policy magazine - spring 2012

POLICYFree Expert Advice for AgentsRisk Pro of the Year

Spring 2012magazineOklahoma’s

New WaysAlexander & Strunk and Beale Professional Services are bringing traditional insurance online

We understand the coverage needs of contractors and property owners.

Construction is one of the primary industry segments served by Mid-Continent,

but our support doesn’t end with General Liability. We also have specific

expertise in Contractors Surety, Builder’s Risk, Installation Floaters, Contractors

Equipment and Motor Truck Cargo.

M I D - C O N T I N E N T G R O U P

1437 South Boulder I Suite 200 Tulsa, Oklahoma 74119

www.mcg-ins.com

Mid-Continent is a member of Great American Insurance Group.

301 E. Fourth Street I Cincinnati, OH 45202 I www.GreatAmericanInsurance.com 0042-13-MCG (01/11)

®

PUBLISHER Dan Ramsey, CIC EDITOR Kathy Rose, CPIW MANAGING EDITOR Kathryn Jenson White ASSISTANT EDITOR Sarah Cavanah PRODUCTION EDITOR Susan Titus, PMP

PRESIDENT/ CHIEf ExECUTIvE OffICER Dan Ramsey, CIC

CHIEf OPERATING OffICER Susan J. Titus, PMP

CHIEf fINANCIAL OffICER Malinda Day

OkMAP ADMINISTRATOR Cindy Munden, CISR

EDUCATION DIRECTOR Susie Current

EDUCATION/MEMBERSHIP COORDINATOR Cathy Cinotto

fARM/RLI PROGRAM MANAGER Cindy Munden, CISR

E&O PROGRAM MANAGER Lyra Roberts

EDITORIAL STAff

PROfESSIONAL STAff

POLICY is the official publication of the Independent Insurance Agents of Oklahoma. POLICY is published quarterly and distributed to all member agen-cies and other interested parties in Oklahoma. Manuscripts and contributions are welcome, and will be considered for publication at the discretion of the IIAO Publications Committee.

Correspondence and advertising inquiries may be ad-dressed to IIAO, P.O. Box 13490, Oklahoma City, OK 73113. Ph: 405-840-4426 or 1-800-324-4426

The Independent Insurance Agents of Oklahoma is the

largest insurance trade association in Oklahoma. With

more than 475 independent insurance agencies, we

represent nearly 4,000 independent insurance agents

and their employees. IIAO member agencies range in

size from one person to some of the largest agencies in

the region.

Founded in 1906 as the Oklahoma Association of Local Fire

Insurance Agents, IIAO is a result of the consolidation of

the Independent Insurance Agents of Oklahoma, Inc. (IIAO)

and the Oklahoma Association of Professional Insurance

Agents (OAPIA) on Jan. 1, 1992.

IIAO policy is set by a board of directors elected at the an-

nual convention. Policy is implemented by a professional

staff located in Oklahoma City. IIAO’s mission, shown below,

is carried out through a variety of programs designed to

enhance the business of independent insurance agencies.

IIAO is an active advocate on behalf of independent agents

before legislative, regulatory and judicial groups in Okla-

homa and at the federal level.

IIAO is affiliated at the national level with the Independent

Insurance Agents and Brokers of America with offices in

Alexandria, Va., and Washington, D.C.

IIAO is an excellent source of information through

POLICY magazine, published quarterly, and the

Oklahoma Agent, a monthly newsletter of time-sensitive

material for its members.

ABOUT IIAO

The mission of the Independent Insurance Agents of Oklahoma, working in the public’s best interests, through active member participation, is to be the unrelenting advocate of independent insurance agents and to fulfill the education, political and business needs of its members.

IIAO MISSION STATEMENT

ON THE COvER???????

COLUMNS 2 ChAIRMAn Jed Dillingham

6 ExTRA Dan Ramsey, CIC

8 LEGAL ISSUES Tom Cooper

10 EDUCATIOn Susie Current

12 YOUnG AGEnTS COMMITTEE Ryan Bebee

14 STATE nATIOnAL DIRECTOR Vaughn Graham, CIC, CPCU, AFSB

16 OKLAhOMA InSURAnCE COMMISSIOnER John Doak

fEATURES 3 OkPAC and InsurPac Contributors and Form

30 RLI Provides Protection for Home-Based Business

32 Asked and Answered

Vol. 34, No. 3

NEWSMAkERS page 18

ON THE COvER

26AGEnCY PROFILEAlexander & Strunk and Beale Professional Services

ChAIR

REGIOnAL DIRECTORS

2 POLICY Spring 2012

IIAO LEADERSHIP

Jed Dillingham

OFFICERS

RED CARPET ZOnE 1

Phil Eitzen, CIC

Eitzen Agency, Fairview

GREAT PLAInS ZOnE 2

Larry Neal, CIC, AAI, LUTCfJ.T. neal Agency,

Lawton

GREEn COUnTRYZOnE 3

Thad Leonard

Carl M. Leonard & Son, Tulsa

FROnTIER COUnTRYZOnE 4

Donna Baker, CIC, CPIW

C.L. Frates & Co., OKC

LAKE & TRAIL ZOnE 5

Mike Somers, CIC

Somers Insurance Agency, Lindsay

KIAMIChI ZOnE 6

kelly Smith, CIC

JWB Insurance, holdenville

ChAIRMAn-ELECTEd McGrath, CICWilcox & McGrath

Insurance, OKC

VICE ChAIRMAnDavid Eaton, CIC

Advantage Insurance Group, El Reno

SECRETARY-TREASURERMark Carlin, CIC

Cole Paine & Carlin, OKC

STATE nATIOnAL DIRECTOR

vaughn Graham, CIC, CPCU, AfSB

Rich & Cartmill, Tulsa

IMMEDIATE PAST ChAIRMAn

Denise Johnson, CICECI Insurance, Piedmont

DIRECTORSBrad Berrong

Berrong Insurance Agency, Weatherford

Tom CarawayAgar-Ford-Jarmon & Muldrow/InSURICA,

norman

Bruce Jordan, CICJordan Carris Agency,

McAlester

Wes Magill, CICMagill Insurance Agency,

Weatherford

Mark Tedford, CICTedford Insurance,

Jenks

Chris Torres, CICOklahoma Agents

Alliance, OKC

Dillingham Insurance, Enid

ChAIRMAn

Especially during this important election year, insurance agents need to work together to ensure legislators hear and understand their concerns: How? Contribute to OkPAC and InsurPac.

Strength in Numbers

Politics. Politics. Politics. All we hear about on television is the Republican primaries as they relate to the horse race. Who is ahead? Who is behind? Who did or said something wrong, embarrassing, right? It is certainly a

negative process that you hope in the end will result in something positive. Kind of reminds you of sausage: a real mess to make, but a good product in the end.

Why do insurance agents care about politics?Individually, we hold an insurance license that requires

a certain level of competency and a continued level of education. The Oklahoma Insurance Department regulates us. Our state Legislature determines every aspect of what we must do to get a license and to keep it.

Every insurance agency in Oklahoma is a business en-terprise. Businesses are taxed and regulated by city, state and federal rules, regulations and laws. Almost every day I hear the news media talk about how businesses should pay more or less in taxes. I have heard most of my adult life that small business is the engine that drives our local, state and federal economies.

This year alone we expect to have approximately 400 bills introduced in the Oklahoma state Legislature dealing with insurance in some form. At this time, we know of a bill that deals with the possible privatization of CompSource Oklahoma. As I write this, CSOK controls about 40 percent of the workers’ compensation market in Oklahoma. A bill has been filed to allow business to opt out of the require-ment to carry workers’ compensation insurance. Legislation will be filed to fix a problem with a Supreme Court decision a couple of years ago that will allow local governments to place ad valorem taxes on intangible property, which would include agency books of business. The creation of a health insurance exchange is necessary — an Oklahoma-based, free-market exchange — or we will be faced with Obamacare Jan. 1, 2014.

