I started Health
Insurance Express because of my grandmother. From around 1915 to 1938 she and
my grandfather owned and operated the general store in Fulda, Minnesota, a
farming town of about 900 people.
When they left Fulda for Chicago in 1938 to be near my dad while he attended DePaul University the whole town turned out for their sendoff. They did that because as merchants and residents of the town my grandparents treated each and every Fulda resident like family.
Many years
later my grandmother, who continued working in retail until she was 86 years
old would tell me, "Always do the right thing for your customers, treat
them like family, and the rest will take care of itself. If you're not sure which
products to recommend just ask yourself if you would suggest the same product
if this were your brother or sister, your aunt, uncle, cousin, mother, or
father." I guess that most of you had a grandparent or grandparents who
greatly influenced you too. Those are lessons you never forget.
Of all the
things I've done in my working life retail became my first career and my first
love. I went from being a stock boy in high school to owning a small chain of
men’s clothing stores by age 26. After several years I got tired of the
seven-day, five-night a week schedule and started to seek a change. I knew that
many of my retail skills and values would transfer into a career in the
insurance field and that’s what I decided to do. However, after many years I
got the “bug” again and I took my traditional insurance career (stuffy office,
by appointment only) and changed it into a new type of retail experience, Health
Insurance Express. So far it's working...and I think it is because I followed
my grandmother's advice.
Many people
asked me how I could sell an intangible product like insurance in a retail
store. But that never occurred to me because I know that our customers look to
us for efficient, economical, and secure solutions to their risk management
needs. Having a relaxed, informal, and accessible place to do that made perfect
sense to me and it made the shopping experience much easier for our customers.
Yes, we sell
a lot of different products from a lot of insurance companies. Many of these
products are complex and explained in lengthy contracts. But I have often said
that insurance, by its most essential definition, is simply a promise to pay. Looking
at insurance products as promises to pay makes them easier to understand and
easier to explain. Here’s what I mean. We offer:
- The promise of quality health care with our health insurance plan
- The promise of a retirement free from a health care financial disaster with our Medicare plans
- The promise of happy, protected, and trusting employees with our employee benefits plans
- The
promise of brighter smiles and beautiful sunsets with our dental and vision
plans
- The promise of a financially secure future for our loved ones with our life insurance plans
- The promise of a stress-free recovery from a sickness or injury with our disability, critical illness, and accident insurance plans
Like most of
you I always had a desire to learn more about my family’s history. As I get
older I think that it helps to understand who I am if I have a better sense of
where I came from. My dad never told me much about his boyhood or what it was
like to grow up in a small town but I always wondered about it, especially
since I only knew what it was like to grow up in Chicago, a huge urban area.
Many years
after my grandparents and parents had passed away my wife and I took a trip to
Fulda, Minnesota, my first time there. I had written a letter to the editor of
the newspaper before we left for Fulda, asking if there were archives where I
might see ads for my grandparents' general store or information about my dad’s
and uncle’s school days. I didn’t hear back from the editor but when we got into
town half of the people had heard about our visit and they met us, brought
mementoes, photos, and best of all, personal stories about my grandparents, my
uncle, and my father. The head of the town’s historical society put together a
whole presentation of old photos and news articles for us. It was one of the
best experiences of my life, really like a family reunion.
Of course one
of the things that we had to do during our time in Fulda was to visit the site
of my family's general store. What is it today? To my great surprise I found that
it's the town's insurance agency! Thanks Grandma. And thanks for reading.
Sincerely,
Alan
Leafman, President
(800) 955-0418
No comments:
Post a Comment