Monday, October 31, 2011

Insure First of Draper Utah wishes you a Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween our fellow friends!! Always remember to be safe and have fun spending holidays with those you love!

The next month starts tomorrow....Goals are high, but our expectations for ourselves are even higher.

P.S. Christmas music will be played daily starting Tuesday at Insure First.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Protect Your Auto Investment

Here at insure first, we like to go ahead and say that insuring first is our prime objective. So, let's protect our vehicles by taking advantage of a good deal by one of the guys our agency primarily recommends for auto work and get a paint sealant job done!!!

http://www.halfpriceutah.com/full-paint-sealant.html

Exotic details is truly the only detailing company in Utah we recommend because their work is impeccable.  Take advantage of their $69 special before it ends!! Happy Halloween!!!!

Insurance Halloween Costume Ideas

I've become aware lately that everyone is as obsessed with Insurance as I am and Halloween is no exception to that rule.  Check out these ideas when thinking of a Halloween costume this year.

Halloween Costume Ideas: Insurance Frauds
By Aida Ekberg

For some inexplicable reason, many of the most popular characters of commercials are those found in insurance ads. So if you want to promote car insurance on Halloween, try a few of these Halloween Costume ideas based on characters like Flo from Progressive Insurance, Erin Esurance, the Geico Gecko, and Geico Caveman. (At least everyone without a DVR will find these Halloween costume ideas amusing.)

Flo - Flo, the upbeat Progressive Insurance salesgirl who sells insurance in a bright, white, afterlife-ish world, has become a runaway hit with ad watchers. Just be forewarned: her white outfit is one of the Halloween costume ideas here that's easiest to get dirty. To achieve her high hairstyle, you can part your hair to the side and use a Bumpits with a blue headband in front of your bump. Then all you need is a white shirt, white jeans, blue Converse sneakers, a white apron, and a "tricked-out" nametag that says "FLO". For makeup, wear bright red lipstick and fake eyelashes. Give yourself a smoky eye with gun-metal gray eyeshadow and black eyeliner, extending the line you draw out from the corner of your eyes just a bit to create a classic cat eye look. Since Flo is such a friendly and helpful character, this is one of the best Halloween costume ideas for looking approachable.

Erin Esurance - If you're looking for sexier Halloween costume ideas, you may want to get animated with an Erin Esurance getup. Erin Esurance's spy girl look has made her one of the most popular insurance characters on TV, and she has a fun, funky, and covert style that's fun to imitate. For her look, all you'll need is a pink, short wig, a black body suit, a pink belt, black, high-heeled boots, and a Bluetooth Headset (of course you don't have to go out and buy this if you don't already have one). You can also add some pink writstbands and wear a stretchy pink headband around your upper thigh for added pink accents. Now just finish your look off with some pink lipstick and use the same cat eye makeup method described above, and you've got one of the sexiest Halloween costume ideas to ever come from an insurance commercial.

Caveman - This insurance icon is one of the easiest Halloween costume ideas on this list, as long as you purchase a mask. Then all you have to do is wear a normal outfit like a button-up shirt and khaki pants, and everyone will know that you're supposed to be one of the only commercial characters to ever get his own TV show.

Gecko - This is one of the more difficult insurance-related Halloween costume ideas to create yourself, but you could pull it off with a little work. To create the gecko head, you'll need a green cold-weather face mask with just your eyes showing, black, white, and red fabric paint, and green face paint. You'll also want a picture of the Geico Gecko for inspiration. On the side of the mask, paint two big, black, sideways teardrop shapes for the eyes, and paint two white dots on the middle top of them to make the eyes look like they're shining. Now brush a little red paint in the center of the mask and a little white paint over where your mouth would be. Then use the black paint to put two small black dots right under your eye hole for your nose and draw a long black line underneath the dots and on top of the white paint for your mouth. Then you'll cover your eye area that's exposed with the green face paint. Now you'll just need to put on a green sweat suit or bodysuit, green gloves, and green shoes to complete the look. I know this is one of the Halloween costume ideas here that would take a lot of work to make, so if you don't want to go through all the trouble, you could always simply purchase a gecko costume.

