Roman Okonowski was
today's main speaker.
My life has been pretty dull but blessed. I
married my childhood sweetheart. We have 3
children. Our oldest son is a Chandler police
sergeant. Our second child joined us in the
insurance business. Our daughter works at
student loan call center. We also have fun
following around our four grandchildren. You
think as you get older you will have more time but
we seem to have less.
I started out in commercial banking in Detroit.
I worked at the main office in the main vault.
It was probably my favorite job of all time. I
had cash stacked up all around me. I spent 14
years in banking and worked my way up to vice president of a
branch. During the 14-year span I worked for 5
different banks because of my reputation as a
problem solver.
In 1981 I was recruited by a neighbor to work
with him on a real estate investment project.
We were very successful. The "highlight" of that
career, having to fire the neighbor that hired me.
After giving him the news that he was fired, I had
to drive him home (he lived across the street) in
the company car he used, then take the car.
This job brought me to Arizona. We came out in August of
1986. I had no job to speak of, just the
thought of getting involved in real estate.
This was during the time when the S&L's started to
fail. So I had to find a job. I started
a real estate property management company.
This lasted until 2002. I am proud that I
managed the same building for 14 years. The
average term for a property management company is 18
months. The trust they had in me made me feel
pretty good.
Along the way - in July of1988 - we bought a
little insurance company. I used a scientific
method to find this company which included the phone
book and parking lot stalking. It took me and
my partner about a year to put that deal together.
The man selling to us was having sellers remorse. We
sat for an hour in silence before he signed.
But it ended up being a good time for him to sell
for personal reasons.
I wasn't licensed. I barely knew how to
spell insurance. My partner had the experience
but he was several thousand miles away. We
struggled to get E&O insurance. But
everything fell into place and we rolled
merrily along. At that time 90-95% of the
revenue was from personal insurance but I pursued
and grew the
commercial side of the business.
For the last 3 years we worked on a perpetuation
plan. Our son Greg was going to take over the
family business. But he recognized, and we
recognized, it wasn't something he wanted to do.
He liked selling insurance but not managing the
operation side of things. About that same time
I was approached by some good friends of mine from
the Arizona Group. They asked me if I wanted
to join them.
Timing is everything. I talked to Kathy
about it. We weren't large enough to command
the attention of the insurance carriers. I
wasn't sure of the future for our son Greg in an
industry that is hard on the small agencies.
Then we spoke to Greg. We kicked some things
around. He saw the value and benefits of
joining the Arizona Group.
We negotiated for 8 months and signed the contract
in January of this year. Through this process
I have missed a lot of MABE meetings. I have
missed the group.
This begins our newest chapter. The Arizona
Group is owned by Arizona Federal Credit Union which
adds value. There is access to capital for
expansion. There is access to the latest
technology. Overall, it was a good change for
us. I have had some challenges and continue to
have challenges letting go. We have staff that
can do things as well or even better than I can.
It is fun to step
back and look at the operation and see what we can
do to improve things. I will soon be taking
over the personal insurance division with a staff of
14.
I attended a seminar recently. I was so
enthused about what he had to say that we brought
him in to talk to our staff. They put together
a 3-year program to help the operation of your
business.
Our purpose... Get back to the business of selling
insurance instead of
dealing with transactional items. We are not a service business. We are in
the business of protecting people's stuff.
Service is a key component. But we have become
so transactional that we forget the other side of
it. This program helps relieve stress for staff by
teaching them to manage
workloads, etc.
What are people concerned about? Covering
their asset...their vehicle for instance.
People don't give much thought to the
exposure they have if they damage another person's
property which is a much greater exposure than
covering their own stuff. You need to have an
umbrella today. It covers your auto and
home. But don't confuse personal and business.
They are two different animals. Also remember, your
insurance carrier has a duty to defend you. But defense
costs incurred are outside the coverage and this duty to defend ends when you reach the limits
of your policy.
The first page tells you what
is coverage. The remaining 49+ pages tell you
what isn't.