Jason Allers, CIC, CRM
I remember this guy. This picture was taken almost 20 years ago. I was a wide-eyed young insurance professional ready to hit the streets and build an empire. The picture was taken in Minnesota, by the people at Federated Insurance. My first insurance sales job. I was 30.
I was recruited then to help build a successful territory for a somewhat unknown company at the time. They were good to me. They trained me for nearly a year. Daily. 7am – 4pm, 5 days a week, all I did was study insurance contracts. How they were drawn up. Coverages. Exclusions. Endorsements. Business, Home, Auto, Life and Health, Disability, Inland Marine, Ocean Marine, Garage Keepers, Errors and Omissions. These things became my passion. Sad as it sounds, it was true. I focused my attention on Contractors, Auto Dealers, Equipment Dealers, Machine Shops, Breweries, Restaurants, Hospitality and more. I made hundreds, and perhaps even thousands of cold calls. I knocked on doors and sat at Kitchen tables at all hours of the day and night.
Since that time, I have found other passions along the way. Family, friends, volunteering in the community, Rugby, Fly-fishing, being a father. All things that now define me and have helped my shape who I have become.
I got into the insurance industry due to some bad actors in the same field. I had claims denied, policies canceled or premiums increasing to unafordable levels. There had to be a better way to do business.
That is why 16 years later, I started Sterling Casualty. I have worked for carriers in claims and underwriting and sales. I have worked for agencies large and small. One thing I have found is that most of my competition is concerned about one thing- profit. I am not condemning this. It’s a business, I get it. In the grand scheme of things, however, many lose sight of the customer, focusing on the next biggest thing, the next sale, the next commission. They lose sight of the important things we are here to do- to provide the best possible insurance product for the best possible price.
I have been guilty of this from time to time myself, as sales goals needed to be hit; and as sales managers and agency owners pushed to grow premiums and profits, sometimes at the expense of the same people that rely on them to have their best interests at heart.
I heard once that clients don’t care how much you know, but how much you care. This is a critical cornerstone in the formation of Sterling Casualty and one of the focal points to how I do business. I don’t chase policy holders and clients because I want to be rich. That was never my goal. I chase clients because I know that I can do a better job. That when someone calls with a claim, I can with a great degree of certainty tell them they are covered. If I can do this enough, I can live comfortably, create a nice life for my wife and three children, and someday I suspect when I am 90-something, retire!
As I enter this new phase of my career, I hope that you will join me and help me usher in a new level of service and care that is not nearly as common as it should be. At Sterling Casualty, you will find a new level of personal service and high standard of care based on taking care of the customer that so many others have lost sight of.
I look forward to serve you.
Jason Allers- President, Sterling Casualty Company.
Syracuse, NY