These Halloween costume ideas are great for groups, so if you and your friends want to dress up like a few funky insurance frauds for Halloween, have fun hashing out who will get to be Flo, Erin Esurance, the caveman, and the gecko.

(This Article was Taken From http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2092657/halloween_costume_ideas_insurance_frauds.html?cat=74)

Get Free Auto Insurance Quotes Online

Too often we hear advertisements about insurance and everyone uses the same burned out phrase, call and get a free quote. I'll tell you what I want to happen, for agencies to come out and use ANYTHING else to try to get people to call. Personally I like the testimonials of others saving money through an agency or something unique an agency has done to go above and beyond the norm. One promise we make to our customers that seems to be unique from other agencies is our policy and rate management. We take customers on renewal and check to see if their credit has improved and we flag when tickets go off their record to help guide them to another company if it will save them money. I've never heard of another agency with a system like that in place who goes through the same amount of effort to just help someone save a few dollars who isn't necessarily shopping for insurance. Oh well, there are just too many bad agencies out there who don't care enough about their clients.

Anyways, on to the exciting news!! Chris was the first one in the office to hit his goal of $35,000 in new business premium!! Go Chris!! Looks like the soft and sensitive touch and working hard has paid off for him. Steve and Casey are both within reach of their goals and may hit them by the end of the day. Neal and Jeff are also only a policy or two from their goals. Dylan and Aaron seem to be the slackers this month, but I'm willing to make a promise, neigh an oath, that Dylan will be striding forward making others quiver next month with his motivation.

Allied and State Auto both left this week excited to start business with Insure First. We couldn't be happier to add these companies to our list so that with our incredible growth we can get business qualified easier and help our customers get placed with companies that want them instead of doing what other agencies do and force business on companies into markets they aren't looking for. InsureFirst is the best!


Check my next post for Halloween and Insurance ideas.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Sublimity Insurance

Sublimity Insurance sure knows the way to a man's heart. They sent us donuts yesterday and I would personally like to give a shout out to them and say thanks you are all great and we love and support what you do to help us succeed. Nipp High Football rules!!!!!

Internet Ad campaigning has begun!!



Check out how we integrated Safeco's ad with our agency. What a Great Resource to get internet attention!!!


So it's the last week of the month, even though we crushed last month's success, we have several agents short of their goal. Dylan, would like to start out by making excuses about how he was busy and out of the office many days this month, even though we know he's just full of excuses, he is letting everyone down and will work to make up for it. It looks as if Casey, Steve, and Chris are in the running head to head for the top agent this month. Steve has made some terrific changes in the way we manage new business prospects and it looks like next month we should have no problem getting done everything we want to and to get a ton of new business. Halloween is just around the corner, we must've been too busy to decorate the place cause it's just as scary as it always has been. GMAC hosted an online training yesterday which was very informative and helped all of us learn their market and keys to successfully selling their products. Today State Auto is coming in and tomorrow Allied so we have a busy week here nearing the end of the month.

I'll be sure to keep everyone updated as success stories file in.

How about this for Blogging success. Casey had a customer who was curious about our agency and went poking around in local search engines and stumbled upon our humble blog. They were happy to be able to have a source to learn more about our agency and the agent they chose to go with. So for all of you blog haters who obviously wouldn't be reading this, the blog has done its job! Awesome Casey, I love knowing the countless hours I've spent creating this masterpiece was not all for nothing.

Remember everyone that last year 21% of all the accidents in Utah happened over a holiday weekend. Let's be safe and try to stay off the roads when unneccessary.

Monday, October 24, 2011

In case you didn't notice check out the Our Companies page and see how we've made it easy to learn a quick bit about each company we represent. This will hopefully act as a great tool to help our customers learn a bit about the companies we trust.

Always great to see companies offering sales and marketing help we can use to not only reinforce our own agency but to reinforce the companies we choose to place our customers with. Safeco has done a wonderful job providing tools like this one below to help us succeed online.






Awesome Agents R' Us

Good Afternoon!!

Last week Dylan wrote a policy for $6000 per year!! Congratulations Dylan that policy is huge! The best part is he was able to save the customer $2000 per year from what they are currently paying. We just love helping people, don't we?! Casey has left for the weekend to go to Lake Powell, so the office is a bit quieter than normal. We would like to proudly announce a new member to the Insure First team. Christopher Futral!! We'll get his agent spotlight after he finishes my brutal training courses. I was cruising around the Utah Insurance Department website today and found an awesome article about shopping for auto insurance.