On a federal level, the flood insurance authorization was just extended to May 13, 2012, another short-term

fix to a long-term problem. Federal regulation of the in-surance industry continues to be a topic of discussion in Washington, as lawmakers look for additional methods of generating taxes. The taxes paid on insurance premiums normally rank in the top two or three revenue generators for state governments.

And on and on and on.Can an individual agent or agency make a difference? Not really, but we can make an impact by banding

together into a larger group. You do this as a member of the Independent Insurance Agents of Oklahoma and the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America. Each of these groups has registered lobbyists to track and work on legislation on your behalf.

Is this enough? Again, not really. You must have the right elected of-

ficials in place that are pro-business. This is where the state and national political action committees of your association come into play.

OkPAC and InsurPacOkPAC works on statewide races and InsurPac works on funding federal campaigns with pro-business candidates. By pooling political contributions, we can make a difference. No contribution is too large or small. For example, if every agent and employee of our 500 Oklahoma member agencies gave an average political contribution of just $25, we would raise $250,000. This is an amazing number given that we currently raise $25,000 annually with only 75 contributors.

IIAO and IIABA These two organizations are the only ones working the po-litical arena on your behalf. Help them make a difference by contributing to both PACs. Encourage everyone in your organization to give something. It all adds up. With your help, we can make a difference and protect our industry.

You’ll see the form you need to contribute to both PACs on the adjoining page.

Insure Your Future! InsurPac OkPac Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America Independent Insurance Agents of Oklahoma c/o IIAO, PO Box 13490, OKC, OK 73113 IIAO, PO Box 13490, OKC, OK 73113 P: 202/863-7000, F: 405/840-4450 [email protected] P: 405/840-4426; F: 405/840-4450 [email protected] _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ OkPac Contribution

Yes, I want to INSURE MY FUTURE with a Personal Contribution to OkPac! (Check contribution below.)

$5000 Millenium $2500 Platinum $1000 Centennial $500 Gold $250 Pioneer $150 Founders $100 Young Agent Other $_______ InsurPac Contribution

Yes, I want to INSURE MY FUTURE with a Personal Contribution to InsurPac! (Check contribution below.)

$5000 Millenium $2500 Platinum $1000 Centennial $500 Gold $250 Pioneer $150 Founders $100 Young Agent Other $_______ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Contributor Information Name ____________________________________________________ Occupation ______________________

Agency _____________________________________________________________________________________

Address ____________________________________________________________________________________

City _________________________________________ State _____________ Zip ______________________

Phone _________________________________ Email ______________________________________________

Declaration: The contribution listed above was freely and voluntarily given by me from my personal property. I have not, directly or indirectly, been compensated or reimbursed for the contribution listed above. Signature ______________________________________________________________ Date ______________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Payment Information (All contributions must be made by PERSONAL check or PERSONAL credit card.)

Personal Check – Separate personal checks made payable to InsurPac and OkPac. $____________ to InsurPac $____________ to OkPac Personal Credit Card – One-time personal credit card contribution. $____________ to InsurPac $____________ to OkPac

Credit card information: MasterCard Visa American Express Credit Card Number ________________________________________________ Expiration Date ____________

Name as it appears on card _____________________________________________________________________

Contributions or gifts to InsurPac and OkPac are not deductible as charitable contributions for purposes of federal income tax.Federal and State law require us to use our best efforts to collect and report the name, mailing address, occupation and name of employer

for each individual. Your contribution should be considered strictly voluntary. Any corporate contributions are prohibited.


Kristi AbdoDonna BakerFred BarkerJohn BattaliouRyan BebeeBrad BerrongBob BramlettTodd BrandonTravis BrownTom CarawayMark CarlinMichael ColeScott CorneliusTerry CuppGerald DawkinsMalinda Day

Jed DillinghamDavid EatonPhil EitzenStefanie FieldsBen GorrellVaughn GrahamVaughn Graham, JrRaymond hale IIIJohn harperRich haverfieldMel holtErin howellJesse hydeJimmy IrwinDenise JohnsonKasey Jones

Bruce JordanTheresa KamlerThad LeonardBill LivermonMichael LoftisMark LongBruce MagillWesley R MagillPat MandevilleEd McGrathBob McKownCody McneillJonathan MolderCindy MundenLarry nealheidi nease

Daniel O’neilAllen PaineChris PaineJustin PeavlerRob PiearcySteve PolemanDan RamseyKathy ReeserLyra RobertsKathy RoseMichael RossTraci RoweKarl SeizingerScott SelmanClark SmithKelly Smith

Daniel SomersMike SomersAdriane StachmusDick TeubnerRyan TeubnerSusan TitusChris TorresBrad WarwickBill WetzelTravis WiedemannTrent WillisSteve WilsonJenny WoodBailey Word

Kristi AbdoDonna Bakerneil BarfieldRyan BebeeJake Bramlettnanette BramlettRobert BramlettTravis BrownKent CarlinMark CarlinJeff ClymerMichael ColeEarnie CorneliusJim CouchBill CoxTerry CuppGerald DawkinsKelly DeerJed DillinghamTim Driskill

David EatonPhil EitzenDewinda FordBen GorrellVaughn GrahamVaughn Graham, Jr.Ray haleJohn harperCharles harrisKathy hattenstyRich haverfieldTim hillErin howellJimmy IrwinJeremy JamesDenise Johnsonneil JohnsonKasey JonesBruce JordanRuss Keller

Thad LeonardJill LesterBill LivermonMike LoftisMark LongBruce MagillPat MandevilleLeslie McGaheyEd McGrathRobert McKownCody McneillMark McPhersonBob MedleyGene MeltonKelly MillerJonathan MolderJon MoonChris MosleyMichael MosleyDuane Murray

Larry nealheidi neaseJerry OdenDaniel O’neilChris PaineAllen PaineSteve PolemanDan RamseyTJ RileyLyra RobertsKathy RoseWill RosebureMike RossTraci RoweJane SealsKarl SeizingerScott SelmanClark SmithDabney SmithKelly Smith

Daniel SomersMike SomersJoe StrunkMichael SwentonGary TaberBelynda TayarDick TeubnerSusan TitusJenny TullBrad WarwickBill WetzelTravis WiedemannTrent WillisJenny WoodBailey WordBernie Zalaznik

2011 OkPAC Contributors

2011 InsurPac Contributors

OkPAC is IIAO’s political action committee. It provides financial support for state elected officials who will provide support for or have shown support of issues affecting the insurance industry and to those who share our business philosophies. Only individuals or partnerships can make contributions to OkPAC. Under Oklahoma law, OkPAC can accept no contributions from corporations.

InsurPac is IIABA’s political action committee. It pools the voluntary and individual financial contributions of thousands of independent insurance agents to help elect candidates to Congress who share IIABA’s business philosophies. InsurPac is the largest property-casualty insurance industry PAC in the country.

Is your name not on the list? Use the contributor’s statement on the front of this page to donate.

Platinum

Diamond

Independent Insurance Agents of Oklahoma

www.iiaok.com

GoldPatriot National Underwriters Inc./Old Glory Insurance Company

Taber Brokerage ServicesHome Value Insurance Company

Silver Midlands Management Corporation Chubb Group of Insurance Companies National American Insurance Company Safeco Insurance Columbia Insurance Group M.J. Kelly Company Chartis Insurance Hartford Insurance Group Access Insurance Company CNA Insurance State Auto Insurance Company

Bronze Swett & Crawford of Texas Risk Placement Services, Inc.

Farmers Alliance Insurance Companies Acton Inc. Triangle Insurance Company Graham-Rogers Inc. Westphalen Insurance Services AMERISAFE Republic Group of Insurance Companies Equity Insurance Company

2012

E A G L EA G E N C Y

Independent Insurance AgentsAssociation of OKC

Partners

SPECIALTY INSURANCE MANAGERSof Oklahoma

EXTRA

Dan Ramsey CIC

PRESIDENT CHIEF EXECUTIVE

OFFICER


Each year since 2005, Hypopanty has gotten better: breakout sessions, superb speakers, top-of-the-line networking opportunities mixed with golf, food, prizes and a great trade show: Don’t miss it this year.

