SPANN15

IT’S ABOUT FAMILY

From the beginning, my agency has remained focused on three things – Family, Community and Relationships.  Let’s start with family. Family means everything to me. Denise, my wife of thirty-five plus years, is my muse. She believes in me and what we strive to accomplish with the agency. My two older sons, Kevin, and Dominique, both got their insurance license and worked in the agency during school and after they graduated from college. Their personal passion has led them to other professions and unto their own entrepreneurship path. Trey, my youngest son, is a high school senior with “Content Creation” aspirations.  He works in the Social Media Department of my agency, taking photos, videos and doing animation to keep the agency young and fresh. My grandchildren, Jade Madison, age 8 and Mason Levi, age 2, are both beautiful and amazing, but it’s too early to pressure them into the insurance business :) .

Family. The best part of being an Allstate Agent is getting to know your families.  We’ve called and emailed for every birthday. Birthdays are an intimate part of the Spann family tradition. My mother, Rosa Spann, made sure every birthday in my family was acknowledged with cake, ice cream and singing all three choruses of the Happy Birthday song. Thanks Mom, your presence is still warmly felt in the business. We’ve sent congratulations cards for every wedding and childbirth that we heard about. We’ve sent handwritten get-well cards for every person we know that has been under the weather. We’ve sent sympathy cards and attended funerals when possible. We’ve sat down with your new drivers and helped draft “Teen Driving Contracts,” to make sure your kids know your non-negotiables (No loud music, no texting, no more than two people in the car, etc.).

Family. Losing a parent(s) and going through the process of taking over their home is something that I’ve experienced personally (twice). We’ve helped many clients navigate the process of taking over a house when a loved one passes away. It’s not easy, but it’s an area where our agency has gained a lot of experience. We’ve learned how to ask the right questions and make sure you have the right insurance moving forward. Is the house currently vacant or occupied? Is there a plan to sell? Rent out to others? Is there a will? A trust?

Family. “Kevin, do you always personally deliver life insurance claims checks?”  The question surprised me as I sat with a recent widow and gave her the life insurance claims check. “Of course, I do.” It’s not required by Allstate corporate or the New York State Insurance Department, but I think we owe you a personal conversation at maybe the most difficult time of your life.

IT’S ABOUT COMMUNITY

In 2017, I was honored to receive the Ray Lynch Award for the top Community Service Agent in the entire country. It’s the highest honor an Allstate Agent can receive for being involved in the community.  I’m forever indebted to all my clients for inviting into your organizations, your youth sport teams and giving me the chance to get involved in raising money for your community causes.

Community. The RGMVM (Ridgewood-Glendale-Middle Village-Maspeth) little league baseball was the first group that I sponsored. It was a small investment so hard-working parents could have their kids play ball for free. Working with the Marines for Toys for Tots and getting heavily involved with Relay for Life Middle Village to raise money for the American Cancer Society soon followed.

Community. Most of you know that I’m from Wyandanch (Long Island) and currently live in West Babylon (Suffolk County). I’ve found it equally important to get involved in the community where I’m from and where I live. That outlook led to me supporting local youth groups, sponsoring community activities, and coaching youth basketball. I think the best way to share our story of being involved in the community is to show the actual videos of what took place. A few smiles are worth a thousand words.

Relay for Life Middle Village -2021

Please scan the QR code to see how we joined Cancer survivors, caregivers, and the greater Middle Village community in raising money and giving back to this incredible cause. We created a “Quote for Cause” fundraiser specifically for Relay for Life where anytime someone called for an insurance quote, we donated.  This program coupled with the generosity of the Allstate Foundation, we’ve raised over fifty thousand dollars and will continue to do so. Here’s a video of Relay for Life 2021, which shows the community coming together.

Winter Wonderland – 2020

We partnered with Spin the Yard, a local non-profit organization twice during Year One of the pandemic. First, we gave away 500 turkeys for thanksgiving and secondly, to host a “Winter Wonderland” Christmas experience to give away toys and good cheer.  Doing this during the pandemic was extremely challenging, but that made it even more necessary.  The COVID-19 pandemic was changing our lives in ways that we couldn’t imagine – Stay Home, Stay Safe, Work Remote, Virtual School, wear a Mask, I can go on, but you get it.  On top of all that, we didn’t want kids to miss Christmas too.  Scan the QR or click the link to enjoy.

