Episode Transcript
[00:00:13] Speaker A: Welcome to Battle Ready. Leadership is not something you switch on or off. It becomes part of who you are, you know, being a leader. And for veterans, you know, the principles learned through military service, you know, continue shaping the way you lead, serve, and even impact others long after their time in uniform and as it has ended, you know. Today's guest is Jason Volker, Vice president of insurance sales at the Gibraltar Group. Jason served in the United States Navy. I'm not even gonna hold that back on him. You know, we were talking about that earlier and he builds, has been building a successful career in the insurance industry that now spans nearly three decades. His journey reflects a commitment to service, leadership and helping families protect what matters most. Jason, welcome to Battle Ready.
[00:00:56] Speaker B: How are you, man?
[00:00:57] Speaker A: I'm doing amazing.
[00:00:58] Speaker B: Thanks for having me.
[00:00:58] Speaker A: Yeah, no, you know, we were sitting outside, we were talking a little bit, and, you know, our paths kind of parallel.
[00:01:06] Speaker B: Yeah, a lot of similarities.
[00:01:08] Speaker A: Even quite a few years after mine make me. I'm gonna show my age here, right. So left high school, went to college after that first year, you know, realized that college ain't no joke.
[00:01:20] Speaker B: No.
[00:01:21] Speaker A: Yeah, I said it wrong. Ain't no joke, isn't a joke. But anyway, and then both of us went in the military. Tell me about, tell me about what you were thinking. What made you join the military? Where were you at in your life when you were, you know, a freshman? College. And all of a sudden, next thing you know, you're a seaman.
[00:01:41] Speaker B: I was a personnelman. I wasn't a seaman, but yeah, I was. I actually was. I was. To be honest with you, I was lost. I mean, I was.
You know what most 18 year olds do, they go to school. They do, you know, they party. They do a lot of the things that they probably shouldn't be doing. They shouldn't be studying.
Not that I did terrible, but I was on academic probation, the whole thing. So my. I remember going home and my mother saying, this is not.
I'm not paying for this, so you're going to have to figure something out. And I had a good friend that was in the Navy doing really well. He was a Navy diver. He was, you know, all over the world doing really cool stuff. And so, like, maybe I'll go talk to recruiter. I went and did that and took the ASVAB test, scored pretty well, pretty much had any job I really wanted to as an enlisted person. So I thought it was a good idea to do it. And. And I went in. I don't. I loved every bit of being in the the cert serving my country.
Got to see some pretty cool places.
But yeah, I learned a lot being in the Navy.
[00:02:44] Speaker A: I used to tell everybody, trying to figure out what I want to do when I grow up.
Right. You know, that's one thing I'm gonna put a plug in for the military. It's not what this show's all about, but it's one of the few jobs or careers you can go into when you don't know what you want to do and spend every penny of every day and just have a great old time. And at the end you have something to show for it. Like money for college.
[00:03:11] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:03:11] Speaker A: You know, I, I don't know how many times, you know, after I, I left the military and transitioned to the civilian world, I was in HR and so many kids were like, well, I'm going to school and part time job or I'm, I, I'm leaving school, I'm gonna do this job for a while, I'm gonna save money. But life gets in the way. So they're living their life but not saving anything. So, I mean, military will help you get through your college.
[00:03:33] Speaker B: I mean, even while I was in the military, I was going to school because there was a lot of downtime. I mean, especially. And I was on a ship that was being decommissioned, meaning they were getting rid of. It was an old ship.
[00:03:43] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:03:43] Speaker B: So I had a lot of time on our hands when we weren't. I was a personnelman. So unless I was, you know, making orders for somebody to go to the next, their next ship or next duty station, we would, you know, I had a lot of time. So I was going to school at night and I was, I was prepared, I was, I was more prepared when I got out to go to school.
Use the GI Bill. It's actually still helping me today. I've got five kids that if, I don't know if you guys know, but there's the Hazelwood Act.
[00:04:10] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:04:10] Speaker B: And I've put, I got one at Texas Tech now. I had, I had one at Sam Houston. I got two leaving right now. So I mean, it's helped a lot.
[00:04:18] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:04:18] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:18] Speaker A: You know, that's one thing, you know, and if this show wasn't going to be about school and we're going to talk about this and you, you know, your career path and everything, but I think I can remember meeting my wife's mother. I've been married 30 years.
When I first met her, she just kind of looked at me with a little distance like that, you know, you had to go in the military. You know, the military is a employer of last resort. And the reality was everybody just can't. Everybody can't get in the army or the Navy. They can't get, you know, no matter how bad you want, you cannot just get in the service. You have to pass certain tests. Right. You said to asvab physicals, different things and then go in and it's honestly, it's just like a job, any other job, except you wear a uniform all the time, right?
[00:05:05] Speaker B: Yeah. Everyone looks the same.
[00:05:07] Speaker A: You got to worry about how you get up and go to work. Right. You know, that's what you're wearing every day.
[00:05:12] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:13] Speaker A: And then, but there's so many opportunities while you're in to go to school, like you said, and then the benefits afterwards, you may not get paid the most that's possible in a career field that you have. That's paralleled in the civilian world. But at the end, I can remember being oil and gas and laying people off for 25 years and they cried and they didn't have a plan and I felt so bad. That's why I kind of left all the gas because I just got tired of seeing that. But it helped you kind of move here. Right? The discipline of, you know, books and partying. Okay. You know, you know, you have the same thoughts in the military, but the difference was you're going to pay the price if you mess up.
[00:05:57] Speaker B: Oh, 100%. Yeah.