Hypopanty 2012

In 2005, the IIAO Board of Directors decided an an-nual convention would no longer work: Attendance was dropping dramatically, and the idea seemed to be that conventions were boring. So, we stopped presenting our annual convention. To everyone’s

surprise, something new had emerged to take the place of the traditional convention, Hypopanty. And my, oh my, how things have changed.

Gone are the days of wondering whether 100 people might show up to spend two-and-a-half days out of their offices at a convention. Last year, more than 500 people showed up during our one-and-a-half day event. They didn’t all show up all at one time, but they were there. Hypopanty was developed to do several things well and efficiently for our members, partners, exhibitors and IIAO staff. It is hard to overstate the positive results we have seen since the advent of Hypopanty.

Hypopanty 2012 will be no exception. It promises to be another terrific event – one you will not want to miss. It opens Wednesday, May 9, with a 10 a.m. Shotgun Start at the ever-popular Fairfax course in Edmond. It is amazing how much that course has improved since the first time we played in the sleet shortly after it was opened. Lew promises no sleet in May.

Next, beginning at 5 p.m., we will present one of our most popular events of the year, Hospitality Night at the Bricktown Brewery. This is a great time to network with companies, other agents and IIAO staff. It’s also a great way to support OkPAC. Bricktown Brewery is the place to be.

On Thursday, we get down to business with the an-nual business meeting at 8:30 a.m. at the incredible — it’s not really haunted — Skirvin Hilton Hotel in Oklahoma City. IIABA Chairman-Elect Bob Bramlett will address the group with his perspective on what is going on at the national level. We’ll also elect officers and new members to the IIAO Board of Directors.

A new addition is the seven private, 30-minute breakout sessions during the day with an Ask An Expert agency consultant. These are by appointment only, so look for the special form in the registration packet. We will forward the completed forms to the consultant for his review, and he will pick the agencies he believes he can help the most in the time allowed.

The Consumer Agent Portal, one of the most innova-tive projects IIABA has developed for our members, will be the featured topic during the 9:30-10:30 a.m.

general session. You can find more about this exciting online presence for independent agents in IIAO State Director Vaughn Graham’s article in this magazine. You will not want to miss this session, in which the focus will be teaching you how to use the Internet to drive consumers to your agency. This tool can be a difference-maker for independent agents in recaptur-ing the personal lines market. The stories from pilot agencies have been truly remarkable.

From 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., we will offer two break-out sessions. Both are so outstanding that you will find it difficult to choose just one: Jon Persky, CPA, CIC, PHR, will present “Buying, Selling & Perpetuating Insurance Agencies” and Ed Lamont, CIC, CRM, will present “Position Yourself as an Insurance Expert.”

The Trade Show & Lunch runs from 12:30-4 p.m. During this time period, agents and more than 65 exhibitors will interact to learn about new products and possibly even make new partners. Of course, we’ll have many door prizes throughout the day and during the trade show.

Our Grand Prize drawings of $1,000 for an agent and $500 for a company representative at the end of the day will be worth the wait.

You may find it hard to believe it is possible to pack this much into such a short period of time if you have never attended hypopanty. To see for yourself that it’s more than possible, join 500 of your friends and competitors from around the state at hypopanty 2012.

ExTRA

POLICY Spring 2012 7

That may seem a full day, but at 4 p.m. the Young Agents Leadership Conference begins. Anyway. that is when the Hospitality Suite opens. I’m not quite sure what that means, but it sounds like fun. From 6-10 p.m. should be enough time for dinner at Coaches and a Redhawks baseball game, but those agents have been known to go beyond posted hours on occasion.

The Friday wake up comes in a 9 a.m.-1:30 p.m. ses-sion titled, “The Great Escape…Essential Strategies to Win the Battle Against Commoditization.” This session, which Scott Addis, CPCU, CRA, will present, should almost be a requirement for everyone in our business. In a time when commercials on television talk only about how much money insurance customers can save, this session gets us back to the value proposition of what insurance is all about. This session is about

courage, commitment, communication, focus, passion, positive attitude, problem solving, relationships, self-discipline and teamwork. That is a lot, but independent agents are fighting a cruel and debilitating disease that has attacked the marketplace.

Finally, we will all end the day/week on a high note with bowling at the Red Pin Bowling Alley in Bricktown. It’s not your normal bowling alley.

You may find it hard to believe it is possible to pack this much into such a short period of time if you have never attended Hypopanty. To see for yourself that it’s more than possible, join 500 of your friends and com-petitors from around the state and country at Hypopanty 2012 and the 2012 YAC Leadership Conference May 9-11 in Oklahoma City.

Believe me: You do not want to miss it.

I know we’ve been through this before, but the problem remains: Some of the biggest risks I see agents taking are on their websites where they promise more than they can deliver: Review your website today.


Pignato, Cooper, Kolker &

Roberson, P.C.

Tom Cooper

LEGAL

COLUMnIST

Website Warning

The time to discuss the content of agency websites is once again upon us. If this topic sounds famil-iar to some of you, I apologize. But the primary purpose of my column is to discuss trends and developments I see in the E&O cases I handle.

Until I see a decrease in the various ways in which website language is used against agents in lawsuits, I am likely to continue to beat this particular drum. Indeed, I am sure you all know the Latin phrase, repetitio est mater studiorum, but just in case you aren’t up on your ancient languages, it means “Repetition is the mother of studies.”

You may recall that Oklahoma law is actually quite favorable to producers as long as the customer has no evidence of a “special relationship” between the parties. Unfortunately, it is becoming commonplace for plaintiff’s attorneys to scour the agency’s website for evidence to build an argument that this “special relationship” existed.

The best way to demonstrate the point I have been attempt-ing to make in this series of articles is to recite language from some of the applicable case law, followed by a comparison of what I am seeing on some of the websites of local agencies.

First, the law: • Publicpolicyconsiderationsareagainstimposing

a duty upon an agent to advise of coverage needs.• Imposing liability on insurers and their agents

would remove any burden from the insured to take care of his own financial needs.

• Imposingadutytoadvisewouldtransforminsur-ance companies from a competitive marketplace industry into personal financial counselors or guardians of the insured.

• Insuredsknowtheirpersonalassetsandabilitiesto pay better than an insurance agent.

• Imposingsuchliabilityontheinsuranceindustrywould subject insurance companies to liability for failing to advise their own customers of every pos-sible insurance option.

• Anyotherresultwouldturntheentiretheoryofin-surance on its ear as individuals, in theory, take an “intellectual gamble” when purchasing insurance as they weigh the expense of the insurance versus the amount of coverage that they purchase.

Contrast those very pro-agent statements with the fol-lowing statements by local agencies:

• “Wewillmaketheefforttofullyunderstandyourbusiness insurance needs and design only the most efficient insurance program available.”

• “We are not just about collecting premiums atrenewal. We work with you throughout the year, learning your business and fixing your problems.”

• “Werelyontheexpertiseofourinsuranceprofes-sionals to provide our customers with the knowledge and experience to evaluate risk solutions and select the appropriate insurance vehicle.”

• “Wedesigncomprehensiveandcompleteprogramsfor both insurance and risk management.”

• “We negotiatewith insurers to secure themostfavorable terms for you.”

• “Weactasanextensionofyourbusinessandasyour trusted business advisor so that we can offer the appropriate solutions to your needs.”

As I have said previously, I am not at all critical of an agency’s efforts to set itself apart from the competition by way of this type of advertising. My goal is simply to let producers


LEGAL

know about the favorable law in Oklahoma, and to let you know how, sometimes, we get more than we bargain for in a lawsuit solely because the plaintiff’s attorney has been pro-vided with a gift in the form of written promises on a website.

As I am assigned new cases and interview new produc-ers across the state, I am still surprised to learn that most producers have little, if any, knowledge about the language on their own websites. Accordingly, my tip du jour on how to prevent what should be a relatively easy lawsuit from becoming a fistfight is to know and understand the language used on your own website. Perhaps, ultimately, we can avoid website content being the plaintiff’s first exhibit in a lawsuit. Indeed, I can also find many good examples from the websites of local agencies.