10 Things You Should Know About Buying Auto Insurance

1. How is Your Insurance Rate Determined?
Two factors determine what you pay for auto insurance. The first factor is underwriting and the second factor is rating. Insurance companies underwrite to assess the risk associated with an applicant, group the applicant with other similar risks and decide if the company will accept the application. Based on the results of the underwriting process, the rating assigns a price based on what the insurer believes it will cost to assume the financial responsibility for the applicant's potential claim.
2. Several Factors Will Affect Risk Rating
Your driving record, area in which you live, gender and age, marital status, prior insurance coverage, vehicle use and make and model of your vehicle are common factors that can affect the price you will pay for your auto insurance.
3. Ask Your Agent About Discounts
Discounts are awarded because the insurance company sees you as a better risk. Here are some discounts you should look for: multiple vehicles, driver education courses, good student, safety devices, anti-theft devices, low mileage, good driver/renewal, auto/home package and dividends. Not all states offer all discounts, so check with your agent to see if you qualify.
4. Tort System vs. No-Fault System
Each state must implement either a tort system or a no-fault system. The system your state has implemented will determine what kind of insurance is available to you. The three basic coverages sold under the tort system are bodily injury liability insurance, property damage liability insurance and uninsured motorists coverage. In a no-fault state, coverages will vary, but under a no-fault system your insurance company pays you directly for your losses as a result of injuries sustained in an accident, regardless of who is at fault. Check with your state insurance department for questions concerning tort or no-fault state systems.
5. Check Into Optional Coverage
The most commonly recognized coverages, in addition to the basic liability package, are collision and comprehensive coverages. Collision coverage pays for physical damage to your car as a result of your auto colliding with an object such as a tree or another car. This is relatively expensive coverage and is not required by law. Comprehensive coverage pays for damage to your auto from almost all other causes, including fire, severe weather, vandalism, floods and theft. This coverage will also cover broken glass and windshield damage. Comprehensive coverage is less expensive than collision, but is also optional. Other optional coverages include medical payments coverage, rental reimbursement coverage and towing and labor coverage.
6. Where to Go for More Information
Information is available to consumers from a number of unbiased sources. These sources include public libraries, state insurance departments, online resources, consumer groups and consumer publications. Every state insurance department has personnel available to answer questions regarding auto insurance coverage and many departments publish premium comparisons to make shopping around easier.
7. Shop Around Before You Buy
When shopping for auto insurance, premium quotations are a useful tool for comparison of different company's products. When asking for price quotations, it is crucial that you provide the same information to each agent or company. The agent will usually request the following information: description of your vehicle, its use, your driver's license number, the number of drivers in your household, the coverages and limits you want.
8. Where to Shop
Check the newspaper and yellow pages of the telephone directory for companies and agents in your area. In addition, ask your neighbors, relatives and friends for recommendations on insurance companies and agents. In particular, ask them what kind of claim service they have received from the companies they recommend. Remember to shop around to get the best price and service. Our department recommends getutahinsurance.com as the best source for the lowest prices. *
9. For Your Protection
Once you have selected the insurance coverages you need and an insurance agent or company, there are steps you can take to make certain you get your money's worth. Before signing an application for any insurance coverage, call you state insurance department and verify that the company and the agent are licensed to do business in your state. It is illegal for unlicensed insurers to sell insurance, and if you buy from an unlicensed insurer, you have no guarantee that the coverage you pay for will ever be honored.
10. Read Your Policy Carefully
You should be aware that an auto insurance policy is a legal contract. It is written so your rights and responsibilities, as well as those of the insurance company, are clearly stated. When you purchase auto insurance, you will receive a policy. You should read that policy and make certain you understand its contents. If you have questions about your insurance policy, contact your insurance agent for clarification. If you still have questions, turn to your state insurance department.

* This last sentence was added by the agency reproducing this article and is in no way an actual reflection of the Utah Insurance Department.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Everybody Get Some Utah Insurance

Get Utah Insurance.  From the only place where everybody loves you.  Insure First!  We enjoyed a nice lunch from Safeco today; some sandwiches, chips, and soda.  We're trending about $200,000 in new premium after today for the month. 

