Bill Connolly--pictured with his wife, Deb--devotes long hours to both the agency business and his volunteer activities.
Bill Connolly--pictured with his wife, Deb--devotes long hours to both the agency business and his volunteer activities.
Bill is the kind of guy who can walk into a party where he knows nobody and leave with a bunch of friends." That's how Rod Evans, president of the Hart Insurance Agency, Kinston, North Carolina, describes William L. Connolly, III, AAI. Bill is vice president of the agency and a commercial lines producer. He also almost wasn't an insurance agent. Instead, he could have been receiving an award as one of the nation's leading men's clothing salesmen and a heck of a nice guy.
What happened was that Rod was looking for a producer and not being very successful. He kept thinking about his son-in-law, Bill. "I spent six months looking for a producer and he kept coming back to my mind," Rod remembers. "He was a sharp young man with the right personality. Finally, I decided to take the first step. We use the Caliper and Omni Profile tests. I asked Bill if he'd be willing to take the tests."
Well, Bill took the tests and "blew the top off of them," Rod says. "I sat down with him and we had a long heart-to-heart about business being business and being separate from family. Then I made him an offer."
In October of 1993, Bill Connolly joined the Hart Agency. He knew nothing about insurance and knew only four people (Rod being one of them) in the town. But both of those facts quickly changed. Bill threw himself into the job and into the community. And when Bill gets involved, it's like unleashing a whirlwind. He gets into the agency by 7 a.m. or earlier and leaves around 9 in the evening. "I come in early so I have time for charitable work," he explains. "It's also a great time to get in touch with our contractor clients. We write quite a few of them."
When Bill makes a commitment, he takes it personally. Just ask the Lenoir County American Cancer Society, whose contributions doubled after Bill issued a head-shaving challenge.
So what we have is someone who works a 14-hour day and then gets involved in charitable work. How much can he possibly do? you wonder. Well, to quote the old saw, "If you need to find someone with time to do something, look for the busiest person." That's Bill. He has served as the Lenoir County Coordinator for Operation EDITH (Exit Drill In The Home), a program that encourages families to set up and practice fire drills in the home. Thanks in part to his efforts, Lenoir County is one of the best saturated counties in the state. He was instrumental in organizing the Kinston/Lenoir County and the Carteret County Safe Kids Coalitions and has served as co-chair of the Lenoir County Safe Kids Coalition since 1997. He serves on the Stewardship Committee for St. Mary's Episcopal Church. He is a volunteer with the East Carolina Council of Boy Scouts. He is vice president of special projects for the Kinston/Lenoir County Chamber of Commerce.
He also is certified as a Red Cross Disaster Assessment Volunteer and assisted during the tornadoes in Zebulon in 1997. He is a member of the Kinston Evening Rotary Club and was named Rotarian of the Year in 1997. He is an annual volunteer on fund raisers for the Lenoir County United Way and the American Cancer Society. It was his challenge that boosted contributions to the American Cancer Society in Lenoir County from $48,000 in the first year of participation in the relay for life to $105,000 in the second year. Here's what happened.
Bill had a friend who had gone into hospice care. Chemotherapy took its usual toll, including the hair loss. So Bill decided to dramatize the problem and raise additional money in the process. He offered to shave his head if the county could raise over $100,000 for the Society. The chairs took up the challenge and, as noted above, the County raised $105,000 and Bill lived up to his word. However, since it was the Cancer Society, they didn't shave his head completely out of concern for skin cancer.
"I'm really proudest of the work that I've done with kids," Bill says. "Our work with Safe Kids was great, helping to avoid problems and improve the environment for kids. For Operation EDITH, we went everywhere, distributing lots and lots of material. I really believe our efforts made Lenoir County a better and safer place for kids to live."
Needless to say, the community quickly learned who Bill Connolly was.
On the business side, Bill put in the same effort. He studied for the AAI exams and went to the Aetna home office sales school in April 1994. He spent six weeks in Hartford becoming completely immersed in all aspects of commercial lines insurance. And now he's working on the CIC. He's also learned a lot from his involvement in the Big "I." He is a member of the Young Agents Committee of the Independent Insurance Agents of North Carolina and a past chairman. This year, IIANC honored him as "1999 Young Agent of the Year."
"Networking activities coupled with a formalized marketing plan really have been the keys to my becoming a successful agent," Bill maintains. Bill prepares a written marketing plan on an annual basis and reviews it with Rod quarterly. He also provides Rod with a weekly sales agenda that covers who he will be calling on that week. The results are discussed every Friday morning during the weekly sales meeting.
"Even though we're a relatively small agency, Rod and I realize that one of the keys to success is a business plan," he notes. The marketing plan is part of that overall business plan. In the plan, Bill identifies suspects based on the successes and appetites of their insurance companies. "I only call on suspects for which we have a proven program," he continues. "I won't call on a dynamite manufacturer because I don't have a market with a program for that risk." Suspects then are turned into prospects by getting their expiration date and a commitment to move their insurance to his agency "if I can enhance their current program. I try not to put so much emphasis on price but on the way I can improve their current insurance package. A major part of our marketing is relationship building. Providing enhanced coverage helps to build that relationship, as does my involvement with the community."
Bill also has proven to be an important part of the Hart Agency's perpetuation plan. In addition to his selling skills, Bill is an effective manager. In 1997, he was called upon to serve in that capacity when Rod went to Bosnia as part of the National Guard. He had to assume responsibility for all agency management functions from June 1997 through May 1998.
Bill is married to a "very supportive wife, Deb, who is behind everything that I do." It should be noted that Deb is equally busy, working as a paralegal for one of the top law firms in town.
Bill's selling secret--"I just bust my butt."
Rod Evans adds a bit more to that. "Bill has a good marketing plan and follows through with his plans. He is well organized and knows how to identify suspects, qualify them as prospects and then make them clients." *
©COPYRIGHT: The Rough Notes Magazine, 1999