• “Wehaveareputationfortopqualityservice,knowl-edgeable staff, and access to the leading insurance markets.”

• “Wehaveprovidedqualityinsuranceservicesforlocal, national, and international customers for over 85 years. We would like to add you to our list of

satisfied customers.”• “Our experienced staff will gladly answer your

questions and address your concerns, so that you will be in a position to make an informed decision regarding your insurance needs.”

Kudos to the author of that last statement. You effec-tively reminded your customer that the ultimate decision on what to purchase is his or hers, not yours.

Obviously, agencies are first and foremost commercial en-terprises, and you, as in any other industry, want to set yourself apart from the competition. My personal observation is that a customer’s decision to choose one producer over another lies in the quality and quantity of personal visits with the customer, not necessarily the written promises made on a website.

For those of you who are tired of hearing me drone on about the content of websites, I promise to cover a different topic in the next issue. Until then, please do yourselves a favor and take a look at your own websites.

Molly Raynor, an associate at Pignato, Cooper Kolker &

You can gain a wealth of knowledge without leaving the office through video webinars and online courses.


Web Wisdom

EDUCATIOn DIRECTOR

Susie Current

EDUCATIOn

Great classroom courses, which are high qual-ity and packed with information you can take back to your office and use immediately, are what you have come to know us for in the world of insurance education. Have you seen

all our other options, though, as new, innovative courses pop up on our education calendar?

Two types always available are video webinars and online courses covering insurance basics. We haven’t sacrificed the quality of education, but we have continued adding to the variety of formats in which we can offer our consistently high-quality education of all kinds.

The video webinars have a user-friendly set-up de-signed to keep you focused and engaged in the course. Your computer screen is broken into four quadrants. The top left of the screen is a video of the instructor talking to you. Seeing the person talking provides a more personal

experience. The top right quadrant contains the speaker’s PowerPoint presentation.

The bottom left of the screen houses multiple tabs with a variety of helpful functions. You can ask the speaker questions throughout the presentation. You can access additional course materials or forms that go along with the presentation. You can download general information about the course and important notices. The last tab in this corner of the screen is titled Certificate. This is where you plug in your code to earn CE for taking the course. The last corner of the screen, the bottom right, is a personal notes section. You can take notes throughout the webinar right on the screen. When the session ends, you can email those notes to yourself.

You take no test in a webinar course. Letters pop up on your screen throughout the course to verify your continued attendance. At the end of the webinar, plug in those letters,

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EDUCATIOn

and we file the CE for you. The code ensures that you were not only logged in to the seminar but also in attendance.

We offer a variety of courses every month in these video webinars. Some are timeless topics like ethics and business. Other topics tend to focus more on what is go-ing on right now. For instance, we recently developed a certificates of insurance course to be offered at times throughout the year.

Another group of our online courses has no CE attached to it. This group contains basic level courses packed full of quality information to help someone just getting into the business or taking on a new line of work.

Our members let us know we needed to help educate those with no background in the insurance industry. We found a company called MERG to answer that need. We have four courses in this group. The first is titled New Agency Employee Orientation. This course goes over key terms and concepts, the importance of E&O and a small history of insurance. It is a great overview of insurance and the industry for beginners.

Two other courses MERG offers are Personal Coverage Basics and Commercial Coverage basics. These are per-

fect courses if you have, or are, an employee who has just started in one of these areas; these are beginners’ courses on important areas of personal or commercial lines.

The personal lines course covers dwelling, liability, homeowners, personal auto and other key areas. The com-mercial basics course covers the commercial package policy and the BOP, commercial property, ocean and inland marine, commercial general liability, commercial auto, commercial crime and workers’ compensation.

The final MERG class we offer is called Delivering Quality Service. This course focuses on developing rela-tionships through active listening, taking ownership of the customer’s problem, helping confused or irate customers, exploring workflows to see the big picture and following standard procedures to minimize E&O risks.

MERG courses last from six to eight weeks and are taken at the user’s convenience. This means that those new employees stay right in the office, immersed in your culture and learning your agency procedures at the same time they are going through the course.

All of these classes are on our calendar year round. Visit iiaok.com/education for a complete listing.


YAC

Cole Paine & Carlin

ChAIR, YOUnG AGEnTS

COMMITTEE

Ryan Bebee

Under 40? Less than five years in the industry? We have events for you.

Young is Good

It is hard to believe that 2012 is already in full swing and time is going by so fast. The Young Agents have a lot of exciting events coming up, and I encourage you to get involved. If you are an agency principal, we also ask that you please encourage your new producers

to attend YA events. We are starting out 2012 by bringing back the Future

Insurance Leaders of Oklahoma program. FILO kicked off March 28. This workshop helps introduce new producers to IIAO, the Young Agents Committee and the annual conference. The mission is to help new producers or com-pany reps have a complete understanding of the insurance industry as a whole.

Young agents can participate in FILO through six dif-ferent modules scheduled separately. They include IIAO orientation, legislation, regulatory affairs, claims & risk management, sales/production motivation, leadership and a community service project.

We also have the YA Reunion Luncheon coming up. This luncheon is scheduled in conjunction with the Day at the Capitol event April 17. We are calling all young agents — old and new — to attend both events. We need your support at the Capitol to help keep industry issues at the forefront with our state legislators. The YA will host the luncheon after the event and will tape the luncheon. We need your attendance.

Expanding your range of niche

business is one way of increasing it.

Bituminous gives agents an “in” with

a wider variety of contractors. And, our

programs –appealing to contractors’

specific needs – encourage valuable

repeat business.

Bituminous remains the stable source

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Visit us online at youngagents.com or like us on Facebook at facebook.com/OKYAC.


YAC

The biggest event scheduled this year is the Annual Young Agents Conference. Once again, we will team with IIAO’s Hypopanty Annual Conference, which kicks off May 10 at The Skirvin Hilton Hotel in downtown OKC.

Highlights of the day are in the box accompanying this column. Note that we are offering a $25 discount for first-time attendees.

We also host Young Agent lunches alternating monthly between Tulsa and OKC. The only cost is your lunch. This

is a great way to meet company reps and network with your peers. Check the website for dates and locations.

As you can see there are many opportunities to get involved. Make sure to visit us online at youngagents.com or like us on facebook.com/OKYAC to keep up to date with all upcoming events and registration information. Also please email me at [email protected] or call Lyra Roberts at IIAO if you have any questions or need more information.

HYPOPANTY 2012 EvENTS fOR YAC

5 | 9 Optional golf at Fairfax Golf Club & hospitality Welcome Event at Bricktown Brewery

5 | 10 IIAO Annual hypopanty Conference begins; more than 70 vendors will attend

5 | 10 Young Agents portion kicks off with a ticket to the trade show followed by dinner and a Redhawks game on Coach’s patio

5 | 11 Scott Addis is the scheduled speaker: The Purple Cow Leadership Workshop. he is a nationally rec-ognized speaker who teaches attendees the essential strategies to escape the commodity trap and

give themselves a competitive advantage. Check out his website at beyondinsurance.com/pages purple-cow-workshop.

5 | 11 Bowling at Red Pin following the workshop

Just because you are an independent agent doesn’t mean you have to market yourself like one. Project CAP gives you national marketing power that reaches into your own community.


STATE nATIOnAL DIRECTOR

vaughn Graham CIC, CPCU, AfSB

SnD

Project CAP

Independent insurance agents in Oklahoma and around the country have long recognized that personal lines business represents a huge market for a large major-ity of our association’s members. In fact, personal auto, by itself, now represents nearly one-third of all

property-casualty business. Yet for years, we have gradu-ally conceded the loss of that significant income to others who are captive agents or direct writers rather than Trusted Choice independent insurance agents. That is getting ready to change in a big way and in a hurry.

How, you might be asking yourself? Engaged Trusted Choice agents from around the country as well as members of IIABA and five visionary insurance companies have created an insurance industry initiative to help you and me recapture and expand our share of the personal lines insurance market. Project CAP is the beginning of that movement.

