Table of Contents

• COMMITTEE REPORTS
  • MEMBERSHIP REPORT
  • SOCIAL REPORT
  • SPEAKER COORDINATOR REPORT
  • TREASURER REPORT
• LEADS
• NOTABLE MENTIONS
• QUESTION OF THE DAY
• MAIN SPEAKER

Committee Reports

Membership Report
(Click here to go to the Membership page)

We are happy to announce that Mark Howard has officially joined our group.

Mark Dreher has his "foot in the door" with a courier service that is considering joining MABE.  Steve Chilton knows an electrician that he will follow-up with.

Social Report
(Click here to go to the Social Event page)

The holiday party was a hit!  The band was great and the food was excellent.  Add to that Gary Nelson in a tux and a Stuart Schindler look-a-like (if he were on steroids) in front of the microphone and you have a night worth remembering. 

Speaker Coordinator Report
(Click here to go to the Speaker Schedule)

• 12/17/04     Andrew Jensen
• 12/24/04     No Meeting
• 12/31/04     No Meeting

Wayne Unruh needs speakers for 2005.

Treasurer Report

1st quarter billing for 2005 have been mailed.  Look for yours in the mail and make sure to pay it promptly.  As for the bills, we are all caught up.

Leads Report

20-15, 20-06, 18-19, 18-12, 10-06, 30-41, 15-13, 15-42, 21-17, 34-31, 02-24, 02-26, 48-25.

This week's leads focus...

• Roger Carpenter

• Stephan Chilton

• Randy Clark

Steve Chilton was available to give a brief Mighty Minute to help with leads.  He is very busy right now.  He won't be able to take on anymore new jobs before Christmas.  But if you want to send new year leads his way, he is a jack-of-all-trades.  He can repair it or build it.  And beginning in the new year he is looking at providing a 24-hour breakdown service.

Notable Mentions

None.

Question of the Day

Has anyone had success with books other than Qwest?

• Lisa Wolfe - There are 25 different books out there but most people don't shop via the phone book anymore.  They may use it to look up a name.
• Paul Kavanaugh - I get more leads from Verizon and they charge half the fee for a much larger ad.
• Fred Vandervort - I have received 13 calls in the last 4 months from my Verizon ad.
• Greg Stewart - I have heard that Verizon is a strong force but they are still new.  Also, they bought an out-dated list of companies from Qwest so their listings are not accurate.
• Robert Busch - At first I was not impressed with my results but I did like Fred and used a tracking number.  I was proven wrong.
• Dave Spiess - Qwest listings are out-dated too.  I haven't received any sales from advertising in the book.  I only get calls from price shoppers.

What part of your job do you like the least or love the most?

• Ralph Cunningham - I dislike the research but it is necessary to keep up with the constant changes.
• Mike Whalen - I love finishing something I created and seeing the look of a satisfied customer.  I despise the headaches that go with having employees (calling off sick, etc.)
• Sandro Menasci - I love organizing systems and spreadsheets.
• Don Ellis - I have a love/hate relationship with my employees.  We have a lot of fun when everything runs smoothly but throw one little kink into it and the domino affect takes over.
• Greg Stewart - I look forward to meeting customers and building relationships with them.
• Althea Bussert - I like teaching my customers.  I don't like doing window treatments.
• Brian Verbraken - I like driving around to the jobsites and seeing jobs come together.  I hate doing the paperwork.
• Dave Spiess - I also have the love/hate relationship with my employees.  It is great to have employees that are enthusiastic about their work.  But then you get some that you have to coax to come to work.

Roman Okonowski
Anderson/Witt Insurance Agency

Roman Okonowski has been a member of MABE since its inception in 1989.  He came into the group under the property management category.  That lasted only 1 month.  He left briefly but was invited back in under the insurance category.  He is glad to be here and appreciates each and every person in the room.

Like several other members, Roman was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan.  He lived in a rough area.  As John Gruber put it, "Your rats were bigger."  He didn't want to raise his kids in that environment so he moved to Arizona.

Roman worked in the financial services for 36 years.  He spent 15 of those years in commercial banking.  He got a reputation as a troubleshooter.  He was hired by various banks to solve problems. 

For his next role, Roman was recruited by his neighbor to join in a real estate investment consulting partnership.   Unfortunately, Roman ended up having to fire his neighbor and then driving him home so he could bring back the company car.  Ouch!

This venture is what introduced Roman to Arizona in 1983.  He came here to look at some things and liked what he saw.  He went back to Michigan, spent 3 years wrapping things up their and then moved west.  He got here in 1986...the same time the bottom fell out of the real estate market.

Roman had a family to support so he got into the property management business.  But he didn't see a future in this business.  He had a friend back east that was in the insurance business.  He encouraged Roman to buy an existing insurance company in Arizona.  Roman found a company in 1988.  His friend and new partner flew in to sign the paperwork and that is how Anderson/Witt came to be.

Roman works with his wife of 35 years.  His son Greg also works in the family business.  Their oldest son is a police sergeant in Chandler and their daughter designs training programs for educational institutions.  Roman could not be more proud of his family.

When he first started his business, Roman's objective was and still is to take care of the customer in a manner that he would want to be treated.  He enjoys working with people...most days.  He appreciates the opportunity to help them protect their assets.  He also enjoys seeing how other businesses run.  There are difficult times in this industry.  But there are also some very emotional and rewarding times.

Roman works in an industry where things don't always work out the way you think they should.  The claim that resulted from the 9-11 collapse of the towers is still pending after 3-years. 

Roman likes to educate his clients.  It can be a very complex business.  He used a recent situation involving his client and a speeding Fed-Ex truck as an example of how things are not as clear-cut as you would want.   Roman is also constantly educating himself on how his client's businesses work so that he can provide them with the best coverage.

Roman depends heavily on his relationships with the carriers.  He selected solid companies to work with that were strong financially and would be around for a long time.  He also searched out carriers that had reputations for good customer service and claims service. 

Technology has created a lot of problems in his industry.   Instead of having an action plan, many companies have become reactive.  A quote that used to take an hour with a pencil and notepad to calculate now takes 10 days.  The opinions that people have of insurance companies doesn't help either. 

Roman's marketing plan is simple...Take care of customers.  He doesn't place big ads anywhere.  He relies on relationships and referrals.  He will act as an agent or a broker depending on the needs of his clients.  He will deal with the politics of an ever-changing industry so you can have peace of mind.

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