Public Sector: A Guide for Agents Looking to Grow
More Sound Advice 4 Savvy Agents – Video series
Public entities are everywhere and represent a fantastic opportunity to grow your business. Get inspired to build your book with cities and counties.
Diane Barr, Vice President and Public Sector National Practice Lead at Travelers, talks with two savvy independent agents who have mastered writing public entity business. Their advice could be just what you need to get started and succeed in this space.
Get started in public sector: An agent’s perspective
Are you eager to pursue writing insurance in the public sector but uncertain where to begin? Listen in as one savvy agent, Jarette Sampson, talks about his experience learning the basics.
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Travelers Logo
TEXT: Sound Advice 4 Savvy Agents
The words Savvy Agents turn red. An abbreviation, SA4SA, appears above the text, with the second SA also red. A woman faces us in an office. She has short blond hair and wears a green jacket over a pink top. The SA4SA logo is at the lower left.
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DIANE: Hello, and welcome to our vlog series Sound Advice for Savvy Agents. I'm Diane Barr.
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TEXT: Diane Barr, VP and Public Sector National Practice Leader, Travelers
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Over the course of the next few episodes, we're going to hear from independent agents, how they mastered adding public sector accounts to their book of business.
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Agents work in office settings.
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What's made them successful can be the sound advice you need to get inspired to target this viable market, write cities, counties and towns and succeed in this space.
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Diane sits across from a man with short brown hair, who wears a blue suit jacket over a white top.
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I'm here today with Jarette Sampson from Dial Insurance in Pembroke, North Carolina. Hi, Jarette, great to be with you here today.
JARETTE: Thanks, Diane. Welcome to Pembroke.
DIANE: I wanted to start today by talking about, why public entities? Can you tell me a little bit about how you got started?
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TEXT: Jarette Sampson, President, Dial Insurance
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JARETTE: We got started in public entity basically by default. My father-in-law had one public entity account, and it interested me that it was a large premium. And I wanted to see, how could we do more of them?
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Diane and Jarette walk in a park.
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DIANE: So for an agent who's just starting out in public entity, do you think it's a good idea for them to start with the town they live in?
JARETTE: Absolutely. Because a lot of time in your hometown, you'll know the city council member, the mayor or just maybe the town manager or clerk. And it gives you an avenue to be able to get those initial meetings and be able to talk.
DIANE: And that was your experience with Pembroke.
JARETTE: Yeah, that's exactly right. It was very comfortable to talk with them because I knew them on a day-to-day basis, from church or from the community, from the university.
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Jarette smiles as he talks on the phone. Various businesses and government buildings flash by. Diane and Jarette again sit for their interview.
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DIANE: How did you dig in and start to understand some of the unique exposures in a public entity?
JARETTE: I started asking a lot of questions, relied on carriers like Travelers and others to try to lead and guide me of how and what information they would need in order to quote an account. DIANE: Tell me how you learned the basics?
JARETTE: I had to dig deep into my network. I have an old saying that I have is that your network is your net worth. If you can take time to get someone to sit down and have an intelligent conversation with you, you're 50% of the way towards making the sale in a public entity account.
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Jarette walks into different offices and chats with people in a friendly manner.
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DIANE: How did you dig a little bit deeper into some of what the actual coverages were? JARETTE: I had people willing to actually sit with me and explain to underwriters how it worked. I also did a lot of reading. You just read coverage forms and things of that nature.
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Diane and Jarette shake hands in front of a Dial Insurance billboard.
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DIANE: Thank you, Jarette, for being with me today. It's been really great talking with you. JARETTE: Thank you, Diane. I've enjoyed this very much.
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TEXT: To view the rest of our SA4SA videos with Diane Barr, visit travelers.com/savvy
© 2024 The Travelers Indemnity Company. All rights reserved. Travelers and the Travelers Umbrella logo are registered trademarks of The Travelers Indemnity Company in the U.S. and other countries.
