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 Industry News

Trusted Choice^®
Trusted Choice^® Commercials Win Aurora Awards

Two Trusted Choice^® television ads have been recognized with Aurora Awards this year. 

The first ad, focusing on the Trusted Choice^® Pledge of Performance and featuring agents from across the country, was awarded the Aurora Gold Award for Insurance. The second ad, discussing Trusted Choice^® efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, was awarded the Gold Aurora Award for Financial Services.

“We’re honored that Trusted Choice^® has been recognized by the Aurora Awards,” says Dave Evans, Trusted Choice^® executive director. “Trusted Choice^® agents are the only independent insurance agents that agree to adhere to a pledge of performance and this ad is designed to showcase Trusted Choice^® agents’ commitment to consumers across the country. We’re glad this message is resonating with consumers as well as film professionals.”

The Aurora Awards is an international competition that recognizes excellence in the film and video industries, specifically targeting commercials. Past winners in the insurance category include GEICO and Auto Insurance Specialists. Entries come from across the United States and abroad, including Russia, Denmark, Hong Kong, Germany, Australia and Mexico. Panels of working film and video professionals judge the entries in major cities across the country. Entries are judged on a fixed scale on creativity, message effectiveness and technical excellence.

The 2007 Trusted Choice^® commercial, “Life Changes,” won an Aurora Award for excellence and took home the 2007 Gold Award in the insurance category.

“The Trusted Choice^® brand is so much more than just advertising - it’s about experience, excellence, customer service and value,” says Brett Nilsson, Big “I” chairman. “We are very pleased the Aurora judges agreed that the Trusted Choice^® message of choice of companies, customized policies and advocacy support was conveyed effectively. Our brand recognition is growing every day and these awards are just one more signal that it’s making an impact with consumers.”

The Pledge of Performance commercial features six Trusted Choice^® agents from around the country reciting tenets of the pledge. The agents include Rick Gregson from Tucson, Ariz., Alex Soto from Miami, Fred Lautenbach from Littleton, Colo., Eileen Frank from New York, Keith Riley from Benton, Ky. and Julie Turner from Greenville, S.C.

The Hurricane Katrina commercial was filmed at Daniel’s South Beach Restaurant in Bay St. Louis, Miss., one of the hardest-hit communities in the gulf region. The ad also features the restaurant’s owner Ray Murphy and Bob Rusbuldt, Big “I” president & CEO and Trusted Choice^® president.

To view the ads and pledge, visit www.trustedchoice.com. Media buys included Fox News, CNN, the Food Network, the Travel Channel and the Weather Channel.

Trusted Choice^® is promoted through a combination of national, state-level and local-agency advertising, promotional and marketing activities; insurance company branding; public relations campaigns and online initiatives.


Virtual University
Virtual University Appoints New Volunteer Faculty Members

The Big “I” Virtual University has added three new faculty members, bringing the total volunteer staff to more than 60 experts from across the country. Collectively, these individuals are nationally renowned authorities on insurance coverages, agency management, sales and technology. The newest faculty members include:

Scott LeMay, CRM, ARM, CIC
LeMay is the managing partner in Risk Management and Insurance Advisory Services at LeMay+Lang, a diversified financial consultancy in Germantown, Tenn. He has worked in commercial property-casualty insurance for more than a quarter century and holds degrees from the University of Minnesota and the University of Memphis. He was an award-winning account manager, district sales manager and regional manager for a specialist insurance company and has been a corporate officer and project manager with Marsh, Inc. and Sedgwick, Inc., the largest and third largest international insurance brokerages at the time. Learn more about LeMay by clicking here.

Steve Stinson, CPCU, CLU, AIC, AAI
Stinson is single member manager of Stinson Forensic Insurance Consulting LLC and Stinson Alternative Dispute Resolution LLC of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., and a practicing attorney with James A. Freeman and Associates in Nashville, Tenn. He has practiced law for more than 30 years and has tried approximately 125 circuit court cases. Besides practicing law, he provides expert witness and ADR (mediator, arbitrator and umpire) services for other attorneys. His undergraduate and law degrees are from Vanderbilt University. He has served on the national board of the CPCU Society and as president of CPCU chapters and local bar associations. Learn more about Stinson by clicking here.

Rick Betterley
Betterley is the president of Betterley Risk Consultants, a national risk management consulting firm founded in 1932. He has been a consultant since 1975 and president of the Sterling, Pa. firm since 1984. He is the publisher of the internationally acclaimed Betterley Report. Betterley holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bates College and is a past president of the New England Chapter of the Institute of Management Consultants, Inc. His special areas of expertise include insurance coverage and services, risk analysis, risk management departmental effectiveness, risk financing feasibility studies, as well as the development of alternatives to traditional insurance. Learn more about Betterley by clicking here.

