, Keith
** Schultz, Bruce
Schwenk, Larry
Scott, Marsha
Scott, O. Ray
Shellhammer, Keith
Sheridan, Vincent
Sieperda, David
Sieperda, Scott
** Silhanek, Carlene
Sinnott, Steve
Sjulin, Bill
** Skow, Bob
Smith, Duane
Smith, Dustin
Soma, Steve
** Sporer, Russ
Springer, Steve
St Clair, Joan
Stadtlander, Todd
** Stauter, Renee
** Stayner, Dixie
Struchen, Mary
Suiter, Steve
Sump, Scott
Sundet, Bruce
Taylor, Rick
Thompson, Bill
Thompson, Lorrie
Treimer, Bill
Treimer, David
Triplett, Rory
** Trost, Nicki
Ulfers, Marilyn
Ulfers, Milton
Van Diest, Bob
** Van Roekel, Gerald
VanEngelenhoven, Ben
** VanGorp, Dennis
Vermedahl, Dave
Vogel, Kurt
** Vogel, Matt
** Vollstedt, Steven
Vreugdenhil, Valerie
** Waddell, Joyce
** Walsh, John
Watson, Jeri
** Weers, Gary
** Wegman, Joe
** Weinman, Joe
Weinstein, Frank
** Welch, Floyd
** Welt, Craig
Westrum, Bob
** White, Willene
Whitinger, Jarvis
Whitinger, Joe
Wilcke, Randy
Willis II, Joe
Wilson, Constance
Winegarden, Dave
** Wirtz, Jim
** Wirtz, Scott
Woodard, Dick
Wooge, Gaylord
Wooldridge, Jeff
Wooldridge, Neal
Worthington, Mike
Woythaler, Lenny
Youngdale, Reta
Yount, William
Zimmerman, Shelly
Allerman, Jeff Allison, Barb** Anderson, Brian** Andreasen, Phil Andrews, Robert Axman, Terry Banyas, Steve Beert, Robin Bernhardt, David Bernhardt, Jeanne** Bernhardt, Julie** Block, Jerry Boeckman, Larry Boehm, Hans** Bohnenkamp, Jeff** Brooks, Dean** Brown, Martin Bushman, Tom Butler, Ed** Byl, Michael Campbell, Delman Carter, Dennis Childs, Quentin Christophersen, Scott Conroy, Robert** Coppock, Loren Currie, Mark** Dalton, John Davis, Justin** DeSousa, Scott Dolan, John** Dolan, Pat** Donnelly, Dennis** Doyle, Patrick Draper, Scott Eikamp, Kevin Elgin, Betty** English, Tim Fisher, Gary Follmann, Doug** Friedman, Richard** Friedman, Terry** Fullenkamp, Ron** Gamrath, Tom Garms, Bill Garms, Kristy Gasperi, Bill Gentry, Chris Gettler, Judy** Gifford, Tom Greteman, David M. Greteman, James J. Greteman, Matthew P.