[00:05:59] Speaker A: So you know what? Leadership lessons from military service will guide you in your decisions now and what
[00:06:04] Speaker B: you do for sure, I mean, discipline, I mean the, right off the bat, I mean, I remember the day one, you know, landing in San Diego, going straight to getting a haircut, you know, cutting your bald head, putting, you know, getting your clothes, putting your name on everything and just the attention to detail. If you're just a little bit off on your stencil, you know, they would scream at you, you know, and just that everyday stuff, I mean, working with a team, I mean if, if there was one guy behind you, always try to go back and get him. You know, even just walking to, to the galley or fast paced walk to the galley if someone's, you know, dragging you. Everyone drags.
[00:06:47] Speaker A: Range walk, we call that. Right.
[00:06:49] Speaker B: Hurry up and wait we used to call it. Yeah.
[00:06:51] Speaker A: You know, I have to bring this up. We were talking, I think it was yesterday on the phone or maybe day before, whatever. And you told me you still make your bed every day.
[00:07:01] Speaker B: I do, I do.
[00:07:02] Speaker A: Sorry about that.
[00:07:03] Speaker B: Sometimes I wake up and my wife's still in bed. And I'm like, you're gonna make the bed, right? And she's like, yes. Cause I don't know. I.
Believe me, before going in the military, I was not a.
[00:07:14] Speaker A: So we'd ask your mom, she would say, you didn't make beds.
[00:07:16] Speaker B: I actually. It was a pretty smart kid. I actually slept on top of the sheet and, you know, and didn't have to make the bed. So. Yeah, it was like a. But yeah, that's something that I. That I. And actually, I tell my team that too. Now I'm like, I mean, first thing to do, get wake up in the morning, make your bed. It feels like I accomplished something, you know, so that's, you know, that's one of. For sure. One of the first things that I do every morning. Yeah.
[00:07:36] Speaker A: You know, it's funny. I seen this officer that was. I don't know if he was speaking at the Naval Academy.
[00:07:41] Speaker B: I think it was a commencement speech. I think I saw the same thing. That's one of the reasons why I do it, too. I mean, I kind of was like, you know, this guy's right.
[00:07:48] Speaker A: Makes sense, right? And he said the first thing he does every day is make your bed. It's a feel of accomplishment right away.
[00:07:54] Speaker B: Yeah, it's. It's funny because on the weekends, we might lay in, you know, stay in bed a little longer, and we don't make the bed sometimes. That's.
[00:08:00] Speaker A: Not every time, but okay.
[00:08:01] Speaker B: But during the week, we definitely do. I have to get in that, you know, nice and snug. I mean, the pillows. I could do without the thousand pillows that my wife has. But other than that, I can.
[00:08:09] Speaker A: You know, it's funny. It's like, Edison, I can see how emotional this is to you. Right? Yeah, it's like. But that's cool thing, you know, you didn't.
You never thought prior to joining the military that you would feel this way about certain things, right?
[00:08:22] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, 100%. Yeah.
I don't think I would have ever thought about that stuff. I mean, I. And sometimes I forget that I actually learned it from being in the military. You know, it's like, why? Because people are like, why do you do it that way? And I'm like, you know, I guess it's because that's the way I was taught.
[00:08:39] Speaker A: Yeah, 100%. It's ingrained in your head.
[00:08:41] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:08:42] Speaker A: So, you know, has your.
Or how has your definition of leadership evolved over the years? You know, from, you know, you were a yeoman, you said. Right? Yeah. Yeoman in training. Which mean you, you are the top of the bottom of the group. Yeah. In basic, in training and your leadership now as the vice president.
[00:09:00] Speaker B: Well, you know, I think first you don't want to lead with an aggression or, or with a, you know, iron fist, you know, and that doesn't really get anywhere where I think in the military, I see a point in why they do that. They have to like break you down before they build you up.
I don't know if that's the right way to do it in a business. I certainly don't think it is. I've had some really good luck leaders in my lifetime that I've, I guess I would call them. They're my mentors and they were just very hands on. They wanted to see you flourish and grow.
That's what I want to do as a leader. I tried to, you know, there's, there's always the KPIs and things like that that you have to follow, but you really want them to succeed.
[00:09:42] Speaker A: You know, the wifm, right? You heard that before with them?
[00:09:45] Speaker B: No, I haven't heard the wifm.
[00:09:46] Speaker A: Wifm. What's in it for me?
[00:09:47] Speaker B: Oh, okay. Yeah.
[00:09:48] Speaker A: You know, I think about this, you know, being, being in real estate now and sales and, you know, realizing she's like you and your organization, that your success is based on your efforts, you know, regardless. And I haven't been in recruiting, you know, like you said, you had to do exactly what they said. And as miserable as that made you, once you got really good at it, you can adjust. And that made you what you are now, right?
[00:10:17] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:10:18] Speaker A: Because, yeah. Sitting down and making them phone calls is always a pain in the rear end.
[00:10:21] Speaker B: All right, for sure.
[00:10:23] Speaker A: So, so tell me, you know, transitioning, you got out in what, 95?
[00:10:27] Speaker B: He said 95. Yeah.
[00:10:30] Speaker A: Transitioning from the military to school. You. Right? You went to school, Right. So tell me how that went.
[00:10:37] Speaker B: Well, I mean, it really, I guess because I was doing some schooling during, while I was in the military. It was a pretty easy transition. I also started working at Outback Steakhouse as a waiter.
So a lot of times I got to have that interaction with people. I wanted to expand my network of knowing people, knowing what people did.
Kind of had a regular there every day that was a guy I talked to a lot. Not just one regular, several people that came in and just, you know, it was not as hard as I thought it would be, you know, because I was already going to school and it was more of a part time thing, driving commuting I didn't have to like, it wasn't a full time student because I worked and went to school at the same time.
[00:11:30] Speaker A: You know, we'll come back to this in a minute. Excuse me. You know, strongest leaders understand leadership isn't about position. It's about service, responsibility and the ability and, you know, inspiring confidence in your people. When we come back now, we're going to talk a little bit more about what the discipline from the military did to help you in your drive to get that degree and eventually get into the position where you're at today. Okay, right back.