Coverages, challenges and more
In this episode, Diane chats with Danny Fedeli about how he learned the ropes and the coverages as well as some of the challenges he faces when engaging potential public sector clients.
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Travelers Logo
TEXT: Sound Advice 4 Savvy Agents
The words Savvy Agents turn red. An abbreviation, SA4SA, appears above the text, with the second SA also red. A woman faces us in an office. She has short blond hair and wears a black
top. The SA4SA logo is at the lower left.
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DIANE: Hello, I'm Diane Barr.
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TEXT: Diane Barr, VP and Public Sector National Practice Leader, Travelers
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Welcome back to Sound Advice 4 Savvy Agents, where we'll be hearing from independent agents about their growth journeys, building their books of business with cities and counties.
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Diane chats with several people in different settings. A man in a dark blue suit and tie folds his arms in front of an indoor fountain and smiles.
TEXT: Danny Fedeli, Executive Vice President, The Fedeli Group
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Today, I'm with Danny Fedeli, executive vice president of The Fedeli Group in Independence, Ohio. Thank you for being with me today, Danny.
DANNY: Thanks for having us. Welcome to Cleveland.
DIANE: Thank you. Tell me a little bit about how you got started writing public entity business.
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Danny walks through the lobby of a large building. He works at his desk.
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DANNY: We're a large benefits shop. Decided to start cross-selling. One of the first ones that I solicited was a city called Strongsville. It took a lot of years to get in there. And getting to know me, you'll know that I'm persistent with a capital P.
DIANE: Yes, I do.
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Diane and Danny walk in a park.
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DANNY: If you want to beat me, you got to kill me. That's my motto.
DIANE: I love that.
DANNY: I don't quit.
DIANE: Danny, when you got into public entity, tell me how you began learning the ropes.
DANNY: So I relied heavily on your territory manager to make sure that while we worked on these accounts together that a) that we knew the coverages they needed, and b) that Travelers provided them. They're one of the largest writers in the country. So, it gives me confidence to go to that client knowing that I've got this organization behind me to make sure that we have the ample coverages in place.
DIANE: How did you learn the coverages?
DANNY: I find that the coverages aren't too terribly different than they are in the private sector. Instead of directors and officers insurance, you have public officials bond insurance.
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Several multistory buildings flash by. Danny walks down a business's hallway. He knocks on a door and speaks to a woman at a desk inside.
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DIANE: Danny, tell me a little bit about the challenges you face when you go out and try to represent a public entity.
DANNY: Sometimes the easy decision for a decision-maker is no decisions. So a little bit about perhaps the sales technique I may want to use is I'll ask, how often does your existing agent do a coverage review? Then I try to use that a little bit as an opportunity to encourage them to say, this is our way of doing it. This is how we think we can benefit you in the city.
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Firefighters smile beside their fire truck. A man and woman push children in swings.
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DIANE: Tell me a little bit about how you explain the why of the application process to them and how you get them understanding the reasoning behind some of the information that we're looking for in the underwriting process.
DANNY: It's a great question. I'm very respectful in saying, hey, we know this is a lot of work on the front end. We get it. We're here to help you best we can. But understand this: In order for the carrier and for us to make sure your coverages are appropriate; we need you to help us help you. And we're here to assist you through that process. But understand, once we get through this first year, it's a little less arduous.
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Diane and Danny stand in the park bundled up in coats and scarves.
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DIANE: Thank you so much for having us here today. It's been really great getting to know you a little bit better, getting to spend some time at your agency. We really appreciate your partnership.
DANNY: We love it. Thank you. So you think they would allow us to film this when it was a little warmer in Northeast Ohio?
DIANE: Maybe, but that was kind of a fun day.
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TEXT: To view the rest of our SA4SA videos with Diane Barr, visit travelers.com/savvy
© 2024 The Travelers Indemnity Company. All rights reserved. Travelers and the Travelers Umbrella logo are registered trademarks of The Travelers Indemnity Company in the U.S. and other countries.
