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The Changing Face of the Independent Agent Standing Tall Donna Chiapperino uses her strengths, energy and passion to lead by example By Elaine Tolen For many people outside of the insurance industry, the thought of selling insurance conjures up images of the main character in “Death of a Salesman.” It certainly did for Donna Chiapperino, who thought the industry looked “mundane” until she actually tried it. “Even though my dad worked in the industry and I helped out during the summer, I was not about to become Willy Loman,” she muses. Then, after college graduation in 1992 and a short stint with a division of BellSouth, “I tried insurance and was hooked. Fifteen years later, I still love it.” Donna’s full-time insurance career began in 1993 as a broker at managing general agency Lee & Hawthorne in New York City, where her father, Ken Lee, is a principal. The firm sells credit insurance direct as well as through agents. In addition to helping her develop strong sales skills, Donna found that selling domestic and export credit insurance, which guarantees payment on goods shipped and services rendered, also gave her the satisfaction of helping others. “When bad things happen to a business, everyone brings them a bill. We brought them a check,” she says. At Lee & Hawthorne, Donna saw firsthand how character affects business. “I learned from my father and from others that honesty is the best policy,” she says. “I learned not to force a sale, and to make a sale for the right reasons. When I trained new agents at Lee & Hawthorne, they couldn’t understand why I’d walk away from a sale if I knew we couldn’t meet the prospect’s needs as well as another company could. I got referrals from people who didn’t buy from me!” If a budding career wasn’t enough to keep Donna occupied, during her nine-year tenure at Lee & Hawthorne she got married and had three children. “I worked two days from home in Blauvelt, New York, and would be on the road one day and in the New York City office the other two. I was able to be with my kids when they were babies and still maintain a career and keep up my networking contacts.” New direction In 2003, Donna needed a change and to be closer to home, so she left Lee & Hawthorne and went to work as a career counselor. “Working with young people has always been a passion,” Donna says. “After about a year, though, I realized how much I missed the insurance industry. I still wanted to work with young people, but as a volunteer, not as a job.” In 2004, Donna was hired to establish a marketing department at Jimcor Agencies, a managing general agency writing $140 million in premium headquartered in Montvale, New Jersey. “Always one for a challenge,” she accepted the position at the 160-person firm. Donna works with branch managers to coordinate the marketing efforts for the corporate office and for Jimcor’s seven branches in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. According to Donna, Jimcor started the new department at a time when few MGAs had a specific person or division to handle the marketing function. “Now, I see more wholesalers starting marketing/PR departments—and with professionals who are not strictly insurance people. This is good because our industry needs a facelift. Only we can change our image.” As far as Jimcor’s image goes, besides the overall corporate marketing plan, Donna has worked with the branch managers to design a customized marketing plan and budget for each of the seven branches. “Each branch is at a different place in the growth cycle and has different demographics,” Donna explains, “so each needs a different approach. For instance, Jimcor’s Long Island office has a diverse agent population. We have underwriters in that office who speak different languages and are able to overcome a potential communication barrier and assist our agency clients in writing business effectively and efficiently. So we may gear marketing materials differently than we would for another branch with a different dominant culture or demographics.” Donna describes herself as “the door opener” for Jimcor. “I have to know where to find the right person— whether that means where to place an ad, what trade shows we should participate in, or networking with the agents at events. It is not about handing out my business card; it is about getting Jimcor’s name out to agents. I work with our IT department to make sure Jimcor’s Web site is up to date and is effectively promoting our image and products. My latest big undertaking is promoting our newest division, Jimcor Select Risk, a team of specialists within Jimcor who are dedicated to handling larger and more complex risks,” she explains. “Part of that promotion includes leading specialists in media training.” Just as Donna enjoyed the diversity of accounts she handled at Lee & Hawthorne, she also enjoys the variety that each day brings at Jimcor. A typical day may include writing a press release and proofing ads in the morning, setting up CE classes for agents and filing for credits with the state, followed by a board meeting of the Professional Insurance Agents of New York State (PIANY) or Council of Insurance Brokers of Greater NY (CIBGNY). And although having insurance experience isn’t mandatory to be a good marketer, Donna says, “having a P&C license and niche market experience has been an advantage for me.” Reaching out to top students Getting young people to see the possibilities of an insurance career is one of Donna’s passions. “I know firsthand why they’re not interested,” she says, “but I got ‘the bug’ and they can too. We have to spread the word to young people.” Through PIANY’s Young Insurance Professionals (NYYIP), Donna works with local colleges to encourage students to pursue insurance careers. NYYIP members visit classes, sharing about their experiences in the industry. As a way to get students interested in the industry, this year the organization created the “Rising Star Award” for college students. The winner had to write an essay about how today’s ‘twenty-something’ generation views insurance. As important as promoting the insurance industry to college students, Donna says, is promoting it to high school students. “We need more insurance people to go to high schools and work with the kids before they get a solid idea about what they want to do in college and career.” Putting her money where her mouth is, Donna has started to work with her old high school, Tappan Zee High School in Orangeburg, New York, to teach marketing “as a back door to talking to students about the insurance industry.” Under Donna’s supervision, the nine advanced business students’ assignment is to review Jimcor’s marketing materials, Web site, etc., to determine whether they are sending the right message to the agency’s intended audience. After this project is completed this winter, “the plan is to discuss careers sometime in the spring,” Donna explains. “Through the marketing portion, they’ve already had exposure to the insurance industry. They’ve seen for themselves how interesting it is. When it is introduced to them as a career option they’ll know that there are so many different opportunities in one industry—not just as an actuary or underwriter or salesperson, but so much more depending on what you want to do. That is the message I try to give them.” Donna