Welcome back. If you like what you're watching, stay tuned to watch. Watch any English or Spanish version shows on Now Media TV. You can download it on Roku or iOS or if you like podcasts, you're on the go. You can actually download NOW Media TV and hear it anytime, any place, whether it's culture, it's traffic or anything. Come see us and watch us on NOW Media tv. I'm back with Jason. Jason, welcome back.
[00:12:26] Speaker B: Thanks for having me.
[00:12:27] Speaker A: You know, after 30 years, you know, working in insurance industry, helping families and business owners understand risk, what is the number one challenge that your people face when they're talking to clients on helping them?
[00:12:42] Speaker B: Oh, I think a lot of times it's, you know, people think, clients usually think, this is not going to happen to me. We have a lot of, you know, where they, they're like, this is not going to happen. I don't need to have that much coverage. There's, there's going to be, that's, that's, that's just not gonna happen. And we've seen it to where, I mean, just for my own example, I mean, I've had, when I came into the industry, I came in when a lot of life events were happening. I mean, shortly after I started, we started seeing, we had Allison, Tropical Storm Allison. Were you here for that? I know it was big.
[00:13:17] Speaker A: I was in Chicago actually.
[00:13:18] Speaker B: It was a big flooding event here in Houston.
Two years later, Katrina, which everyone knows of Katrina.
And then three years after that there was Hurricane Ike. It wasn't until probably Hurricane Ike that I really, truly understood why we need to properly coverage people.
I was working for a big national carrier at the time. Everyone knows this national carrier and we're struggling paying on claims because people are underinsured. People didn't have the right coverage. They didn't have, you know, when they sold the policy five, 10 years ago, they were in a different financial place than they were then.
And I, I consider One. One of my mentors now. His name's Spence Tucker. I'll kind of name drop him. But he. He owned. He owned a. A regional carrier out of Dallas. And he was, you know, I. I walked into an agency, and he was there with his checkbook, opening, writing checks to people. And I saw the. How sincere and how, like, traumatized some of these people were about losing their home, losing their cars, like. And I said, I want to be like that guy, you know, and. And be, you know, more like him. And, you know, fast forward, like, two years later, I met him and we talked, and I started working for him. And I worked for him for a long time.
[00:14:35] Speaker A: So, you know, it's interesting, and you said it right now, it's. You don't need insurance to you. Insurance, right?
[00:14:40] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:14:41] Speaker A: I'll tell you couple. Couple pluses on it. And I'm gonna talk about your team. Right. So there was a freeze. 21 maybe. Yep.
I had a tenant, one of my houses, and the pipe burst, and my amazing lieutenant called me, all upset. Waters coming out of the pipe above the refrigerator because it busts. And so I. I'm like, less than five minutes. So I jump in the car, go to my tenant's house, and that poor girl's sweeping the water out the house because she didn't know how to turn the water off to the house.
[00:15:17] Speaker B: Yeah. The shop help?
[00:15:18] Speaker A: Yeah. So I lost everything in the house. Like, literally, it was down to the stud. All right. And I think the learning part wasn't that. It was. I didn't require my renters to have insurance back then.
[00:15:33] Speaker B: Oh, wow. Yeah. So.
[00:15:34] Speaker A: So she lost everything.
Like, all her clothes, all her furniture, all. Everything.
So that was a big eye opener.
[00:15:41] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
Even. And I was telling my mother the story that I was talking about, about after hike, and she's like, you're kind of, like, meant to be in this industry. Jason, you don't remember when we first moved here? I'm from New Jersey originally. I moved here when I was 10, 1983, in August, you know, it was hot. And it was Hurricane Alicia. It was a big, huge event at that time. We lived in Hitchcock, Texas, which is right outside of Galveston, you know, Bay Vista, the whole area. And we rented a home. And I think August 13, we had Eric and Alicia come in. And I've never lived through a hurricane. I was 10 years old. I mean, but my mother had neither.
[00:16:19] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:16:20] Speaker B: We were staying with one of her friends in Santa Fe, Texas, and we were. Okay. We came home, house was gone, and My mother was single mother, you know, just the whole, you know, we had nothing. She put us on a plane, flew back to New Jersey, stayed with my grandmother, came back a week before school started with just the clothes we had on her back. But I saw, like, the American Red Cross. I saw the people that opened up, you know, and she's like, you don't. You don't. You probably don't remember any of this stuff, but I had the support. I mean, people were giving us clothes for you, you know, and I was like, wow. I mean, it's like that kind of thing is, like. It hurts my heart to know. And so when I started getting into it, when she told me that story, I was like, you know, I'm going to go about this a little differently. I mean, before, when I first got an insurance, it was all about, like, making the sale. You know, I don't know if I was really thinking too. Too much about the family's future now. From that point on, I've always had. That's always been my first priority.
[00:17:15] Speaker A: You know, there's always different things in people's lives that kind of help them shape the person they're becoming now. Right.
And in insurance, I think, you know, everybody has a misconception of the insurance guy.
And so I think trust is, you know, such an important part of their.
[00:17:37] Speaker B: I think we're up there with lawyers and things like that.
[00:17:39] Speaker A: Well, you know, it's funny, you know, you guys. So it's true. So, you know, how do you help your team, you know, present trust to the community, you know, and. And make them feel comfortable in talking?
[00:17:55] Speaker B: I mean, trust, to me is like the fundamental thing that we have to establish. I mean, you know, insurance is. Is risk. It might not be something that they're going to need right away. Not today, not. Not a year, could be five years from now. If they don't. If they don't trust what you're selling or trust you, then, I mean, you have nothing.
So, yeah, it's a big part of it. How do you. How they gain the trust is a lot of times you just go over their policy with them. You ask them, you know, questions that they're. What they're comfortable with paying.
Are they at a point where they can take a higher deductible and explain that deductible? We see a lot of bad actors out there that will just throw that top, that large deductible on there, and they have a $20,000 deductible on a roof. Pretty much that was me you can get a roof, you know.