Engage key decision makers
Closing the deal often comes down to meeting with key stakeholders. Jarette Sampson shares his approach to finding and engaging the right people in the public sector.
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Travelers Logo
TEXT: Sound Advice 4 Savvy Agents
The words Savvy Agents turn red. An abbreviation, SA4SA, appears above the text, with the second SA also red. A woman faces us in an office. She has short blond hair and wears a
green jacket over a pink top. The SA4SA logo is at the lower left.
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DIANE: Hello, I'm Diane Barr with another episode of Sound Advice for Savvy Agents.
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TEXT: Diane Barr, VP and Public Sector National Practice Leader, Travelers
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In today's episode, I'm back with Jarette Sampson. How are you doing today?
JARETTE: Doing wonderful. Glad to be here today.
DIANE: So you're trying to get into these public entities to find the right people to talk to. Can you talk a little bit about that?
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TEXT: Jarette Sampson, President, Dial Insurance
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JARETTE: I had the attitude in going into these entities that they're all public servants and they're there to help us. You didn't get into public service if you weren't willing to be helpful.
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From above, a building complex – a woman helps a child ride a bike in a park as a man walks behind holding a child. Jarette Sampson walks near a lake. A playground in a park.
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DIANE: Tell me a little bit about the first time you meet a new decision-maker.
JARETTE: I never talk about insurance. The first time I meet you, I'm going to just look around your office, and I want to find out who you are. You have pictures of your two kids, where you graduated college from, whatever I can tie you to that ties you to me. I'll give a card or I have a little handout. That's the only conversation we have about insurance.
DIANE: That obviously works for you.
JARETTE: It works for everybody if they'll do it.
DIANE: That's a great way to start.
JARETTE: Yep.
DIANE: What's one thing you would do differently if you had to start over again?
JARETTE: I think I would get more involved into the organizations like PRIMA. A lot of what I did was trial and error. I think there's a lot of resources out there that would have made that easier.
DIANE: I'm glad you brought that up. So Travelers is a platinum sponsor in PRIMA, which is the Public Risk Insurance Managers Association. It is a great resource for new agents. I'm sure you faced some challenges early on.
JARETTE: Yes, I had many challenges. I went through the entire process on this account and I was voted down by the county commissioners. That was very, very disheartening. But I've learned over time that if you quit, that's the only time you can really lose. I just looked at it as a way to keep going forward. And the person that basically led my effort ended up losing their political race and I won the account later on.
DIANE: So again, it's that persistence.
JARETTE: Oh, yeah. Public entity work has very little turnover. Therefore, from a retention standpoint, you're going to retain that account for many years. I wrote my first public entity account about 15 years ago, and that account is still on the books.
DIANE: That's great.
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Jarette Sampson walks in a field.
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TEXT: To view the rest of our SA4SA videos with Diane Barr, visit travelers.com/savvy
© 2024 The Travelers Indemnity Company. All rights reserved. Travelers and the Travelers Umbrella logo are registered trademarks of The Travelers Indemnity Company in the U.S. and other countries.
Networking and relationship building
Get tips for successfully networking with public entities plus ways you can build and strengthen client relationships from savvy agent, Danny Fedeli.
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Travelers Logo
TEXT: Sound Advice 4 Savvy Agents
The words Savvy Agents turn red. An abbreviation, SA4SA, appears above the text, with the second SA also red. A woman faces us in an office. She has short blond hair and wears a black top. The SA4SA logo is at the lower left.
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DIANE: Hello, and welcome back to Sound Advice for Savvy Agents.
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TEXT: Diane Barr, VP and Public Sector National Practice Leader, Travelers
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For today's episode, I'll be talking again with Danny Fedeli of the Fedeli Group in Independence, Ohio.
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Diane and Danny walk outdoors in a woody area during winter. The logo of the Fedeli Group is on a beige office wall. Diane and Danny talk in an office setting.
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Today's topic is about networking, something you're really good at, Danny. Can you expand on that a little bit?