These and other faculty members are the backbone of the Big “I” Virtual University’s “Ask an Expert” service which responds to e-mailed questions from Big “I” members on insurance coverages, agency management, sales and service, technology and other areas of agency operations. Since its inception, the VU has answered more than 15,000 questions and assisted members in getting hundreds of initially denied claims overturned. For more information, go to www.independentagent.com/vu. 


Best Practices
Secret to Becoming a Best Practices Agency Revealed

Over the last 15 years, the annual Best Practices Study, conducted by the Big “I” and Reagan Consulting, Inc., has examined the top-performing agencies from across the country. For these agencies, inclusion in the study provides the prestigious status of being a Best Practices Agency and opens the door to many benefits.

The purpose of the Best Practices study is to compile the operating statistics of the country’s leading agents and brokers. To achieve this objective, the agencies included in the annual study must first be nominated for participation by an insurance carrier or a Big “I” state association. The industry-wide nomination process is conducted every three years. Agency names can be submitted anytime during the three-year cycle, although new nominees are allowed to participate only at the start of a new cycle. The next study cycle begins in early 2010.    

Nominated agencies are then notified and invited to participate. If they choose to do so, they must submit detailed financial and operational information which is analyzed, scored and ranked objectively for inclusion in the study on the basis of operational excellence including growth, profitability, productivity and financial stability.

In 2007, the start of the current study cycle, nearly 800 agencies from around the country were nominated in six revenue categories ranging from “under $1.25 million” in annual revenue to “over  $25 million” in annual revenue. More than 300 agencies submitted data, but only 195 agencies scored high enough to qualify for inclusion. 

To retain its Best Practices Agency status, an agency must annually submit year-end results for review. There is no other commitment. Every third year, when new agency nominations are accepted, the agency must re-qualify as one of the top performers in our revenue category. Approximately 25% of the Best Practices agencies have retained their status for more than 10 years. 

Participation in the Best Practices Study has become a prestigious recognition of the superior accomplishments of the top insurance agencies in each of the revenue size categories studied. To learn more about the process and how to prepare to participate in the upcoming cycle, click here and register for the webinar, “How To Become a Best Practices Agency,” at 2 p.m. EST, July 14. For more information on the 2008 Best Practices Study Update and other resources, click here.


Young Agents
Calling All Young Agents

The National Young Agents Committee is offering events geared specifically for up-and-coming leaders at the Big “I” Legislative Conference & Convention. Special sessions include a first-time Young Agents attendee reception, the Young Agents and InsurPac State Chairpersons Legislative Luncheon with guest speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), two hospitality events, a tour of Washington, D.C. and the National Zoo, and the always-popular Presidents’ Panel Breakfast with Big “I” leadership. Joining Big “I” Chairman Brett Nilsson on the Presidents’ Panel will be: Harold Morrison, executive vice president and chief global field officer, Chubb Group of Insurance Companies; John Hennessy, senior vice president of distribution management, CNA; Scott Goodby, president of regional companies group, Liberty Mutual Agency Markets; and Jim Clay, president, Westfield Insurance.

Young agents will gain valuable legislative and leadership skills at this ground-breaking insurance industry event. The Big “I” Legislative Conference & Convention will be held at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington D.C., April 29 – May 1.

For more information, contact Katie Cosgrove at 703-706-5455; katie.cosgrove@iiaba.net.


InVEST
Session on Hiring Millennials at the LC&C

In 2015, millennials will dominate the workforce. Is your agency or company prepared to attract the largest generation yet?

Join InVEST at 7:30 a.m., May 1 in the Harding Room of the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel as speaker Lisa Harrington, CPCU, CAE, AIAM, AAI, AIP, of the Florida Association of Independent Agents explains what millennials seek in potential employers, what motivates their generation, how to interview them and more.

This hour-long, early-riser session is just one of many can’t-miss events taking place during the Big “I” Legislative Conference & Convention, April 29 – May 1. For more information, contact Jennifer Robinson at 1-800-221-7917; jennifer.robinson@iiaba.net.


Big “I” Markets
Member Pleased With Student Housing Product

Big “I” member agent Ken Andrews recently read about the student housing niche of the MiddleOak habitational product in the Big “I” Markets newsletter Two for Tuesday and he knew he had an opportunity.

“Most student housing risks end up in the non-standard market, so I was pleased to learn that the MiddleOak product was in the standard market,” says Andrews. “I have a customer who manages buildings and I insured this property already with a non-standard market. Usually with student housing risks you have to access several E&S markets to place various coverages because most insurers won’t take the complete risk. But not only is MiddleOak a standard market, I was able to place all coverages under one policy form with MiddleOak. I had a great market and my underwriter was easy to work with and very helpful. All in all the process worked like a charm, the premium was good, the coverages are excellent and I’ve got a few more accounts like this one to move.”

As a Big “I” member, you have access to a standard market that will write full circle coverage under one policy form for property owners who rent to students. Learn more about this market and more at www.bigimarkets.com.