You know, if you can afford the $20,000, you know, then. Yeah, to keep your insurance rates down. But you have to have those conversations. And if you're not having those conversations, there's zero trust.
Usually it builds a lot of trust after it's a claim. I never want to tell someone. If you had a claim, you would know. But I think if someone came with a claim and I presented all that stuff and, and I listen to them when they're having. I had that calm voice when they're going through their claim.
That usually builds something for a long time.
[00:19:13] Speaker A: You know, they say hindsight's 20 20, right?
[00:19:15] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:19:16] Speaker A: You see the past real good, but you can't see the future.
[00:19:18] Speaker B: 100.
[00:19:19] Speaker A: So I think definitely, if I'm sitting down with you and your team, I, you know, I remember switching from. I was with USA for like thousands.
[00:19:28] Speaker B: So was I. Yeah.
[00:19:29] Speaker A: You know, and there are a lot of changes in just everything going on there. And I remember meeting with one of your people probably, I don't know, it's been about six or seven years ago at this point.
And I'm gonna put a plug in for you. I got an email and I'm so sorry, I don't remember the lady's name, but my. One of my rental properties coming up for renewal.
And so I call her and you never want to have that call because, like, everything seems to be going up. So, Ricky, I have some news for you. She said good news, bad news. She said new. Like, what? Your, your, your policy went down $300. I'm like, what do you got the right number? I just was like, that was exciting, right?
[00:20:13] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, 100%, you know, but I
[00:20:15] Speaker A: think it's always good to tell people the good and the bad. And I know everybody's organization when I hear it. I want you to tell me the worst because I remember, you know, that deductible 2%. I thought, I'm going to make a lower. I'm going to do 2%. And then that. Oh, it was horrible.
It was horrible, man. It was like. That was a lot of money.
[00:20:36] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. I mean, there's. It can go up to 5%. I mean, we've, we've had those. Those are tough conversations two or three years ago, you know, when the rates we're. We're kind of slowly getting into a soft market if we're not already there. But, you know, rates are coming down. They'll never be what they were pre Covid, but what a lot of people were doing was raising their deductibles to those higher deductibles. And now, you know, their rates are going down, so they're going back to that 2%. It's pretty much staying the same as where they were already paying. So it's not a whole lot of savings. But those are conversations. And at least they, when they do have a claim, they don't have to come out of pocket as much. And so that. Those are conversations that we have daily.
[00:21:14] Speaker A: So how can a person or individual or family out there become more proactive in protecting their financial future?
[00:21:21] Speaker B: Definitely think you should be audit your policy every. Every. Every year, if not every two years.
You know, things happen.
[00:21:31] Speaker A: What does that mean? Audit the policy?
[00:21:32] Speaker B: To me, just shop your rental.
And believe me, as an insurance agent, we like to sell it, not touch it. That's where we make our money kind of thing. But you have to stay proactive in front of your client.
You have to let them know this is still their best rate. I mean, they, if they're waiting five, ten years between, between times of shopping their policy, they could be grossly underinsured or they could be way overinsured. We want to make sure that their, that their policy fits their lifestyle. They could have, you know, somebody that was making, you know, $50,000 a year is now making 100,000. They need to probably bump up their limits, get an umbrella policy, things like that. And a lot of people just don't do that. And they need to make sure they're properly covered.
[00:22:19] Speaker A: So if somebody wants to continue this conversation with you or your team, how can they get ahold of you?
[00:22:24] Speaker B: Reach. You can go to Gibraltar's website, which is the Gibraltar group dot com.
[00:22:31] Speaker A: It's up on the screen right.
[00:22:31] Speaker B: It's up on the screen right there. Okay, there you go. Grp. Not that you don't spell group. You can reach me at Jason Volkert. Jason Volkert, the Gibraltar as well.
[00:22:41] Speaker A: You're also on LinkedIn, right?
[00:22:42] Speaker B: I'm on LinkedIn under Jason Volkert. I mean, it's pretty easy to find.
[00:22:45] Speaker A: Yeah, no, sure. It's always good. You know, it goes back to, you don't need it till you need it.
[00:22:49] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:22:50] Speaker A: And I think the, the one thing that I really appreciate about this conversation is that, you know, even as an insurance person, you guys want to make the deal, but shop it. You know, I know that in the past I had conversations with some on your team. They're like, ricky, man, we can't beat this. Or we can beat this, right? But they tell me the truth either way. And I think that's the thing that's most.
[00:23:10] Speaker B: Yeah, I think if you're honest with the person saying you got a really good rate, you stay where you are.
Give me a shot next year. I'll reach out to you next year. You always put them in the pipeline because they could be with one of the captive companies out there. And we hear things, things around the news. There's a lot of talk about state farm right now on the news. You know, things happen.
We have it in your pipeline that we're a state farm. You reach out to them next year and you never know, you might get something.
[00:23:33] Speaker A: So we know protection isn't just about policies and paperwork. It's about helping people navigate the uncertainty of confidence. We'll be right back with Jason. Talk a little bit more about how the military shaped his life and how insurance helps you. Talk to you soon.
Welcome back. You know, building teams, relationships and results is a very, very important thing in everybody's day to day organization. You know, leadership that drives performance. You know, this is something that's very important to you, right?
[00:24:11] Speaker B: Oh yeah.
[00:24:12] Speaker A: So tell me how that affects how you interact with your team and actually how you interact with the leadership when you're working in insurance policies.
[00:24:22] Speaker B: Well, I mean how I interact with my team is, you know, I, I try to, I mean a manager or a person that is more, they work, they work the processes, they work the, you know, KPIs, which, all that stuff is really, really important. But I'm trying to inspire somebody a little bit more than just being their supervisor. You know, I work, I try to work with them almost on a daily basis. You know, I try to check in at least once a week to my team. I have a lot of guys on my, a lot of people on my team. So sometimes it's, it might be two weeks, but we're always constantly talking, having, we have inside sales meetings every Thursday. We always try to have, you know, some role playing involved. It's pretty uncomfortable, but we're always out there, you know, just trying to get better at, you know, every week.