Project CAP, or Consumer Agent Portal, is a way for agents and their agencies to participate in a nationwide strategy of marketing locally. Credible research has made us aware of some amazing information in that close to 75 percent of our customers and those we want to become our customers go online before buying insurance. It also has confirmed to us what we have thought for a long time: Folks would ultimately rather buy from us because we offer a choice of insurance companies. Data show that individuals seeking insurance see that as insurance professionals we provide guidance and information along with local, per-sonal service. They know we will be their advocates. This is what Trusted Choice independent insurance agents do.

Project CAP has been developed with the express pur-pose of aligning and leveraging our collective strengths as the independent agents’ distribution system to compete with captive agent carriers and direct writers.

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SnD

The strength of Project CAP lies in its offering of cre-ative solutions to help each of us gain a more equal footing to compete for business. This, in turn, helps the entire independent insurance agent distribution system. That help leads to individual insurance agents gaining visibility and success. This cycle of success leads to all of us winning.

What I am describing to you is actually here and now. I encourage you to visit Project CAP’s website, ProjectCAPmarketing.com. There you will find answers to your questions about the portal. You’ll find a wealth of tools and techniques to help your agency with its digital market-ing presence, business intelligence, training, systems and the services you need to build your online presence. Project CAP will help you succeed at reinforcing your local brand in your local territory.

The Consumer Agent Portal is the gateway through which online insurance shoppers in your local marketing area can find you, look at your agency’s profile, read infor-mation about insurance, compare auto rates and coverages and, ultimately, ask for and receive quotes from you.

To switch from the virtual to the real, if you have not made your final plans to attend IIAO’s Hypopanty and Annual Business Meeting in May, I strongly encourage you to do so now. Tom Minkler, who will become chairman of IIABA in 2013, will treat us to an in-depth Project CAP presentation. He is a board member of Consumer Agent Portal, LLC. More importantly, like us, Tom, who is from Keene, N.H., is a Trusted Choice agent who believes his individual voice, when joined with other voices just like his, can raise a collective voice, elevate the independent agents’ distribution system and recapture a share of personal lines.

I, too, know the Project CAP initiative is poised to be the game changer many of us have said we wanted. Be engaged; be part of these exciting times.

Candace and I thank you for the opportunity to represent each of you and Oklahoma as state director at Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers meetings. If ever you have comments or questions about issues or how your association is working on your behalf, please call me at 918.293.7191 or email to [email protected] to let me know what is on

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Thank You For Your Continued Business!

We’re wrapping up a busy year at the Oklahoma Insurance Department, but we still have many initiatives on tap for this legislative season. Here’s a quick look at upcoming legislation that matters to you.


OID Legislative Agenda

OKLAhOMA InSURAnCE

COMMISSIOnER

John Doak

OID UPDATE

After a whirlwind first year in office, I find it hard to believe that my second legislative session as Oklahoma insurance commis-sioner is already upon us.

I had plenty of opportunities in 2011 to learn about what Oklahoma and Oklahomans need from their Insurance Department. Nature saw to that through two bliz-zards within a month of my taking office, dozens of damaging hailstorms, more than 70 reported tornadoes in the spring and early summer, nearly 300,000 acres burned by wildfire and a state-record earthquake with aftershocks in the autumn.

I saw to it myself by visiting each of Oklahoma’s 77 counties, speaking with local residents and frequently conducting insurance roundtables with participation from industry professionals, some of whom are probably reading this issue of Policy.

These experiences and the will of the people as voiced to me while I crisscrossed this state shaped the Oklahoma

Insurance Department’s 2012 legislative agenda. This year in the Legislature, look for these bills from the OID:

• SB 1511 would grant non-appropriated status to the Oklahoma Insurance Department, letting the agency run like a business, independent of any taxpayer dollars appropriated by the Legislature and saving about $2 million annually. (Sen. Ron Justice, R-Chickasha)

• SB 1621 and HB 2075 are associational health plan bills, offering new options apart from federally mandated exchanges to lower costs and increase choices for employers. (Sen. Bill Brown, R-Broken Arrow, and Rep. Glenn Mulready, R-Tulsa)

• HB 2318 extends the frequency of domestic insur-ance company exams from three years to five years, meeting NAIC standards and lowering the cost of doing business in Oklahoma. (Rep. Charles Key, R-Oklahoma City)

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OID UPDATE

• SB 1618 and HB 2453 are commissioner’s omni-bus bills, mostly providing cleanup and clarification to existing legal language. The bills also phase out the life, accident and health brokers license in Oklahoma without affecting anyone currently holding that license and require outbuildings to be treated like the home when issuing a cancellation or non-renewal of a policy. (Sen. Brown and Rep. Key)

• SB 1617 and HB 2458 cleanup last year’s surplus lines bill, clarifying that the premium tax rate is Oklahoma’s tax rate. (Sen. Brown and Rep. Key)

• SB 1597 and HB 2751 recapture 100 percent of the insurance company $750 anti-fraud assessment to fund anti-fraud activities. (Sen. Ralph Shortey, R-Oklahoma City and Rep. Dan Kirby, R-Tulsa)

• HB 2981 creates small compliance fees and brings clarity to language that established new fees last year. (Rep. Charles Ortega, R-Altus)

• SB 1439 stiffens the penalties for insurance fraud. (Sen. Cliff Aldridge, R-Choctaw)

Also during this 53rd Legislature, bills to watch that didn’t originate with OID include the following:

• SB 1378 creates a work comp equivalent option presently available only in Texas. Supporters say the customizable workers’ compensation plans can lower costs and im-prove coverage for some businesses and their workers and that the plans have been adopted by about 40 percent of Texas employers. (Sen. Brian Bingman, R-Sapulpa)

• HB 2445 places CompSource under the same regulation as other Oklahoma domestic insurance companies. (Rep. Marty Quinn, R-Claremore)

• SB 1766 seeks to clean up the language of last year’s no-pay, no-play law without changing the law’s effects. (Sen. John Sparks, D-Norman)

• HB 2525 would permit compliance with Oklahoma’s compulsory insurance law to be the primary cause of a law enforcement traffic stop. (Rep. Steve Martin, R-Bartlesville)

• HB 2753 would allow law enforcement agencies to seize the license plate from any car that lacks mandatory minimum mo-tor vehicle insurance. The tags would be

deposited with the county clerk’s office in which the stop occurred and would be returnable to the vehicle owner upon showing proof of insurance to the county clerk. (Rep. Kirby)

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The OSU A&M Board of Regents has appointed Jason Ramsey to replace retiring Executive Secretary W. Douglas Wilson. Ramsey has served the board for eight years, most recently as director of state government relations. Ramsey will carry the new title of chief executive officer of the Board of Regents for the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical Colleges, a title the regents believe better encompasses the broad scope of the job.

Jay helm, chairman of the Oklahoma A&M Board of Regents, expressed both his appreciation for Wilson’s service as executive secretary and his enthusiasm for Ramsey’s being named to the new position.

“Jason brings an immediate understanding of the administrative respon-sibilities and duties of the position, making his transition into the role seamless,” helm said. “It has been my privilege to work with him over the last few years. Jason is a professional with a solid reputation who understands the operations, issues and opportunities of the universities and colleges we govern, and he enjoys their respect. As Doug transitions into retirement over the next several months, he does so in a manner that

will allow Jason to inherit the strong organization and structure he has created.”

The chief executive offi-cer is a non-voting officer of the board responsible for all administrative, op-erational, legal, auditing and record-keeping func-tions of the office. More importantly, the CEO supports the board with guidance in long-range planning and communi-cations and is expected to maintain a broad view of the board’s steward-ship with respect to the various colleges and universities under its governance.

Wilson announced his retirement in June. he officially retired in March, at which time Ramsey assumed his position. At the request of the board, Wilson will serve as a consultant until July to support Ramsey in the transition.

Ramsey holds a bachelor’s degree from Oklahoma State University and a master of business administration from the University of Oklahoma. he resides in Edmond with his wife, natalie, and two children.