continues: “There’s something for everyone in this industry. Are you interested in law enforcement but don’t want to be a cop? You could go into claims investigation. Do you love art but are not sure about supporting yourself as an artist? You could work as an art appraiser. If you love jewelry, you might handle jewelers block and insure diamonds. There are so many areas within the insurance industry in which people can use their talents or interests. “Oh, and by the way,” Donna adds, “you can also make a good living at it!” Cultivating young producers can be just as much of a challenge as recruiting them into the industry, Donna says. “A lot of younger people have a ‘what’s in it for me?’ attitude. Many times they bring a problem to management and walk away, expecting management to solve it,” she explains. “Jimcor is wonderful at managing young people, and has some good strategies for dealing with the ‘what’s in it for me?’ and ‘here’s a problem, now handle it’ syndromes.” When a younger employee drops a problem on the table and wants to walk away so management can fix it, Donna says, Jimcor management turns the problem back to the employee for possible solutions. “Young people act like they want others to solve their problems when really they want to be involved and heard. At Jimcor the best ideas and solutions tend to come from the employees themselves, and management is not afraid to acknowledge employee-led solutions. “This strategy works as well or even better in smaller agencies,” Donna continues. “When owners and managers sincerely ask for employees’ opinions and allow them to participate in decision-making, the buy-in is going to be one hundred percent.” Active in trade groups Donna says her career success directly correlates to her involvement in the industry. “I joined the Professional Insurance Agents of New York Young Insurance Professionals in 1994, just after I started working at Lee & Hawthorne. That really started me off in the right direction,” she explains. “Networking and relationships with others in any industry make the difference between a good and great salesperson.” It didn’t take long for Donna to get her feet wet. Just a year after joining, she became chairperson of the Metro Region committee for NYYIP and eventually went on to serve as NYYIP president from 2001 - 2003. “The NYYIPs taught me about perpetuation, and that leaders have to surround themselves with great people in order to succeed. I was fortunate to have those people around me and left the YIPs in the hands of Michael Cracco who, with help of his board, brought the association to even greater heights. I learned how to network and make valuable industry contacts that I now call friends. The NYYIPs helped take my career to that next level.” Donna was honored in 1997 as YIP of the Year. Donna has moved on to the PIANY Board of Directors and is now the treasurer of the Association as well as Hudson Valley RAP (Regional Awareness Program) chair, and legislative captain and Advisory Council chair for the Lower Hudson Valley. Another industry organization that Donna has plugged into is the Council of Independent Brokers of Greater New York (CIBGNY), a downstate group that concentrates on issues pertaining to the five boroughs of New York. She was recently elected to the Metro NY board. Donna is also a member of the Western New York Insurance Association, which serves the Buffalo area. “PIANY and CIBGNY allow me to represent independent insurance agents at a time when many Main Street agents feel their businesses are being attacked from almost every direction. We need to not only work to attract new blood into the industry, but to maintain the integrity of the industry we have here today. That might mean the continued fight of these associations to arm independent agents with the tools to compete against direct writers, or the ability to educate legislators and protect ourselves against those who want to harm our livelihoods and compare us to Willy Lowman and the used car salesman.” In 2002 when Donna worked as a career counselor, she took a sabbatical from professional insurance organizations. “I kept in contact with friends and colleagues,” says Donna. “In fact, I learned about the opening at Jimcor during lunch with a close friend I met through the Young Insurance Professionals—Jimcor CEO Coryn Thalmann. I have made a lot of friendships in this industry since 1993.” Always looking for ways to build and grow relationships within the industry, Donna, along with Coryn, who is past president of the New Jersey YIP, organized a Tri-State Leadership Conference in November of last year. “The PIAs of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut work together on various projects and activities,” Donna says. “We wanted a venue to continue the relationships that we’ve made over the years, and to grow our leadership strengths through networking and educational sessions. Past presidents from each state were invited to work with the present board of directors from the three states in a full day of networking, leadership skills and open forum discussion on how to grow the associations.” Donna’s work in the young agent community was recognized in 2006 when she received an Honorary Lifetime Membership from the PIA of New York Young Insurance Professionals. “This award means a lot to me because it came from my peers, and only two others have been given this honor,” she says. Encouraging Donna in these industry involvements has been Jimcor management. “They believe that being active not only benefits the individual, but also benefits the agency.” Family friendly Jimcor also supports Donna’s commitment to her family life. “Family” is big at Jimcor, which was founded by Frank and Ellen Mastowski in 1986 and is now run by their children, Jim Mastowski and Coryn Thalmann. “I travel a lot with work and industry commitments, and the agency allows me time to be involved in other personal activities, such as volunteering at my children’s schools,” Donna explains. “I bring my kids into the office sometimes on weekends or when Santa comes to the office; my children know other employees’ children. The agency has family picnics—no small feat with 160 employees. Not many wholesalers have events like that.” Donna’s real family—her husband, children, relatives—also support her job and industry responsibilities. “In a job like mine, there has to be flexibility and help from family,” Donna says, “and my husband, Robert, supports everything I do. My parents, sisters and aunt have also been a big help through the years. My kids are proud of me when I come home with an award or an article is published. I keep them involved and let them know about what I do even when I have to travel. Maybe someday one of my three children will go into insurance—or play football for the NY Jets!” Another group that encourages Donna in career as well as family life is the community of fellow insurance professionals. “This industry is so different,” she explains. “You can get support and help from others. You can call another agent and share a difficulty, and he or she has been in a similar situation. We help each other. “At the end of the day, you don’t mind sitting next to your competitor, because you’re friends with each other. It doesn’t get much better than that!” * |
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