DANNY: There's a lot of ways to do it.
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TEXT: Danny Fedeli, Executive Vice President, The Fedeli Group.
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Everything we do is about relationships, be it our prospects, our clients, our carrier partners and our employees. There are various charity events. There's political events. There's social events. What you have to do is build a brand. And you go out and the more people you meet, the more people you talk to, the more relationships you build. At some point in time, someone's going to need our services. What we do here is really, really unique.
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Danny eats a meal with a man and a woman.
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We've actually been cooking at this agency for over 30 years. It's about serving and servant leadership. We demonstrate to these prospects and clients that our mission is to serve, and that's what we're here to do. And when you break bread with somebody, magic does happen.
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We go over a small steel bridge. Text on a green road sign: Independence corporation limit. Diane and Danny talk and walk outdoors in a woody area on a winter day.
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Building a relationship with folks, I think the important thing, Diane, is to realize, what are their interests, meaning the prospect or the client, and try to meet them where they are. But again, it comes down to listening, asking the appropriate questions and then spending quality time.
DIANE: Do you think there's a difference in networking a public entity client versus a nonpublic entity client?
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Diane and Danny talk in an office setting.
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DANNY: By the nature of them being a public entity, I would say yes, there are rules, restrictions. Nobody wants to be accused of what we call quid pro quo. It doesn't change our approach, but we have to be a little bit more, I would say, careful in our approach when we're entertaining people in the public sector.
DIANE: Danny, it's been great spending time with you today. Thank you so much for having me.
DANNY: You're welcome, absolutely. And please feel free to stop by anytime.
DIANE: I will do that.
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TEXT: To view the rest of our SA4SA videos with Diane Barr, visit travelers.com/savvy
© 2024 The Travelers Indemnity Company. All rights reserved. Travelers and the Travelers Umbrella logo are registered trademarks of The Travelers Indemnity Company in the U.S. and other countries.
Stand out from the competition and pay it forward
Want to gain a competitive edge in selling public sector insurance? Jarette Sampson shares his secrets and explains how he’s working to pass that knowledge on.
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Travelers Logo
TEXT: Sound Advice 4 Savvy Agents
The words Savvy Agents turn red. An abbreviation, SA4SA, appears above the text, with the second SA also red. A woman faces us in an office. She has short blond hair and wears a
green jacket over a pink top. The SA4SA logo is at the lower left.
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DIANE: Welcome to Sound Advice 4 Savvy Agents.
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TEXT: Diane Barr, VP and Public Sector National Practice Leader, Travelers
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For today's episode, I'm back with Jarette Sampson for his thoughts on the competition and much more. Jarette, it's really great to see you again.
JARETTE: Thank you, Diane.
DIANE: When you first started out, Jarette, tell me how you started to identify opportunities.
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Jarette wears a plaid blue blazer over a white button-down.
TEXT: Jarette Sampson, President, Dial Insurance
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JARETTE: So every public entity that was within my county's border, I made a point to go visit. I tell any agent, you don't know what the market is unless you go talk to the market.
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From above, a baseball diamond sits in a green space. Fire trucks sit in a garage.
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JARETTE: For an agent to be successful in public entity, their No. 1 goal has got to be persistency. These entities don't call you for a quote. You have to call them.
DIANE: And that persistence really pays off, doesn't it?
JARETTE: Yes, it does.
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A water tower reads, UNC Pembroke, over a logo with a person and a hawk.
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DIANE: How do you stand out from your competition?
JARETTE: I really work hard with our clients to make that they're part of my family and I'm part of theirs in their work world. They always have my cellphone number. I text them. I keep up with them. I have a system to where there's actually cookies, flowers, all types of things delivered on their birthdays. Everyone gets the barbecue sauce. Jarette's Dad's Barbecue Sauce is what it's called.
DIANE: If it's hot enough, you can't forget you. So you've won an account and you want to retain it. So what do you do?