Chris is making strides on Casey this month to be the top producer in the office.  So far it's been a close battle.  Casey is at about $33,000 in new premium and Chris is about $28,000.  The competition has the office excited and working harder than ever.

 Joke of the Day:
3 guys are fishing in the Caribbean.
One says, "Had a terrible fire; lost everything. Insurance is paying for everything, that's why I'm here."

The 2nd says, "Had a terrible explosion; lost everything. Insurance is paying for everything, that's why I'm here."

The 3rd says, "What a coincidence. I had a terrible flood; lost everything. Insurance is paying for everything, that's why I'm here."

The other guys turned to him with confusion and asked, "Flood? How do you start a flood?"

Monday, October 17, 2011

Chilling Monday!!

7:30 AM.  Scraping ice from my windshield.  9:30 AM Complaining about the heat in the office leads to turning on the A/C.  The month is more than halfway over and the office is ready to keep pushing for productivity and a strong morale.  Our goal is on track and that's the good thing, the bad thing is with this cold weather, I'm seriously considering relocating to Florida for the winter.  We're excited to see the entire office working "progressively" and getting things done.  We finally got rid of the giant non-working copier so we have a great spot for the new fridge and microwave.  On Saturday, besides closing 6 policies, we spent at least an hour capturing the bully in the fishtank to put him in timeout, that was quite the adventure.  (Note-to-self, fish are extremely fast and a tiny net is not the most effective way to catch one)  Today we'll be working on some training for a few of our carriers to make sure we're comfortable with some of the rating changes they have made.  We're trying to think of an agency mascot, if you have any ideas throw them my way.  Well I'd write some more but I've got to get going on my busy day!!! GO INSURE FIRST!!



Agent Spotlight: Steve Ostler

Steve is not only the handsome devil you see in the picture above, a terrific agent, and world's greatest father; he's also...wait for it.....the owner of the agency!!!! Steve is a one-of-a-kind man who is the definition of what every one involved in the insurance business strives to be.  Steve is able to functionally juggle owning a business, outselling every other agent with new business, and taking care of his beautiful family as well.  Steve's wife Angie is the co-owner of the agency (seen above) but takes advantage of the more important job of taking care of their awesome kids.  Steve graduated from Utah State with a degree in economics and has owned several businesses before settling into insurance.  Steve saw the tremendous potential in a well-managed insurance agency, the business is clean, honest, and everything Steve himself strives to be.  All of us at Insure First are proud to say we've never seen a business with more potential in our lives and we're so proud of what Steve has created.  He's an incredible guy with a great sense of humor.  There's a rumor through the grapevine that he's been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, it's just a rumor...but I think he'll win!! Go Steve!


Thursday, October 13, 2011

Mid-week Woes

It's Thursday.  Back to my daily blog routine.  Today we added an important addition to the office....a mini fridge.  We've already stocked it with water and caffeine free beverages!!!! That is not the highlight of the day however, we had a tremendous morning already with every agent putting up fantastic numbers.  We've each sold at least 2 policies and it's barely lunch time.  This is exactly the pick-me-up we needed as the mid month slump started.  We're having a training from Kemper today in about 30 minutes, which will be nice since I've been working on a Kemper policy this morning that could use some professional help.  Recently, as an added way to get some exposure, Neal and Dylan bought a website www.getutahinsurance.com that they could use to generate some hits with major search engines.  It's never a bad idea to get more awareness for an agency that's as incredible as ours.  Unfortunately working on that site is a bit of a distraction for those two, but is only more motivation to sell to fund that project. 


Agent Spotlight:  Aaron Weilacher

Aaron is one of the newer agents, (which by new is a seasoned veteran) who is quickly becoming our specialist in writing insurance that none of us have ever written.  He gets requests for things we just shake our heads in disbelief exist.  So whenever any of us have a question about a crazy insurance request he's the guy who now knows the answer.  Aaron is married and has one 3 year old boy who is absolutely adorable and looks just like him.  Aaron came from the mortgage industry and was happy to get away from such a volatile career to something as stable as insurance.  He's great with customer service and it feels like he can relate to absolutely anyone.  Everyone at Insure First loves having him around and we look forward to the long years ahead of us having him in the backbone of our company.




Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Insure First...The Dream

It has been a few days since making a post, you know what that means? I've been incredibly busy with insurance requests and even though I've been in the office from 8 A.M. until 10 P.M. every day I haven't had enough time to update our readers on our recent activity.  We're approaching the middle of our month again, which means all of our agents are working hard and doing whatever we can to improve our system.  As a team, we've made a focused effort this week to seek out referals from our best clients which has led to a lot of good quality business.  The next step this week is to make sure the newer guys are up to pace and everyone is operating on all cylinders.  Morale around the office is at an all time high, (maybe that's cause today was pay day) and the motivation in the office is thick enough to cut through with a knife.  It's a great feeling working in an environment like ours where everyone is working honest and hard with a selfless attitude.  Our current run rate is at $179,000 in new business premium, but it always seems to drop in the middle of the month as we focus some of our attention on underwriting and new business gets a little time in the back seat. 



Agent Spotlight:  Christopher Schenk

Chris has been with Insure First since March and is the bread and butter to the day to day operations here in our company.  Chris is the lead trainer for any new individuals and puts countless hours into the business improving things that won't make him any money, but will make the lives of everyone here that much easier.  Chris is still single even though there are marriage prospects in his future.  He grew up in a small town in Idaho and moved to Utah to help his cousin start a detailing business.  He found the owner of Insure First who offered him this tremendous opportunity and he's never looked back.  Chris has an incredible sense of humor, without him we'd die of boredom some days.  Chris is an incredible giving person and his clients love him for the leaps and bounds he's willing to do to keep them happy.  Go Chris Go!!





Thursday, October 6, 2011

The Change of Seasons

Hello Blogger my old friend.......I've come to talk with you again...Insurance Sales Are Always Creeping....Insure First Gets Sales While Everyone Else Is Sleeping......And The Goals Which Are Planted In my Brain....Still Remain.....Within the Sound of Saving....


Yes,  Simon and Garfunkel actually rewrote their hit song to reflect the killer success we're having at Insure First.  Yes, it's been a few days since we've had an update, apparently sickness and disease has been sweeping the state and was unavoidable here at Insure First.  The weather took a crazy turn this week.  Last week we were experiencing 80 degree sunshine and today I had to push snow off my windshield before leaving to work. 

On Monday to kick start our month Sublimity brought in pizza and shared their wonderful words of wisdom with everyone here in the office.  (Had some of the pizza today, it's still good and delicious.)  Sublimity has established a fantastic relationship with Insure First and we could not be happier to see representatives from their company every chance we get.  Hey, free food doesn't hurt either. 
     We've set pretty steep goals as an office but we all believe they are attainable.  As an office we are collectively shooting for $220,000 of new business this month.  If every agent hits their own personal goals, it can be done!


This snapshot was taken at the beginning of the day to show where everyone was at.  (Dylan did put on $760 since then, don't worry he'll make a glorious comeback.)  The weather might be getting cold but our sales aren't!  We've also began implementing customer retention programs for our clients which are a combination of sales tools, follow up, and customer service steps which will help us to keep long-term business by keeping our customers happy with better service and products.  Progressive may be joining the list of Insure First companies this next week, nothing is final yet, but hopefully that will be yet another positive change to help our agency grow and provide more options for the hundreds of new customers we get each month.




Agent Spotlight: Dylan Miller

Dylan came to insure first towards the end of June with no prior insurance experience.  Dylan actually came from a Pre Law degree in Political Science with ambitions in local politics.  He is currently attending the University of Utah finishing his education while working at Insure First, making huge strides in the insurance world.  Dylan is married and has a beautiful 10 month old baby named Shadow (seen above.)  Dylan has experience leading sales teams in various industries and brings a new sales and training edge to Insure First as he challenges himself and others to always be improving.  Dylan plays basketball and loves his video games when he finds the time.  His personality and sense of humor are always welcomed and his strong charisma stands out with his leadership qualities.  Dylan has become very comfortable in the insurance world and is planning on settling his roots here in Utah at Insure First for the long foreseeable future.  Go Get Em Tiger!!!