Jason Ramsey is the son of Dan Ramsey, president and chief executive officer of IIAO.

About OSU A&M RegentsThe Board of Regents for the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical Colleges was created on July 11, 1944. The board has the supervision, management and control of five institutions, including Connors State College, Langston University, northeastern Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College, Oklahoma Panhandle State University, and Oklahoma State University. The nine board members are appointed by the governor of Oklahoma, including the president of the State Board of Agriculture. Board members are appointed for eight-year terms. The board’s mission is to guide and uphold policies and procedures which nurture the higher education system in a manner that provides students access to a first-class collegiate education in the state of Oklahoma.

nEWSMAKERSOSU A&M Board of Regents appoints Ramsey as new CEO

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Our future will be marked by the relationships we forge with you—the independent insurance agents who represent us. You’re the reason we’ll continue to investigate new market opportunities. Why we’ll develop competitive products. Why we’ll maximize the use of new technologies. Why we’ll emphasize ongoing professional development for our staff. By helping you profitably and efficiently grow your agency, EMC Insurance Companies will continue to serve you and your customers today and well into the future.

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nEWSMAKERSAlexander & Strunk and Beale Professional Services formally recognized their partnership by hosting an open house for more than 150 guests Jan. 26.

Guests enjoyed drinks and hors d’oeuvres as they toured the 10,200-square-foot building in the Quail Springs area of northwest Oklahoma City. Before the ribbon cutting, OKC Chamber Ambassador Paul Crone presented Alexander & Strunk President Joe Strunk, Alexander & Strunk Vice President Guy Strunk and Beale Professional Services President Jennifer Beale with plaques commemorating the event.

“Our recent partnership with Beale Professional Services will improve our strength and knowledge as a niche insurance agency working with professional associations,” Joe Strunk said. “Marketing to multiple professional associations will attract more insurance markets and better insurance products for our cur-rent and future customers. We are focused on and committed to providing insurance solutions for small business professionals.”

Beale said she is eager to join forces with Alexander & Strunk in a new location.

“For years, we have worked together on several asso-ciation insurance products,” she said. “The two agen-cies have been doing many of the same things, but separately. now we get to do these things together.

“It will be exciting to see how we can take each agency’s best practices to grow our knowledge of the industry, streamline administration and compli-ance issues and enhance our customer service capabilities.”

Guy Strunk said that opportunities to merge with other professional association insurance agencies are becoming fewer.

“We are fortunate to partner with Beale Professional Services,” he said. “Through quality leadership and steadfast determination, I believe today’s challenges will become tomorrow’s victories.”

Alexander & Strunk and Beale Professional Services host open house

Wichita Branch: 800.223.0562 | Home Office: Des Moines, IA www.emcins.com

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I’m celebrating our 100th year by planning for our next 100 years.

Jason Bogart, CPCU, ARM, Vice President of Branch Operations

Our future will be marked by the relationships we forge with you—the independent insurance agents who represent us. You’re the reason we’ll continue to investigate new market opportunities. Why we’ll develop competitive products. Why we’ll maximize the use of new technologies. Why we’ll emphasize ongoing professional development for our staff. By helping you profitably and efficiently grow your agency, EMC Insurance Companies will continue to serve you and your customers today and well into the future.

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Guy Strunk, Joe Strunk and Jennifer Beale display certificates from the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce presented to Alexander & Strunk and Beale Professional Services Jan. 26 to congratulate them on their new office building.


Kristina Donaldson, commercial insurance account manager with Enid’s Messer-Bowers Company was named Risk Management Profes-sional of the Year at the Region VI Conference of the International Association of Insurance Professionals.

The Risk Management Professional of the Year Award recognizes a risk management profes-sional who has demonstrated superior knowl-edge of the risk management field, experienced professional advancement through educational pursuits and demonstrated leadership in the field. The individual must also be an active participant in IAIP activities.

Among the criteria considered in conferring the award are the candidate’s participation in associa-

tion activities; involvement in insurance industry continuing education programs; industry involve-ment; and activities undertaken in the community.

Donaldson will go on to compete on the national level with the winners representing the other eight regions of IAIP. The national Risk Manage-ment Professional of the Year will be awarded during the annual convention to be held June 7-9 in Dallas.

Donaldson is a member of IWOE-Insurance Professionals, a local association of the IAIP. The International Association of Insurance Profession-als is an association of insurance professionals dedicated to the development of leaders in the in-surance and risk management industries through education, networking and industry alliances.

nEWSMAKERSDonaldson named Risk Management Professional of the Year

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nEWSMAKERSnEWSMAKERSIIAO raises more than $25,000 for food for kids Backpack Program

Mary Tilford of INSURICA presents a check to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma for $1,831, an amount representing donations from INSURICA employees. INSURICA matched its employee donations in a recent fundraising drive for the food bank.

“When I saw the email from IIAOK and, specifically, the sec-tion about the backpacks, I wrote to our CFO/branch manager to see whether we could donate the $200,” Tilford said. “He said we should see whether we could raise more by opening the opportunity to our colleagues in our OKC office. He agreed that INSURICA would match donations dollar for dollar up to $200.

Then, five individuals said they would match dollar for dollar anonymously up to $200. A wonderful 38 colleagues donated.”

By Ed McGrath, IIAO Incoming Chairman

Thanks to the generous contributions of our members, IIAO raised more than $25,000 in 2011 for the Food for Kids Backpack Program, which the board of directors endorsed in summer 2011 as one of our association’s philanthropic projects.

The Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma and the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma together provided food to more than 18,000 children attending 546 different schools in Oklahoma. The program touched most if not all of the communities in which we live and serve.

Our total goal for this worthy project is $100,000. It costs $200 per year to feed a child. We have more than 500 members in our association. If each member adopts one child, we can accomplish our goal.

I encourage each agency to do a matching program with its staff, so we can meet the needs in our communities and support this important pro-gram. Children who are hungry can’t learn as well as those who are not.

You may contribute through the IIAO Insurance Foundation, which is a 501(c) (3) organization, so the contributions are fully tax-deductible. Please designate the money to your desired food bank.

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Young Agents Lunch Bunch

Dear IIAO

nEWSMAKERS

Young Agents Committee members take advantage of the opportunities offered at the YA Lunch Bunches, informal gatherings held in Tulsa or Oklahoma City every month or so. Young Agents leadership advertises these as a time for enjoying great food and figuring out ways to help agencies grow. This Lunch Bunch took place at Rococo in Oklahoma City’s Northpark Mall, Tuesday, Feb. 28. Front row: Melissa Manus, Traci Rowe, Kasey Jones, Heidi Nease, Lyra Roberts, YA staff liaison. Back row: Chairman Ryan Bebee, John Battaliou, Daniel O’Neil, Trent Willis, chairman-elect, Erin Howell.

At left, IIAO CEO Dan Ramsey speaks to YA members about legislation under discussion at the Capitol. One of the main focuses of IIAO leadership is monitoring legislation that could have an impact on independent insurance agents.

Below, YA Chairman Ryan Bebee explains Day at the Capitol and encourages YA members to show up for this important event to make their views known to their legislators.

nEWSMAKERSW

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HOW CAN WE HELP YOU TODAY? Join us at one of these short meetings to learn just what the Independent Insurance Agents of Oklahoma can do for you. Whether you are a new member or have been around for a while, these meetings are packed with information that will help you and your business!

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Our member agents, as small businesses, enjoy advantages usually reserved for large corporations. In the courts, Congress, and the legislature, the independent agents’ voice is second to none.

Come find out how can we help you!

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Wednesday, September 26, 2012

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Register today at www.iiaok.com!

