The accidental insurance agent

To Christopher Sullivan, a perfect world is one in which insurance agents would be viewed in the same light as attorneys and accountants. Sullivan, a risk management advisor with Powers Insurance and Benefits in Clayton, Missouri, says insurance is just as crucial to a business’s longevity, yet is often looked upon as a commodity rather than a value-added service. And agents are doing it to themselves, he says.

Just four years into an already lucrative insurance career, the 28-year-old Sullivan loves his job, even though it wasn’t his first choice. Thanks to a financial crisis and a conversation with his cousins, Sullivan was able to transition into the insurance industry with relative ease.

In 2009, Sullivan had finished an internship in a financial advisory practice. He had just earned a Bachelor of Science in Marketing, and he was positioning himself for a career in finance. Having come from a legacy of salesmen — his father, grandfather, and four uncles were all in sales — it was a no-brainer what his career would be.

Yet timing is everything. A year before Sullivan graduated, the recession hit the financial services industry. Jobs were disappearing and the industry was in crisis.

So he talked to cousins who were independent agency owners. They convinced him to give insurance a shot. Sullivan thought it would be an easy way to segue into the financial sector. “Everyone needs insurance. If today’s market is tough, you at least have a way to get in the door with insurance. Then down the road, you can explore something else.”

The transition

Even in his short career, Sullivan has already done some of that exploring. His first job in the industry was with State Farm. He’d seen a business plan for becoming a State Farm agent and it intrigued him. He contacted the company and “I suddenly had more opportunities than I thought I’d have. So many State Farm agents wanted me to learn and manage their book of business. I ended up working for one of the largest books of business in Missouri.”

Turns out it was a great move. Within three years, Sullivan was the most tenured employee in the agency. Also, he says it was a great learning experience, and he learned how to manage the book of business, fill a pipeline, set appointments, manage clients and more. “I did everything for the agency except write the payroll checks.”

He also managed retention. During his tenure, Sullivan says the agency had an unheard of lapse and cancellation ratio of less than 10 percent on nearly 8,000 policies. State Farm, he says, provided a great opportunity for him to learn and grow a business.

The independent life

Still, Sullivan felt his career, while flourishing, had limitations. “State Farm was a fabulous company, but if the business didn’t fit within State Farm, I couldn’t help people. Then my name wasn’t what it could be. It was more of a ‘Chris is your guy if’ scenario. You had to fit the cookie-cutter situation.”

Like a true salesperson, he decided he’d rather sell his name instead of selling an insurance brand. He explored various options before deciding his talents might fit better within the independent agency structure. Yet not any agency would do. So Sullivan approached his job search much like he does his client prospects – he networked for a year, interviewing several places and looking for that right balance of product offerings, support and long-term approach to business success.

Plenty of coffee and beers later, Sullivan found the best fit in Powers Insurance and Benefits out of Clayton, Missouri. There, he specializes in commercial risk management consultancy – 90 percent of his business. His clients are companies that need risk management, but don’t have the resources to have one on staff. He says Powers “operates like one of the big guys, but is a family-owned business.” In fact, until recently, Sullivan was the only risk manager there who didn’t have the Powers last name.