Greteman, Michael V.** Hagge, Jason** Hagge, Jeff Haines, Lee Haman, Dave Hardie, Hugh Hardt, Chris** Harris, Kipp** Harrison, Michael Harrison, Tim Hayes, Curtis Heard, Tom** Heitmann, Mike Helmers, Jason Helmle, Jodi Hoff, John** Hoffman, Clarence** Hollrah, Kent Hoogendoorn, Teresa** Huisenga, Kirk** Hummel, Kevin** Hunsicker, Eldon** Jester, Robert Karns, Chris** Kimble, Ty King, Tom Klein, Mark Klever, Mark Klobassa, Gary Kluger, Brenda** Koele, Marlys Kramer, Ron Kreimeyer, Bob** Krist, James** Lane Jr, Jim Lanik, Bruce Lau, Kevin Lenz, Ray Lerdal, Scott Lillis, Dan Lillis, John** Lorber, Paul Lovelace, Mark** Ludovissy, Dave Lussem, Ted Lyons, Mark Machande, Jennifer Madsen, Steve Maki, Dale Mayhall, Jair McArtor, Larry McClintock, Tim McCoy, William
** McDonald, Terry McInnis, Greg Mease, Jerry Meirick, Charlene Merrill, David Middendorf, James Miller, Doug Miller, Jeff Miller, Lottie** Miltner, Mike** Morningstar, Scott Nelson, John P Nelson, Scott** Nielsen, Norm Niermeyer, Robert Nissen, Chris** Norton, Tom** Ouren, Thomas** Owens, Jay Pearson, Bill Peiffer, Greg** Pertzborn, Mike** Petersburg, Brian Petersen, Kenneth L** Petersen, Lloyd Peyton, Larry Pippett, Marty** Pohlson, Paul Potratz, Robert Power, Jerry** Powers, Tom A Price, Dick Quam, Gordon Ramundt, Dana Ratcliff, Margaret** Rensink, Ron** Richardson, Tom Rohde, Mark Root, John** Rowley, David Ruffcorn, Ryan** Samuelson, Dennis Saunders, Robert** Schaefer, Gene Schneidermann, Craig** Schnobrich, Forrest** Schultz, Bruce Scott, Marsha Scott, O. Ray Sheridan, Vincent** Silhanek, Carlene Sinnott, Dan** Skow, Bob
Smith, Duane Smith, Ted** Sporer, Russ Springer, Steve** Stauter, Renee** Stayner, Dixie Stille, Steven Struchen, Mary Sump, Scott Sundet, Bruce Taylor, Rick Thompson, Bill Treimer, Bill Treimer, David Triplett, Rory** Trost, Nicki Tyler, Phil Van Diest, Bob** Van Roekel, Gerald** VanGorp, Dennis Vens, Michael Vermedahl, Dave Vogel, Kurt** Vogel, Matt** Vollstedt, Steven** Waddell, Joyce Walhovd, Jodie Wall, Terry** Walsh, John Watson, Jeri Wedemeyer, Bret** Weers, Gary** Wegman, Joe** Weinman, Joe** Welch, Floyd** Welt, Craig Westrum, Bob** White, Willene Whitinger, Jarvis Whitinger, Joe Wilcke, Randy Wilson, Constance Wilson, Sue Winegarden, Dave** Wirtz, Jim** Wirtz, Scott Wooldridge, Jeff Worthington, Mike Yount, William
FALL 2013 | | 35
2013 INSURPAC CONTRIBUTORSOctober 16, 2013
**Leadership Circle Contributors
FALL 2013 | | 37
1. Be personable. If posts on social media are too sales-y, it will be difficult to get and engage with followers. To many consumers, a hard sell on social media is a turn off. Balance self-promotional posts with post that are informa-tional, posts that are personable and post that are helpful.
2. Write regular posts as least once a week, but two to three times a week is even better.
3. Write social media posts on ideas for home improvement, car care and businesses tips.
4. Keep customers engaged.
5. Create fun contests for fans with Facebook. Give prizes, like a gift card, to winners.
6. Post a fact, story or comment relevant to a particular insurance
product or market and end the post with a question.
7. Use blog posts to share content and drive traffic to the agency’s website (also helps with search engine optimization) and on social media profiles.
8. Sign up for Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and YouTube.
9. Like the page and write I love ABC Agency’ on the Wall.
10. Give away a free car wash for every person who requests an auto insurance quote on Facebook or Twitter.
11. Profile agency employees and post a photo of them.
12. Post information about community events and news.
50 AWESOME SOCIAL MEDIA IDEAS FOR INSURANCE AGENCIES
Social media is a good marketing tool when used wisely. Today’s agencies are creating interaction among fans while developing
promotions that generate revenue. The following includes 50 marketing ideas that agencies can use with social media.
13. Share pictures of the agency’s community involvement.
14. Incorporate what agency fans and followers say about the agency, owners or employees in social media in other marketing. For example, use positive reviews that people post on Facebook in direct or email marketing.
