Nixon & Lindstrom was founded in 1955 by Jerry Nixon. Luke Nixon is his son, and he's our current CEO. We have 38 employees, and we offer business insurance, group health insurance and personal insurance. I have been in the insurance industry for more than eight years and at Nixon & Lindstrom for three.
What's your day-to-day role?
For my insureds and prospects, I will do a thorough coverage analysis. Once I do that analysis, I will take their risk tolerances and match those up with an insurance program and plan that I put together. We market (the plan) to (different) insurance companies, get those results, compile, review and analyze them and let the insured or the prospect know what we come up with.
What are some key types of business coverage, and which, if any, is overlooked?
Business income coverage, building coverage, and liability coverage based on what they're doing.
Business income coverage would be (an overlooked) type, where (owners) are protecting their revenue stream. I had an individual who had a very low amount of business income coverage when I started working with him, because in his mind he had calculated what it would take, if he had a fire, tornado or something that damaged his business, to get back up and running. Upon analysis, we were able to provide more coverage for him, and when he did have a fire, he was very happy to see that he had the higher limit. He hadn't calculated how long it was going to take to (meet) the new building ordinances that had come into play since (coverage) was originally written by someone else.
What issues are identified during a coverage analysis?
More often than not, I will find mistakes on (new clients') current policies. Anything from the name of the insured (being) wrong to one ... business owner whose policy (covered) three buildings. I was going through it with him and walking on his property, and I said, "Show me where this third building is," and he said, "I don't have a third building." But the policy showed a third building with $75,000 in coverage for contents. He was paying for coverage he didn't need.
How has the economy affected your business?
We are a direct reflection of the locally owned businesses that we work with on all types of insurance. Their premiums are based on sales and payroll, and when sales are down and payrolls are down, their premiums are down. Payrolls affect workers' compensation premiums.
If they're contractors, their payrolls are going to affect their liability premiums. If they're manufacturers, their sales are going to affect liability premiums. If (clients) are doing well, we're doing well.
How do you counsel clients who want to cut costs by changing their business coverage?
Part of my job is to bring them options on their insurance program on deductibles - property deductibles and vehicle deductibles. Liability is more difficult, because if they have a certain amount in an umbrella policy, they'll ask me, "What amount should I have for my umbrella policy?" And I'll say, "I can tell you that if you can tell me what limit you'll have on a liability claim." You can't tell, so you try to match their risk tolerance with premiums ... and bring them options to make a more informed decision. It's finding that mix of what lets them sleep well at night.
Tell us about being named Nixon & Lindstrom's 2008 Agent of the Year.
This is a team effort here, and there's a huge team that has gone into my success. There have been no internal barriers here. If you're willing to work hard, then you can prosper here. Working here at Nixon & Lindstrom is like being an entrepreneur, and that's one of the freedoms I love about it. I have no limits on what I want to build as far as my own business within the agency.
Tell us about your family and hobbies.
I met my wife, Kristy, on a blind date. We've been married for 19 years ... and she is there to support me and the family ... she keeps it all together for us. She's amazing. We have a 15-year-old son, Ryan, and daughters Emily, 13 and Sophie, 11. Teenagers have been a totally new realm for me. On any given weekend during the summer, we can be found on our boat with family and friends, enjoying the beauty of the Ozarks at Table Rock Lake.[[In-content Ad]]
