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News & Views: What a Year
Newsletter – Wednesday, January 16, 2019
What a year – would you agree? Last week at Tuscano Agency we held our all-agency meeting – a week of activity capped off with the annual state of the agency address. I know it sounds a little grandiose, but it is a tradition here at Tuscano to gather all of the staff, share a meal, and share our results. In our early days, we also shared a condo, a bar, and a toboggan (you’ll have to ask me if you want the rest of the story).
All in all, the Tuscano Agency had a great 2018! We started the year with some lofty goals. I think of our goals as the bullseye on the target, and the planning and execution are the bow and arrows. We may not always hit the bullseye, but we are consistently hitting our targets and we get better every year that goes by. I’m telling you this because it should make a difference where you broker a risk. Tuscano is a wholesaler with potential! I’m inviting you to jump on our wagon and go BIG places with us!
Here’s an interesting fact – in 2018 we processed over 150 retail agency ownership changes and mergers. Maybe all of this activity is also causing more churn in the market. My underwriters feel they are seeing a lot more risks price shopping. And yet, as we sift through the opportunities you send us, we continue to find ways to write more and more of your brokerage business. Our goals for 2019 are to build stronger relationships with our customers, find ways to get a quote out faster, and to have more fun, all while acknowledging what we do makes a difference.
Here’s another fun fact - close to 100 agencies grew with Tuscano by more than $50,000 last year. Wouldn’t you like to be counted in that number? It often starts with a simple phone call to discuss what it would take to write your account. Understanding expectations help us get from simply quoting a risk, to getting the bind order.
We also heard from a majority of you last year that you’d prefer receiving your Tuscano accounting statement electronically so we’ve pulled the plug on the printer! Starting this month, we will be emailing a link to the person(s) we show as the accounts payable contact in your office. You do have the ability to opt back in to receiving a printed & mailed statement, but you will need to contact our Accounting Team to make that request. If we need to update who in your office gets the emailed statement notice, please let us know that as well.
Before I sign off, I’m wondering if you have a need for an admitted personal lines carrier that can write homeowners, dwellings, manufactured homes as well as specialty products like collector cars, boats, and motorcycles? If so, you need to consider using American Modern Insurance Group. Writing business with American Modern is easy. With their web portal, ModernLink, you have the ability to ‘self-serve’. We provide you with a login and you take it from there – rate, quote, and bind! Even better, you get the Tuscano Personal Lines Team to back you up. For a limited time, we are paying an extra 5% on new business written with American Modern so it is even more beneficial for you to pick up this market and run with it.
Tuscano’s goal for 2019 is to be your number one choice in a wholesaler. To hit that goal, we know we have to plan and execute on customer service, responsiveness, utilizing our markets, and advancing our technology. We’ve got the capacity and we’d love to be a market that can help you grow your business.
Tuscano CAN do it!