[00:25:09] Speaker A: So do you ever bring anybody in, outside of your team to do the role playing with your agents?
[00:25:14] Speaker B: We have not done that. That's might be something that we should
[00:25:16] Speaker A: probably think about, you know what. So I think we talked about this. I used to teach at the army recruiting school, right.
This is a six week course that takes an average person that doesn't want to be a recruiter and Makes them become a recruiter, teaches themselves. So the first week, it is all about policies and procedures. Right? So a whole week of policies, procedures, you take the test, you're done. The next week is making a telephone call. The steps to making a perfect telephone call, what you need to do, whatever, is to make an appointment. At the end, you get graded. And then the next one is sales book. Now you learn the sales book about what you did on the presentation. So, you know, you make a phone call to make an appointment not to have a long, ongoing conversation, and then you make an appointment to sell your product. Right. And then after that, we go into what we call rec ex. And rec ex is the last week of the course where people have to go in and actually they have to make three perfect phone calls. And then you have people on the other line. So you actually, in this booth, you're making a phone call and everybody's filming you. You're supposed to go through the steps of your phone call. The person on the other end is like, nah, man, I think Darby sucks. And then they. They're gearing you on what you're saying, because it's real life conversations that various recruiters have had out there in that world. I think that would be kind of fun.
[00:26:32] Speaker B: Yeah. Objections all the time. We get those all the time. You guys are too much, you know? Yeah. Why do I need to come to you guys? I've been with them for 30 years, you know, all that stuff. And we hear that USA is a great example. I mean, I. I sold insurance. I was in the industry for, you know, almost 10 years before I left them. You know, I mean, I was, you know, I was probably. Probably paying a little too much, But I stayed with them because I. Every time he called, like, hello, mister. You know, you know, they gave you that military service. They gave you that military service. Let's go off for a start. Yeah. So I was never really high enough to do it. Yeah. But, yeah, it was always good to, you know, and they were Johnny on the spot every time I wanted to call him. So that's what I try to. I try to push that.
[00:27:10] Speaker A: The loyalty thing. Right.
[00:27:11] Speaker B: That's 100% loyalty. And I think we can build that trust and loyalty, too, with our. With our clients. I think we do. We've had some long time. We've been around since 2001. We've have, you know, every time you pull it up, it tells you how long they've been there. We thank them for being with us, you know, so, yeah, we.
We Try to do as much as we can. I kind of build off that USA mentality, you know, I don't want to say I'm stealing it, but it's pretty easy. It's. It's nothing in the special sauce. Just. You just have to really make sure, you know, you. You follow up. That's the biggest thing for us. You block out calendars. I mean, we. A lot of times I tell people, you know, what did you do this morning? How many calls you make? What's your pipeline look like? You know, we're looking at the stuff that's. It's important for sales. But they're like, oh, yeah, I haven't done that yet. And I'm like, well, you have to really block off your calendar to do.
[00:27:56] Speaker A: That's what we talk about, right? The bedtime.
[00:27:57] Speaker B: You have to. Oh, yes, right. We're talking about that. And you know, turn that thing around. Maybe I'll get some name plates and turn it over.
[00:28:04] Speaker A: That would be. They would be like, oh, man, what is he doing? Doing Right. But, you know, it's true. You know, even in real estate, they say, you know, people work with people they trust and they like.
Right. And. And I think sometimes trust is telling them that we're not the right fit.
[00:28:22] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:28:23] Speaker A: People don't get that.
Right.
[00:28:25] Speaker B: Trust is probably the fundamental thing, especially with you're trying to build relationships 100%. I mean, a lot of times we can't meet someone that's been with one of these captains for 30, 40 years. They. They have a rate. You know, they have a home that might have an older roof. It might be something that might have some credit issues. Whatever it might be. Sometimes it's best to say, hey, you're the right time. You know, let's. Let's try to hook up next year. Always give me a call. I always. I'm gonna keep you in my pipeline. I'm gonna call you when something comes up. Yeah, you follow up is huge.
[00:28:59] Speaker A: You know, it's funny saying handling objections. Right.
We're gonna have to do this offline sometime. So I was teaching a handling objection class on a Friday, and because of that class is why I'm married to my wife now.
[00:29:12] Speaker B: Really?
[00:29:13] Speaker A: We'll talk about that another time. But.
[00:29:16] Speaker B: So did she have she object of you?
[00:29:19] Speaker A: Well, no, actually, it was. It was. I was. I was in an adult in a. In a. In a dance place or bar. Bar or whatever with my. When my roommate and a bunch of my students showed up. Now these soldiers, they're grown men. Right. And. And they were telling me how this handling objection thing doesn't work. I'm gonna leave it at that. It's definitely something. But, yes, because of that class, I met my wife that night and we've been married 30 years.
[00:29:45] Speaker B: That's awesome.
[00:29:46] Speaker A: Now I'm handling objections. So on a daily basis with her. I know.
So you know what? Qualify. You know, what college. What qualities do you believe separate great leaders from average managers?
[00:29:59] Speaker B: Well, that's a good question. I do think, you know, I've. I've seen. I've had managers that kind of just more followed the KPIs. They did the process stuff, you know, which is all important. I mean, I'm not going to take anything away from that. I mean, you have to have those things.
But you really want to try to expire somebody.
You want to make sure that you lead by example. You say if you do something, if you say something, you should be doing it as well.
That's the biggest thing. I don't know. I mean, there's average managers that I think that are.