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Focus on

AFFINITYgroups

story by

kathryn jenson whitemanaging editor

Alexander & Strunk and Beale Professional Services

tradition preserved / innovation ahead


Robert (Bob) Strunk and Stan Alexander started the Alexander & Strunk Insurance Agency in 1972. Sometime in the mid-’80s, Strunk bought out Alexander, who is still a producer for the agency. In 1997, Joe Strunk, 40, began working at the agency and Guy Strunk, 43, joined in 2002. In January 2007, Joe and Guy bought their father out, and Bob retired from the agency to manage an agency with his brother in Colgate. On Jan. 1, 2011, Jennifer Beale, 38, Joe and Guy bought Beale Professional Services, which Jennifer’s father, Richard (Dick) Beale had owned since 1986. Dick still works for the agency.

KJW What made the purchase of Beale Professional Services a good idea at

this time?

JS When my dad and Stan started the agency, they started focusing early on selling to dentists.

They received the endorsement of the Oklahoma Dental Association in the early ’70s, so we’ve sold a lot of different products to Oklahoma dentists. Alexander & Strunk is also endorsed by the Oklahoma Optometric Association. It’s a much smaller association, but they are an important part of the affinity options we have. Beale is endorsed by the Oklahoma Bar Association and the Oklahoma Society of CPAs, so that provided a nice complement. We had worked with the same insurance carriers to offer the same products, but they were selling to two different professional associa-tions. However, we all office together, which enables us to share many of our resources and create synergy.

KJW How large had Alexander & Strunk become in terms of its personnel,

producers, support staff, etc., before the Beale connection?

JS Alexander & Strunk had 16 people, and Beale had 10. When you add all those we consider producers,

we would have about seven in all.

KJW So you three have taken care of the perpetuation question for these two

agencies for another 20+ years. What are the excit-ing things going on right now in terms of the future of your agencies?

JS Affinity insurance, or association insurance, is incredibly exciting to us because we deal with

professionals, basically with small business owners just like us. Like us, they are trying to run a small organization and make a go of it. We’re dealing with peers, people we can relate to, people with the same needs and goals as us. Another exciting and fairly unusual thing about us is the age demographic of our clients. If you talk to other agencies, for the most part they will say their customers are the same age they are. For example, if you have a pro-ducer who’s 50, a lot of his customers are 50. Well what’s exciting about dealing with professional associations is we deal with the colleges, like the Colleges of Dentistry at the University of Oklahoma and Tulsa, as well as older professionals involved in governing the association. Our customers will end up being customers for their entire professional careers, from leaving university all the way to retirement. I’ve got customers who are half my age and customers who are 60 or 70 years old. I don’t have to worry about the fact that when I perpetuate this 20 years from now, if everything’s the same, someone’s going to say to me, ‘Well, your business isn’t worth as much because your customers are all 65 years old as you are.’

KJW In addition to the professional lines, you also have personal lines. Do you

find that most of your personal lines customers re-sult from your involvement with these professional organizations?

JS On the Alexander & Strunk side, we have a tradi-tional P&C and life and health shop. I would say

probably 30 percent to 40 percent of our professional lines are truly dentists or optometrists, and the rest are probably just your normal small or medium-sized business owners. I would say that, given this, most of our personal lines are a result of our business lines clients. All our personal lines clients may not be professionals in those associations, but

story by

kathryn jenson whitemanaging editor

Alexander & Strunk and Beale Professional Services

Continued on Page 28


they probably got referred to us from the accountants, lawyers, dentists and optometrists we cover. About 90 percent of Beale Professional’s customers are lawyers and CPAs.

KJW I note that you have a blog on your website, and I don’t see many of those

yet on agency sites. Do you think because your generation is truly the technological generation that this sort of communication comes easier to you and seems a more natural way to communicate with your customers?

JS Well, we certainly think that because we are going to these colleges every year and trying to generate

new customers, that we have to be on the social media side of things. Do I think that it’s driving revenue at this point in time? No. Do I think we have to have a portion of our agency on social media? Yes. I don’t write all the entries we post, but I do like writing an occasional blog. Facebook is important to us, too.

KJW You have a Twitter feed and QR codes on the website as well.

JS I think QR codes are really neat, I do. Do I think we do enough with them? No. But I do think they are

really cool; it’s a great concept. The bottom line is though, to be perfectly honest with you, insurance is still not excit-ing to anybody, and so it’s not like we’re going to get a lot of hits on that stuff. Still I do think it’s a cool concept, and I do think that we need to engage with it. In fact, I wish we did more with these technological options, but at the end of the day we are so busy with our insurance selling activities that social media kind of gets pushed aside until the marketing expert says, “Hey, we’re going to do this, this and this.” Then I say, “OK. Do it.” And I think that insurance agents could do a lot with an app on an iPhone, but no one knows exactly what yet. We’re not at that point where anyone seems to want an insurance app.

KJW: You need to come up with something like Angry Insurance Agents or Ninja

Agents. That would get you some attention. OK. Maybe not. Back to business. What do you find to be your greatest challenges?

JS I have written a blog about this, but it’s unpublished because it’s a little bit political. I honestly think

what we face right now is that we honestly don’t know what’s going to happen to health care and taxes. To be perfectly blunt,that’s a huge financial element in a lot of agencies, and when you say you don’t know what’s going to happen, it’s very difficult for us to plan. Even if we say we’ll just forget about healthcare and become a P&C shop, we still face the question of what’s going to happen to our taxes as a small business. If we might be hit up like any small business for 5 percent more in taxes to pay for mandated healthcare, we can’t plan to hire or grow because we don’t know what’s going to happen. Healthcare is most independent insur-ance agents’ greatest challenge as a double whammy. No. 1: What is whatever happens going to do to my revenue for life and health? No. 2: What is whatever happens going to do to my tax liability as a small business owner? No. 3: This uncertainty along with financial volitility also means we may have fewer small businesses to sell to.

KJW What do you see as the exciting oppor-tunities now?

JS Well, I see opportunity in a focus on the benefit side of things. We can take the model we’ve created for

the dental association, which is about 11 different products, and take it over to the CPAs and lawyers. Even if it’s only nine products, probably five of those nine products our agency has not sold before.

KJW What does this second generation of owners bring to the agencies that their

fathers might not have?

JS I have an engineering undergraduate degree and an MBA, which probably leads to a slightly different

view of insurance. I’m the president-elect of a national association that deals with nothing but marketing to as-sociation affinity business, AIPAIGA, which stands for American Institute of Professional Association Insurance Group Administrators. Our meetings give us good ideas to implement when we return. I do like the fact that on a national level there are people like me in every state of whom I can ask questions and not feel I’m talking to a competitor. Some of my best friends are doing what I do

Guy Strunk, Joe Strunk and Jennifer Beale share ribbon-cutting duties during the grand opening of Alexander & Strunk and

Beale Professional Services Jan. 26.

Continued from Page 27


in other states, and we certainly share ideas openly and honestly. Of course, I’m very good friends with a lot of insurance agents in the state, but I might hesitate to share with many of them the innermost workings of how I run my agency or what I do without feeling a little bit of ‘Are they taking notes?’

KJW Do you have a lot of direct competi-tors in Oklahoma?

JS Every agent, whether for Farmer’s or State Farm or another independent agent, is a competitor.

They can all sell to any of our customers. The difference is that with us, dentists, optometrists, lawyers and CPAs are doing business with people who have a deep knowledge of their industries. No one knows the insurance needs for those four different associations better than we do. Because we’re selling volume, so to speak, we think there is usually a little better benefit or a little better price or a combination thereof. But if someone has a cousin or an uncle who is in the insurance business and is willing to pay a little more because of that relationship, I’m not opposed to that. I understand people like to do business with their relatives. For the most part, though, clients recognize our expertise when they speak to their associations at meetings or in the classroom.

KJW Do you see IIAO as being as important to the insurance profession as the

organizations you represent are to theirs?

JS Absolutely. The biggest benefit is any association’s lobbying efforts to protect your profession. I am a

huge fan of Dan Ramsey. I think he is our greatest asset. I lean on him a lot whenever there is something going on at the Capitol or just in business. I’ve asked many times for his advice. There is no doubt what the Big I brings to us is very valuable.

KJW The issue of perpetuation is always a concern of older insurance. You don’t

really have that pressure right now, do you?

