Like most of people in the insurance industry, I fell into it on accident. As I was entering my final year at Loyola Marymount, I knew I wanted to go into sales but needed some sales experience in order to do that. Despite wearing a short-sleeved dress shirt with an ugly tie and no clue what the difference between premium and deductible was, the guys at TIB Insurance took a chance on me. From there, they gave me an opportunity to learn the basics of the insurance business, move to New York, and I was quite lucky to have them as my first employer out of college. After TIB Insurance, Member Insurance provided me an opportunity to the next steps in my career by giving me a platform for sales success and an opportunity to learn to become a manager and leader.
Because of the opportunities granted to me from TIB Insurance and Member Insurance, I’ve had the pleasure of working with some great people, learning about the inner workings of many small businesses, and seeing literally every corner of our great country.
During my 18 years in the insurance industry, there are a few recurring observations I’ve made:
- People don’t like insurance. It ranges somewhere from outright hatred to an accepted but unexciting tool.
- With the exception of a few business owners, the majority of them don’t have a really strong understanding of their insurance policies. I’m not saying that they necessarily should either. The same business owner likely doesn’t have a really strong understanding of how the legal system works or exactly how to file their corporate taxes. That’s why they hire accountants, lawyers, insurance agents – to provide professional advice.
- When people dislike something and don’t have an understanding of something, it gets pushed aside or becomes unimportant.
- In all industries – not just insurance, the standards for what “good customer service” means has sunk to pitiful levels.
- Every business is different. Everyone has different needs, expectations, and standards.
These are the things that 2018 has in common with 2001. They’re common whether I talk with a business owner in Arizona or New York. They’re common whether I’m talking to a company with $100 million in revenue and 200 employees or $100,000 in revenue and 2 employees.
These observations coupled with a strong belief that I had solutions for them that fit well with my preferred style for doing business, were the starting point for TruView. But was there an opportunity?
The independent agency world is going through some pretty rapid changes. The numbers are different depending on the study that you read – but we know that a large chunk of the independent insurance agency owners, leaders, and senior producers are either at or nearing “retirement age”. In most instances, these folks are either selling their agencies to larger agencies or simply riding off into the sunset and letting another producer handle their book of business. Many times, the result is that the client relationship starts over. Another industry change is that you’re seeing a rapid influx of new technology in the industry (aka “Insurtech”). While these new technologies are sorely needed and frankly welcomed, I think an insurance buyer is still going to want to talk with an experienced, trusted expert.
While TruView will never make anyone actually like insurance, we are poised to take advantage of these opportunities to provide that trusted expert and long-term relationship that I think business owners want and ultimately need.
We’ll do this by providing clear, straight-forward, brutally honest insurance and risk management advice by communicating with our clients in a detail-oriented and responsive manner.
If you’d like to know more, feel free to give me a call directly at 480.495.8047 or email me at sgrady@truviewinsurance.com