That get the job done, but they don't really expire anybody. They're not. You know, I want to work with people that want to work with me that want to say, hey, I like coming here every day. And if you have someone that's just constantly just driving, you know, those KPIs, those. Those processes over, you know, every time you don't do something, then they just. They get deflated a little bit. So I try to always try to inspire somebody to do better.
[00:30:55] Speaker A: You know, it's funny you say that, you know, I have.
I sucked as a leader at the beginning, man. I was. I was a military guy that, you know, I was an individual contributor. I did good at what I did, and I couldn't understand why the next person wouldn't do all the things that I did, which caused me to do something very stupid and had a leader come down and he drove all the way to Clovis, New Mexico, from Lubbock, Texas. And he said, rick, you got to remember, they're not you.
And I still talk to that guy today. This was like 1987, and we're still talking today. But I think the very important thing is that, you know, you don't know what happened to that person before they took the left or the right in the parking lot.
So there's a lot of human part of leadership and management that you really got involved in. How do you feel about that?
[00:31:49] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I go back to what you were Saying I was not a very good leader. My first leadership position 20 years ago, I was the top sales guy in this particular company, this agency, and it was, you know, not as big as we are now, but pretty large agency here in Houston. And they promoted me to, like, the.
The. The personal lines manager. And then I had to manage people. And, you know, I. I came in on Saturdays. You know, I didn't understand why people didn't come in on Saturdays. You know, that was like, why aren't you coming on Saturdays? You know, like.
[00:32:20] Speaker A: And that's why. And you're failing.
[00:32:21] Speaker B: But yeah, that was like. That was my first thing is like, you're not making numbers because you're not coming on Saturdays. That's not why they're coming Saturdays. I was just. Maybe I wasn't great at managing my time.
[00:32:31] Speaker A: You were driven different.
[00:32:31] Speaker B: Yeah, I was driven different, for sure. I was at a young family, and I wanted to succeed and all that stuff. But, you know, like you said, if you're not, you know, they're not all you. You know, you have to know the personalities that you're working with. Everyone's different, you know, and you could try to manage the same way with everybody, but just sometimes it's just not possible.
[00:32:52] Speaker A: So it's definitely very challenging because it's. In today's world, you know, everybody's looking at what's happening to other people and why this person gets treated this way. And why did this happen? And why did this happen? So it's kind of a slippery slope for you as a manager, huh?
[00:33:05] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, big time. Yeah. I have to. Yeah. You know, I don't. I don't think where I'm now. I don't have to watch what I say or anything like that. I'm very open and honest with everybody that I work with.
Everybody knows the position. Everybody wants to succeed. I think we've surrounded ourselves, at least at the Gibraltar group, with people that. That are very driven, and we usually can tell that right away. You know, when we. When we are hiring somebody, we're slow to hire and I guess quick to hire. I guess if you want to say, you know, we're trying to.
[00:33:34] Speaker A: You know, that was a great. That's a great.
[00:33:36] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:33:36] Speaker A: I wish more people, listeners, sometimes they're just trying to fill the position because they're dying.
[00:33:40] Speaker B: Yeah, we don't. I mean, believe me, I've. I've. I need somebody at one of our branches now, and I've. I've. I don't. It's taken me a long Time because I just haven't found the right fit, you know. You know, I, you know, we work with a lot of Realtors at the Conroe office. So if you know anybody.
[00:33:52] Speaker A: Hey, I'll take a look out for sure.
[00:33:54] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:33:55] Speaker A: Hey. So what role do relationships play in long term business success?
[00:33:59] Speaker B: I think relationships are huge. I mean, it's the fundamental part. I mean whatever you establish today is going to, it could go a lifetime. Like I said, a lot of times you're, you might not write the policy today, you might not have a claim until five years from now, but if you have that personal relationship with them, it's going to open up more doors for other, you know, other avenues of other policies, other risk that they have. They might go start a business and they need commercial insurance for that.
So relationships are huge. I think networking is, is probably the biggest thing growing up. There's something in the insurance industry here. It's called yips. Young Young Insurance professionals.
[00:34:39] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:34:40] Speaker B: I think there's the Houston Insurance Day IIAH here in Houston has a great yips program.
I encourage all my younger guys, especially under 40. I still go, you know, but they let me in. But I try to encourage. Yeah, okay. But I do let, I encourage my guys to go. It's a good networking tool.
And then if not just go, but try to get like on a board, try to be somebody in that, on that organization.
[00:35:06] Speaker A: Engage.
[00:35:07] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:35:08] Speaker A: Engagement, right?
[00:35:08] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:35:09] Speaker A: That's what you learn a lot from people, right?
[00:35:11] Speaker B: 100.
[00:35:11] Speaker A: Yeah, I think that's the, I think that's a really important thing is people don't realize who they're going to learn from.
And it doesn't necessarily need to be in the same industry. It could be anywhere, right? Oh yeah, but they have to be accepted. And we got like 30 seconds. Give me a quick. How do you motivate teams during period of uncertainty? What is the number one thing you do to your team?
[00:35:33] Speaker B: I mean, be very transparent with them. You have to. Even when it's the bad news, you tell them it's an open book really. You want to make sure that you, you're even during those bad times that you're, you tell them, hey, this is what we're doing. These are the directions we're taking. I know sometimes there are very uncomfortable conversations, but you know, if you're, you know, the follow up with them constantly tell them how you're progressing and usually the outcome is better than you think.
[00:36:02] Speaker A: You know, strong teams happen, but don't happen by accident. They are built intentionally through trust Communication, leadership. We'll take one more final break before we come back and discuss our last piece with Jason here at the Gibraltar Group. Talk to you in a minute.
Welcome back. Stay connected to battle ready and every now media tv favorite streaming live and on demand. You can see it or download it on Roku iOS or if you like podcasts you can go to NowMedia TV and watch it on the go and hear it any place and every time. So welcome back Jason. We're finishing our last section. Man, we've had a lot of pretty good conversations about leadership, military insurance. You know I think insurance is one of those things that you don't want to talk about, don't want somebody to call you about until you have a problem, something happens. I just, I closed on a house in Bridgeland probably four or five months ago. A week after the close on new construction. Tornado came right through their backyard. Yeah. Tore it up. So talk to me about you know the conversation that your agents and yourself have with people that are interested in insurance.