JS You know, I think that some of these agencies around the state should perpetuate earlier to their

relative or some producer who’s younger. It’s a hard step

to take. At the end of the day, though, some agencies are going to lose because when their agency is valued it’s going to go down. As I said earlier, an agent’s business is usually the same age he or she is. I’ve spoken to sev-eral people in my generation who are struggling in their agencies because they thought they were going to get perpetuated to at an earlier time. By the time they’re 50, if that’s when it’s going to happen, do they really want to take on a debt of that size? No, they don’t. So now, the agency owner has to go find someone completely different. I think the consultants are telling some agency owners to think about this, that they need to exit the business while their customers are still worth something. It’s also an opportunity for us agents who are in our 40s to grab an agency when it comes up for sale. We’re looking for opportunities out there.

KJW You’re in a growth position right now, aren’t you?

JS We are in a growth mode as much as we can be. We had a record year last year. If I could replicate

that year, to be honest with you, I would. I don’t know that I can continue that uptick of growth every year. Our goal has always been to outpace our expenses by 2 percent to 3 percent. If we can do that, awesome. If our expenses grow by 2 percent, then we should grow 5 percent so that we’re ahead of the curve.

KJW Any other final comments you want to make about the state of the industry?

You obviously think it’s a good time to be 40-some-thing in this profession, right?

JS I do. I think there are a lot of very talented people in the Big I, and it’s fun to work with them and get

to know them. As I said, I worry about the uncertainty in the political situation. In some ways, if the government would just come out and say ‘Here are the rules we’re go-ing to play by,’ I think everybody could adapt and work. But all this waiting and not knowing are a problem. Still, despite that, it’s a good time to be an insurance agent be-cause there is opportunity out there. As long as you work hard and do your due diligence, you can be successful in this industry.

Alexander & Strunk and Beale Professional Services joined two separate offices together in their new 10,200-square-foot facility.

FEATURE

You may cringe at the thought of rethinking your marketing plan, but it’s all about how you approach your goals. Here are three questions to help get you where you need to be without endless planning.


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Although the new year is well under way, it’s not too late to get out the legal pad and pen-cil and adjust, or even completely redesign your marketing plan. Ugh. That sounds time consuming, right? Well, with a good plan, it

doesn’t have to be. Here are three simple questions to get you started:• Whatdoyouwanttododifferentlythisyearfrom

last?• Willyoutargetnewcustomersorcrossselltothose

existing clients?• Whatproducts/servicesareyouplanningtomarket?

All are valid questions when considering your goals. Here is some information to help you answer those ques-tions.

Consider question No. 1. Maybe the first thing that comes to mind is to to make more money. Or maybe you want to make it easier to conduct business. The Internet is becoming the preferred method of transacting business for consumers, whether banking or insurance. Banks are do-ing great things to drive customers to their websites. Their websites are interactive; they offer money market accounts, savings accounts, credit cards and insurance. Yes, insur-ance. How are they doing it? Banks market their products and services on their websites and it’s all automated. You can do the exact same thing.

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FEATURE

EagleEZLife provides marketing tools. The Website Quoter is a quote engine that you can embed in your website and HTML with your personal branding. When prospects or even existing clients visit your website, they can run their own quotes and submit their own EZApp, all from your website. What an easy way to conduct and gain new busi-ness. Hey, the banks are doing it. Why aren’t you?

Now for questions two and three. Once you determine the core products and services on which you wwant to focus, start with the low hanging fruit. Create a hyperlink to the EZLife quote page and forward it in an email, to anyone.

If you don’t know how to create a hyper-link, I’m sure someone near can show you. We all have a friend who has kicked the tires about life insurance. Send them a link to your EagleEZLife account and let them run their own

quotes. Send the same link in an email to existing clients. While you have their attention, let them know about another great service you offer. State Farm sells more life insurance policies than anyone else because it says, “Hey, did you know I also offer life insurance?” EagleEZLife offers a way for you to do the same thing. Keep it automated and round out your client’s account.

It may have sounded like a joke, but I encourage you actually to get a legal pad and pencil. Take a look around and ask yourself what tools you have that can create income for you or your agency with relatively low touch-if any. EagleEZLife is one of those tools.

To learn more about this process, or for assistance creat-ing that hyperlink I mentioned earlier, please contact Zack Taber or Carie Benton at 405.235.4610.

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FEATURE


Virtual University offers many benefits to insurance agents, but the one I would judge most valuable is Ask an Expert, where suggestions, solutions and guidance are all free for the asking.

Independent Insurance Agents

of America

Chairman

Michael Donohoe

Asked and Answered

During the past few years, my wife Mary and I have been traveling around the country visiting with state boards and executives. In just about every state we’ve visited, the issue of attracting new members and retain-

ing existing ones has been an issue. It’s tough out there. There is a lot of clustering, merging and retiring going on and that is a cause for concern with our membership. On top of that, we have a weak economy causing our members to question their investment in association membership. What are they getting for their dues, and is it an area they can cut? I say no, and our Virtual University is one of the main reasons. For my money, the VU alone is reason enough to pay your dues. The VU is available only to IIABA members. Paying your dues gives you access to the leading technical insurance and agency management information source in the insurance industry, developed exclusively for agents. Here you’ll find answers to questions concerning coverages, sample ISO forms, business practice assistance, coverage checklists, charts and white papers.

But the best part of the VU is the “Ask an Expert” ser-vice. Use this service once, and you will justify the expense of your dues. How many of our small agencies can afford a full-time staff member who is one of the best insurance coverage gurus in the country? Wouldn’t it be nice, to quote the Beach Boys, if you had an agency management consultant on staff? Someone who could give you advice on just about any question you might have managing an agency? How about a computer geek who knows the insur-ance industry? An HR consultant? What if I told you that these resources were a mouse click away? And what if I added that it’s 100 percent free to IIABA member agencies?

Well, that’s what I’m telling you. If you haven’t used the Virtual University’s “Ask an Expert” service, you’re miss-ing out on a lot of expertise that can improve your agency operations, sales and service.

When a Virtual University staff member receives your question, he or she forwards it to anywhere from three to a dozen of the consultants who serve as its faculty. These aren’t just any consultants, but dozens of industry experts who are waiting for questions from our members. For ex-ample, if it’s a question on the CGL, the VU has a group of volunteer faculty members with expertise in that area. If it’s a question on technology, or an HR question, the staff will forward it to faculty members who have expertise in the appropriate area. This is a specialized service provided for our members only.

Each faculty member responds to the question with his or her opinion/advice. IIABA compiles the opinions and sends them to you. The experts answer more than 98 percent of all questions within 72 hours and more than half within 24 hours. Some answers come in hours or even minutes.

Since its inception, the Virtual University’s “Ask an Expert” service has answered thousands of questions from agents around the country. Many of these questions involved claims disputes that, with analysis and feedback from VU faculty, agents were able to resolve quickly. The “Ask an Expert” service can make you a better agent. It can help you be more professional and help you do a bet-ter job for your customers. In fact, just recently a national carrier told me that if the VU faculty questioned something the company was doing, it would reexamine its practices. What a service. And, again, it’s free with your membership.

IIABA’s Virtual University is quickly becoming the industry website for valuable, quick, pertinent and practi-cal agent information, and it’s just another example of the value-added benefit of being a state and national member agency. If you’re questioning what your dues are worth, check it out. Visit the Virtual University today at iiaba.net/VU.

And while you’re at it, be sure to subscribe to the VU’s free biweekly email newsletter, “The VUpoint.” Every other Friday, you’ll receive a newsletter with articles on personal lines, commercial lines, agency management, sales, customer service and technology. Just click on the “Newsletter” tab in the upper left hand corner of the website.

Reprinted from IA Magazine, November 2011 issue.

Since its inception, the Virtual University’s “Ask an Expert” serv ice has answered thousands of quest ions from agents around the country.

Independent Insurance Agents of OklahomaPO Box 13490Oklahoma City, OK 73113

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PRSRT STDU.S. POSTAGE

PAID Oklahoma City, OKPermit No. 1659

policy magazine - spring 2012

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