Ray Lynch Award – 2017

Five years later, it’s still hard to articulate how much this award means to me. There’s the gratification of knowing that your life work has meaning. There’s the painful memory of losing my life long best friend, Retired Suffolk County Detective Ted Walker, to a six-month battle with pancreatic cancer. There’s the joy in leading a Go Fund Me where we raised over eighteen thousand dollars in thirty days for Ted. The award acknowledges my involvement in Wyandanch Family & Recognition Day where we worked incredibly hard to restore a community festival that means the world to me.   It also touches on several community first initiatives such as Toys for Tots, coaching youth basketball with Team Green and partnering with Thursday’s Child. Scan the QR Code or click on the video to enjoy.

FAMILY, COMMUNITY, AND RELATIONSHIPS

We rightfully teach our children – “don’t talk to strangers.” My business philosophy runs counter to this approach. My daily mantra is MAKE FRIENDS WITH STRANGERS.  Every day that I meet a new person is a good day. We used to keep a handwritten New Business Log. Every month I’d be humbly surprised with the names that I couldn’t spell phonetically, pronounce properly, or give you the country of origin. That’s the beauty of Queens. My clients represent a beautiful mosaic of people from across the globe. They speak every language and practice every religion. My first name “Abraham” is always a conversation starter and connector to people.  I don’t speak a second language, but I listen very well in several languages.  I’ve grown to understand how hard it is to get to America and what it means to pursue an American dream. What would it be like if I moved to a foreign country, and I had to trust strangers for every financial decision that I made? Trust. I take the trust factor very seriously in all my business relationships. When I insure a car, a house or an apartment, the people are basically giving me their key ring and trusting that I will take great care of every key on the ring – the house key, the car keys, the office keys. There’s a look in the eye of an elderly client when they hand me a subpoena because they are being sued for an alleged “slip and fall” on their property. This is the moment where we deliver the promise and prove that they are “In Good Hands” with the Abraham Kevin Spann & Sons, Allstate Agency. These are the personal relationships I’ve built over the past fifteen years that I value and cherish more than money.

Building business relationships has been equally vital to my journey.  A local printer that I did business with, invited me to join BNI – a Business Networking group that changed the trajectory of our agency.  From 2015 – 2019, I had breakfast at 7:00 am every Tuesday morning, in a local diner, with a group of local businesspeople – realtors, lawyers, accountants, loan officers, contractors and a host of others.  This experience made us infinitely more resourceful and allowed us to help others with things beyond buying another insurance policy.  The realtor in the group invited me to join the Glendale Kiwanis Club – game changer! This was a different group of local leaders that served the community through a host of charitable activities and I’m happy to still be a member today. 

Have you ever seen a “Do Not Solicit” sign hanging in the window or door of a business? I think that’s the single worst form of advertising and messaging ever! “How can I open shop and hope to sell insurance, but I don’t want to support or hear about your fundraiser.?  “Always say yes.”  People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.  A five-minute conversation about worthy causes has helped me build hundreds if not thousands of relationships over the past 15 years and I look forward to a mask-less world where people feel safe and comfortable knocking on our door again. If you’re involved in a community activity, please solicit, we will support.

7 DAYS THAT MATTERED

What’s the worst weather-related event that you remember in the past fifteen years? Is it the recent Hurricane IDA on September 1, 2021, that caused major flash-flooding and did more water damage than anybody could have imagined? Is it the long gas lines after Hurricane Sandy on October 29, 2012? I can talk about the 2007 Tornado that hit Staten Island and Brooklyn. I can easily name and date four-five other heavy wind or torrential rain events, where several inches of rain came down to quickly for the New York City Sewer system to handle and caused water to back up into your home damaging floors, walls and everything else in its path. 

For me it’s hands down the “Tornado, Microburst and Macro burst” that hit Queens and Brooklyn on September 17, 2010.  I remember being scared. Judy Maung, wife of former Allstate Agent, Ed Maung, called and told us to leave early because a tornado was coming. My nephew, Jermaine, and son, Kevin, drove from the BJ’s Metro Mall office and picked me at the satellite office, 74-04 Metropolitan Ave. It was around 4:00 pm, but it started turning dark much earlier than usual. By the time we reached the intersection of Metropolitan Ave and Woodhaven Boulevard trees were falling behind us and in front of us.  The usually uneventful drive through Rego Park and Forest Hills toward the Jackie Robinson Parkway was like playing a game of dodgeball, as we literally had to go around several objects in the street.  Our escapade was over once we merged unto Grand Central Parkway and headed east bound back to Long Island. That wasn’t the case for my staff or the greater Mid Ville area. It took Nancy Seda, my licensed Customer Service Representative, five hours to drive home two miles, because trees were blocking all the local streets. 