[00:37:22] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean they never think they're gonna need it. I mean just I'm sure that new construction.
[00:37:28] Speaker A: Oh they died. They called me. I felt so bad.
[00:37:30] Speaker B: I mean they probably, luckily they probably didn't have a whole lot of furniture maybe I don't know if they had their whole home in there but or first home owner.
[00:37:37] Speaker A: Thank God everything was under warranty.
[00:37:38] Speaker B: Yeah everything's under warranty a lot of times on, on that. So they probably pretty good. But I don't think most people are thinking about that they're gonna have a huge loss like that.
It's 100% risk. It's just like gambling. I mean we talked, you know, you don't know for sure if you're going to ever have to use this.
God help you. You don't.
It's one of those things that you know, you're like I'm writing this check for this insurance I'll never use and then something happens. I just give you an example. My brother in law who's not insured with me, which now he will be.
[00:38:14] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:38:14] Speaker B: Just recently was just driving brand new expedition. I mean brand new. It's. I mean he probably had two weeks and the sunroof just shattered in a thousand, maybe a million pieces. Everywhere it went, you know it's in the, when he's trying to push the seat back, it's in that little rail thing and it's ripping up the left. I mean it's bad something so small like that. You know, he's taking it to the dealership, he found out that he only had a rental car for. It's like $20 a day, $600 max. So 30 days worth of. You can't get a rental car for $20. That would be something that I would have told him about. I would have said, you can't get a car for $20 a day. I mean, if you do, you can, you know, it's going to be very small. It's not going to be your expedition. And now it's going on a month. You know, it's over a month that he's. And you know, the labor alone is, you know, $4,000 just to put a new sunroof in. And the glass was another eighteen hundred dollars. So. And he's still waiting on that.
[00:39:10] Speaker A: So, you know, and I always tell people, you don't know what you don't know. And so for that reason, how do you ask the right questions? So it's very important to go with a professional and talk to them. And even if you hear the things that you don't want to hear, it's really important. I think we talked about this out, out in the. In the lounge earlier. You know, like, people every day go to new construction. They go to new construction, see the counselors there, and they go through what they think is perfect setup, and they buy a house and they didn't get the extras. Like, I just had a client, we executed contract yesterday.
We got the builder to pay some money to get him out of rental. We got him a washer dryer blind. So we even asked for a water softener, but this one coming didn't have. But hey, you got to ask for what you need. But most people don't know how to do that. I'm sure that's the same with insurance, right?
[00:40:05] Speaker B: Oh, right.
[00:40:06] Speaker A: What do I ask you? I don't even know. I got all kinds of things insured. I don't even know what to ask.
[00:40:10] Speaker B: Well, yeah, that. Well, we need to talk for sure. I mean, if you got it all,
[00:40:15] Speaker A: you guys got it all.
[00:40:16] Speaker B: Definitely. You should always, you know, start with the coverage A. Or what is the vehicle worth? You know, a lot of times people will go, I just want to know what's legal, what's. What do I need to get if I get pulled over, show the police officer I'm good to go. Really never wanna do that. I mean, the minimum limits here in Texas are.
It's actually kind of shocking. But it's 2030. It's not very high. I mean, I don't sell anything, I actually hesitate on what the minimum limit is. Cause I haven't sold it in so long. I mean honestly, that's why you have
[00:40:49] Speaker A: people in your team, right?
[00:40:50] Speaker B: I start 100, 300 the minimum.
And every once in a while that's $100,000 per for individual accident, for the liability, and then 300 for, for everybody and then another hundred thousand for the property damage of that vehicle. I mean, you see cars, I mean every car now is, I think the average car is $60,000. I mean just having my truck, if that little light in the side mirror, if it lights up, if that mirror comes off, that's eighteen hundred dollars. I mean it's, there's nothing cheap anymore on cars. So you have to make sure you're. The first thing you do is you look at, at their vehicles, you look at their home. What's, you know, what, what, what do they need be proper, properly coverage? I mean there's so many people that just that cut things down that probably should never cut down.
[00:41:33] Speaker A: You know, I think everybody's financial situation is different, right? Oh yeah. Even when people ask me, Ricky, what would you do? You know, I just kind of give them, I tell them about what's going on, I tell them all the numbers because they have to make a good educated decision based on their financial situation. But the beautiful thing with you and your team is, you know, part of it is you get everything together and you put a presentation to them so they know, okay, this is what this is going to do, this is what this is going to do. And help them make the best decisions, right?
[00:42:00] Speaker B: Oh yeah, we give options. I mean we don't just throw out one quote and let it, hopefully it sticks. We will give them several different options. We will give them one with a higher deductible, you know, one that maybe, maybe they don't care about water coverage or 10,000 water coverage is enough for them. But most people want policy limits for the water coverage. Those are big conversations we're having now because a lot of these carriers now are cutting things.
[00:42:25] Speaker A: Roofs, I was going to say roof. Isn't that the biggest?
[00:42:27] Speaker B: That's the biggest for us. I mean a lot of these companies at 8 years old, even somewhere at 5, they go to ACV, which is actual cash value. So I try to only sell replacement costs. Replacement cost roofs. They're becoming a little bit harder to find. There's probably only three or four carriers out there. Really. They're just pushing that have the replacement cost option. So you have to go to ACV or schedule roof. And so you start talking, you start having those conversations like you're going to have to come out of pocket a little bit more after six or seven years. When your roof gets to that seven year mark, you're going to, it's going to depreciate a certain percentage for every year. So are you comfortable with that?