JARETTE: I try to make sure they know that any need that they have, we're going to be a community partner, whether it be helping out on some promotion they're doing, whether it be getting them risk management services that they need, claims management. We try to oversee everything and hold their hand throughout the process. Account managers give them that one-on-one service.
DIANE: So a true partner.
JARETTE: Yep, a true partner.
DIANE: Obviously, you've built a book of this business and become a savvy agent. So tell me how you're exporting that to other agents and brokers.
JARETTE: We're in the process of trying to educate some other agents of how to write this business.
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The sun hangs low on the horizon behind a city skyline.
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And Travelers has been a valued resource that our territory manager, chief of underwriting, had been willing to reach out and help us. So it's a true partnership and it's something that we're very proud of right now.
DIANE: Thank you so much, Jarette. It's been really great talking with you today. I really appreciate your time.
JARETTE: Thank you, Diane.
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Travelers Logo
TEXT: To view the rest of our SA4SA videos with Diane Barr, visit travelers.com/savvy
© 2024 The Travelers Indemnity Company. All rights reserved. Travelers and the Travelers Umbrella logo are registered trademarks of The Travelers Indemnity Company in the U.S. and other countries.
Account retention and carrier relationships
Once you’ve won a public sector client, how do you keep them for the long term? Danny Fedeli discusses how he nurtures these lucrative accounts and the importance of a solid carrier partnership.
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Travelers Logo
TEXT: Sound Advice 4 Savvy Agents
The words Savvy Agents turn red. An abbreviation, SA4SA, appears above the text, with the second SA also red. A woman faces us in an office. She has short blond hair and wears a black top. The SA4SA logo is at the lower left.
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DIANE: Hello, and welcome to the final episode of Sound Advice 4 Savvy Agents.
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TEXT: Diane Barr, VP and Public Sector National Practice Leader, Travelers
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Today, I'll be speaking again with Danny Fedeli of The Fedeli Group. Welcome back, Danny. It's so great to be here with you today.
DANNY: Good to be with you, Diane.
DIANE: Danny, what's important when you're recommending a carrier to your client?
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DANNY: When you're looking for a carrier partner via public sector or private sector, they have to have a good reputation. They have to be sound. They have to be financially viable. They have to have coverages that we believe our client will need. And you have to have people on the other side whose mission is to serve us as their client as much as our mission is to serve our clients.
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TEXT: Danny Fedeli, Executive Vice President, The Fedeli Group.
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Through that sales process, you have to coach the buyer that it isn't always the bottom line price. I'm selling stability. So when I'm dealing with a Travelers, there's stability there. There's claims paying there. There's a relationship there. That's what we're selling.
DIANE: Once you land an account, what do you do next?
DANNY: Other than celebrate, we mobilize our service team, and that service team then immediately follows up with the insured and goes through a whole series of protocols, auto ID cards, certificates of insurance, introductions to other decision-makers perhaps at that public sector account, establish a line of communication.
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They walk on a path in woods with bare trees.
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DIANE: So this year's an election year.
DANNY: Yes.
DIANE: You're going to see some change in administration in some of your customers, some of your accounts. How do you manage through that turnover?
DANNY: So that's a great question. And what we want to always make sure is, is that we meet the new folks, we meet the new regime. We listen to what their concerns, desires are because they may not be what the previous regime's needs and desires are, how they like to be communicated with and so forth. So we make an effort to get to know them.
DIANE: That's sound advice.
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They sit in an office.
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From all of us at Travelers, I hope you're inspired to go into your cities and counties and start seeing how this exciting segment can become a lucrative part of your book of business. And remember, your Travelers public sector territory managers are standing by to guide you every step of the way.
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Travelers Logo
TEXT: To view the rest of our SA4SA videos with Diane Barr, visit travelers.com/savvy
© 2024 The Travelers Indemnity Company. All rights reserved. Travelers and the Travelers Umbrella logo are registered trademarks of The Travelers Indemnity Company in the U.S. and other countries.
