TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE
By : Doug Smart , KAIA President
It was a privilege to attend the national Big I ( Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America ) meeting last week in Kansas City . It is the national equivalent or big brother of KAIA for those who do not know . Your KAIA dues automatically make you a member of the National Big I .
This year , Big I was special because our own Bob Fee from Fee Insurance in Hutchinson was installed as the new President of the National Association . Your KAIA Executive Board and staff were honored to be invited to and attend the event . Around 400 agents from all over the United States were in attendance , and it was a great ceremony . The family and staff at Fee Insurance created a couple of extremely entertaining videos and helped us all get to know Bob a little better . We even got to know “ Flat Bob ,” but that is another story for another time .
I was also honored to serve on a panel for the annual Young Agents National Conference at the same venue , along with agency partner Kyle Becker , about perpetuation . We each spoke for 5-10 minutes , then were interviewed by a moderator , followed by a question-and-answer session from the audience . The perpetuation panel brought some interesting questions to my mind , which I will share with you .
• If you are an “ aging ” agent , do you have a perpetuation plan in place ? OR if you are ANY agency owner , do you have a perpetuation plan in place ? If not , why not ? You are only hurting yourself , your
customer , and your staff by procrastinating the inevitable . Last year , I lost a close friend who was in the manufacturing business that died unexpectedly while in his early 70 ' s . He had no perpetuation plan . His wife knew nothing about the business , and now it is a disaster trying to keep the business going and making decisions . Do not do this to your family ! If you are unsure how to proceed in this process , I suggest you contact Harrison Brooks , who is with Reagan Consulting , the Best Practice folks . Harrison is an expert on perpetuation and would be glad to help any of you . He can be reached at 402-869-2537 or emailed at harrison @ reaganconsulting . com . Another great option is Carey Wallace with Agency Focus . She can be reached at ( 614 ) 657-2674 .
• If you are a young agent interested in perpetuating with a senior member of your agency , have you discussed your plan ? If not , why not ? Time is of the essence , and I suggest you force the issue . It usually takes two to three years to get all the details worked out . Again , if you need help , reach out to Harrison Brooks at Reagan Consulting if you have any questions on how to proceed . My younger partner and I put together a 10-year perpetuation plan eight years ago , and that plan is working out very well . If you are interested in our agreement or have perpetuation questions , please feel free to call me at 785-263- 1920 .
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