And sometimes they are. Sometimes they're like, you know, I want to stay with this replacement cost. It's going to cost me a little bit more, but I'm still going to, I still want that.
[00:43:11] Speaker A: So. And, and the other piece is, would you put a plug in for them doing their yearly maintenance on the roofs?
[00:43:17] Speaker B: 100%. I have some great partners referrals. I'm sure you do too. For, for roofers that will come out, give you, you can do a yearly maintenance plan for like under $100. Really? I mean they come out once a year, they kind of, you know, plug up some spots, maybe replace a couple of shingles, you know, definitely. They should always look at the roofs.
[00:43:36] Speaker A: I think the other thing that people don't realize is that's gonna be a big effect on selling your house.
[00:43:42] Speaker B: Oh yeah.
[00:43:43] Speaker A: Not just about the way it looks, but can the other person, the potential buyer, get insurance on your roof?
[00:43:52] Speaker B: That's, that's a hundred thousand dollar question. A lot of times we'll sell the home thinking the roof is gonna get passed and then they get, they get an inspection, you know, seven, eight days later and they're saying, we don't want this because of the roof. You have to get a replacement.
So a lot of times what we can do is you can, I mean, I'm sure you have some roofers that will do this. They can get a new roof put on before the policy is sold and they can take their money for putting on your roof during the closing and then you could have a brand new roof and then that roof will give you. A brand new roof is going to give you 25, 30% difference in price. 100%. It doesn't matter how old the home is.
[00:44:27] Speaker A: So what about, I know that I had a new roof put on in Fairfield and I had to get the certificate to your insurance person because that gave me a discount on my insurance because it was a brand new roof. Yeah.
[00:44:39] Speaker B: If you have a roof that's zero to three years old, you should be able to get a discount on that with most carriers out there.
[00:44:44] Speaker A: And these are things you don't know. Right. People don't know because they don't ask they don't want to talk to the insurance guy.
[00:44:48] Speaker B: They don't want to talk to the insurance guy. We're not that bad.
[00:44:52] Speaker A: So, Jason, before we go on, how can somebody get a hold of you, reach out to you and have this conversation, man. About insurance?
[00:44:59] Speaker B: You could reach me at the Gibraltar Group. I think it's on the screen there.
Also, my email is Jason Volkertgeraltra Group, grp.com.
i also have. You can reach me on my telephone number, 832-219-3432.
[00:45:17] Speaker A: All right, so we talked a lot about today. We talked about leadership. Talk about motivating your team, inspiring your team.
Insurance.
Well, let's talk about the new chapter you're getting. You're going into right now. Empty nester, huh?
[00:45:31] Speaker B: Close about 30 days.
[00:45:33] Speaker A: Oh, okay.
[00:45:33] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, it. I'm struggling with it, Ricky. I'm not going to lie.
[00:45:36] Speaker A: Are you really?
[00:45:37] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm struggling with that.
[00:45:38] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:45:38] Speaker B: I mean, it might.
[00:45:39] Speaker A: You're such a good dad.
[00:45:40] Speaker B: I mean that. These are the last two of five.
You know, I've always been known as, like, the baseball dad. I mean, I was telling my wife last night when we were thinking about this, I was like, you know what?
This was the first Father's Day and the first Mother's Day that we weren't at the baseball field. You know, like, we have. We're baseball fans. We're. Every Mother's Day, we had a tournament. You know, my daughter's pretty competitive golfer every weekend, you know, golf, something. So, yeah. Not having. That is.
[00:46:11] Speaker A: You have to reinvent yourself.
[00:46:12] Speaker B: I don't know what we're going to do. We're going to, like. We're going to have to, like, talk to each other, hang out and, you know, do things more.
[00:46:16] Speaker A: She's really going to realize she don't like you, huh?
[00:46:19] Speaker B: Now I got to learn. I have to drink wine now. You know, Fredericksburg trips and things like that. You know, things that, you know, that she loves that. You know, I tag along and I like to.
[00:46:26] Speaker A: But.
[00:46:27] Speaker B: But, yeah, we're gonna have a lot more time on our hands.
[00:46:29] Speaker A: That's been my life, man. But you're. I mean, I listen to guys like you, and I'm amazed, man. I wish I. If I had to redo it over again, you know, I refocused. But, I mean, my big thing was that my kids were 18 by 90 rule. At 18, they had 90 days. They gotta figure it out. They gotta go someplace. That's the military. I think that's my.
[00:46:45] Speaker B: Yeah, you know, my 23 year old actually moved back for a little while after college, and it was nice having him there, but after a while you're like, okay, get going. I want you to start living your life, start paying your own bills, become an adult.
[00:47:02] Speaker A: You're a big family guy. I met your wife. She's an amazing young lady. So tell me, what role has family played in shaping your leadership journey?
[00:47:10] Speaker B: Oh, wow. Being dad at home.
I mean, my wife tells me work Jason and home Jason are different.
I don't think they are, but obviously she knows me probably best.
[00:47:23] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:47:25] Speaker B: You know, I've, I've learned to really listen. I mean, that's, that's been the biggest thing for me. I mean, there's, there was times where we weren't communicating very well, and that was.
You definitely saw it, you know, affect our marriage and the way our parented.
So now I, you know, I really make a conscious effort to make it, you know, to listen more.
Just like for work, you know, you have to, you want to listen, you want to make sure you're open to every. All the discussions.
Yes, it's definitely made me, I think, a better parent, you know? You know, being open with my kids and my wife.
[00:48:00] Speaker A: Anyway.
All right, man. You know, it's been amazing having you here for this, for this show today. You know, at Battle Ready, we believe that life will always present challenges. But with the right mindset, preparation, commitment to growth, those challenges become opportunities. Because being Battle Ready isn't about just avoiding adversity, it's about becoming stronger through it all. Now, I'm Ricky Chavez. Thank you for watching, Jason. Thank you for being here today. We'll see you again next time on Battle Ready.