15. Identify the agency employee who is most passionate about social media and put that person in charge of the agency’s social media marketing.
16. Host live Twitter chats so people can ask questions and a dialogue is started. It doesn’t always have to be about insurance. Invite different subject matter experts to answer questions about a variety of topics.
17. Create boards for each line of business on Pinterest and pin
pictures and articles about the topics. For example, if Agency ABC writes motorcycle and boat insurance, they might have a board for motorcycles and a board for boats. They could pin pictures of motorcycles, tips on taking care of a boat, great places for a motor-cycle ride, etc.
18. Create boards on Pinterest for what the agency is all about. If it’s a family-oriented agency, share fun stuff and ideas for family activities, recipes for family dinners, etc. If it’s more business-oriented, pin inspiring business quotes, good books on business, technology for busi-nesses, etc.
19. Promote the agency’s referral program.
20. Run a promotion to increase Facebook fans by donating a dollar to local charity for every new fan on Facebook.
21. Use your mobile website to pro-mote social media profiles.
22. Recognize a fan or follower of the week on the agency’s Facebook or Twitter profiles as a way to say thank you.
23. When the agency gets a new fol-lower on Twitter, @ the follower, and say thanks for the follow.
24. Spend one hour a week looking for five articles to share. They can be about insurance, commu-nity news and events, general interest articles about the lines of business the agency writes, e.g., home improvement, car care tips etc. Schedule the posts for each day of the week using a service like Hootsuite or Tweetdeck.
25. Schedule posts for Saturday and Sunday and after hours. Just because the office is closed, doesn’t mean the agency’s follow-ers aren’t reading social media.
26. Start a community group on LinkedIn and every day suggest topics for discussion.
27. Talk about events and holidays and share articles or information that discusses risks associated with those.
28. Post information on education and training events for a particular industry. They do not have to be related to insurance but could be geared toward the agency’s specialty business.
29. Create polls and surveys for followers and fans on current events, community news, industry trends and customer services.
30. Post videos and audio periodically on an agency blog, YouTube, Facebook, and agency website.
31. Display the social media channel links on the agency’s website.
32. Integrate the agency’s Twitter account with its LinkedIn account. Find out how in the LinkedIn Learning Center.
33. Create a schedule for checking social media and content post-ings; don’t leave it unscheduled.
34. Don’t just retweet and link to the work of others.
35. Employ a multi-tweet campaign to plant doubt in the minds of poten-tial buyers. Begin each tweet off with the phrase “When was the last time your family (or business) insurance agent…” Then complete it with a positive action such as…” contacted you with a money-savings idea?” Include a link to a landing page on the agency’s site to convert the person’s doubt into a sales lead.
36 Buy an ad through Facebook that will go out on the agency’s network.
37. Don’t ask followers or friends for favors.
38. Keep posting fresh and timely.
39. Be a participant via sharing, liking and voting; don’t just sit there.
40. Have employees participate in the agency’s social media campaign.
41. Include social media addresses on business cards and email signatures.
42. Target “influencers” including editors, bloggers, consultants and PR pros in the agency’s target markets.
43. Use Google to identify major trends in the agency’s target markets and tailor comments and questions to those trends.
44. Ask for recommendations from LinkedIn contacts to some of their contacts.
45. Avoid number envy – the quality of contacts is more important than the number of contacts.
46. Create and share holiday cards with social media contacts.
47. Don’t be negative or defensive on responding; stay positive.
48. Keep up with changes in social media platforms.
49. Make the agency’s Facebook wall different. Focus on the visual by attaching videos, colorful large print flyers on various insurance topics (formatted as pictures), creative postings designed to elicit comments from fans, such as “Hit Our Facebook Wall with the Cause of Your Worst Car Accident” and other interesting, visual content.
50. Let customers say whatever they want.
38 | | FALL 2013
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