The next day we saw the damage. Massive trees down in the cemetery and up and down every local block. Trees on top of houses and/or smashing through a neighbor’s car. Awnings and business signs ripped off buildings. Dangerous wires down and power outages.  When storms end, our job begins.  I take great pride in training and preparing my team to meet the moment. We can convert from a Sales and Service office to a high functioning Claims triage operation in minutes.

Our job is to put your lives back together when natural disaster strikes, and things fall apart. When this happens, we give away assurance. We make and take phone calls to let people know they are covered and that everything will be okay. We explain provisions in the policy that people didn’t even know were there.  We give peace of mind and strive to provide a Five-Star personal experience.  When everything was said and done, claims were filed. Trees were removed from houses and cars. Roofs were repaired. Cars were repaired or replaced. Lives returned to normal, and we were happy to be helpful during a difficult time.  This is us.

THE ROAD AHEAD

How do you provide personal experiences in a digital world? I asked this question in January 2020, to a digital coach that I was just starting to work with.  We were re-vamping my social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.  Two months later, the COVID-19 pandemic hits and the world as I knew it before, ended abruptly. We spent my birthday, March 16, 2020, closing the office. I had the office professionally sanitized and thought we’d be back in a few weeks. Two years later, life has not returned to normal.

The large empty white board on my home office wall was a problem.  I had no plans – business, personal, family, community – nothing.  What does an extrovert do with an empty planner when you are used attending networking events, speaking publicly and being in front of people all the time? She said, why don’t you start a podcast? I said, “What’s a podcast?”  One month later, “Wine Down with Kev” was born. Talking to guests over a zoom call to see how they were making business and personal adjustments was therapy for me.  Three seasons and several episodes later, I’m really enjoying being in front of people – virtually.

We held zoom meetings with the staff every morning at 8:30 am for three months straight. Fast forward to today, we are now a “Hybrid” office. A few team members are in the office. A few people are working remotely and will continue to do so.  Ninety-nine percent of our business is now successfully conducted over phone calls, emails and with electronic forms of payment.  We helped people adapt their bill payment habits with us, as well as their other people they do business with. Everyone now has a cell phone, an email address and access to more technology than they ever planned on touching. Our staff is amazing at walking people through signing electronic documents, downloading the Allstate mobile app, and uploading pictures from a car accident to expedite settling a claim. We’re also doing a fair amount of customer coaching as we introduce “telematics” as the new and best way to save money on your car insurance.

I know what you’re thinking. “What about your core values of Family, Community and Relationships?” Nothing has changed, nor do I see it changing in the foreseeable future. As long as people drive cars, rent apartments, buy homes, and face the risks of living too long or dying to soon, we will provide insurance and financial services to protect them.  The nature, frequency and severity of natural disasters is getting increasingly worse. We’re spending hours every week learning and better educating ourselves on how to better protect you. We OWE all of you a conversation about higher Water Backup Limits and a Flood Insurance Quote. That’s our job. No one was prepared for the damage done by Hurricane Ida on September 1, 2021.  Fatalities from a flash flood? People in cars stuck on the highway and unable to be moved for hours? We have to talk, not now, but during your next annual policy review.

We’ve adapted and learned how to do virtual fundraisers! Who knew that we could help the Venettes Cultural Workshop raise over Five-thousand dollars for their annual scholarship fund with the power of social media? Who knew that we could help first responders, Kiwanis, LIBOR, and many other worthy causes virtually? Who knew that starting a podcast would be a great way to build relationships with realtors and mortgage brokers? Who knew that I’d be invited to join “The Real Estate Trifecta” podcast and be able to share all kinds of valuable information with home buyers and homeowners?

Staffing is the key to success in all businesses and our agency is no different. My current staff includes three people that have journeyed with me for years – Jean Ann Kump, Office Manager, Patty Wittreich, my Executive Administrative Assistant and Shaunte James, Licensed Sales Agent.  Harry Prasad, my good friend, and former Allstate agent, retired in February 2021. We added three licensed agents to our team in 2021, Ramon Grimaldo-Hernandez, Aleksandra Campbell and Diego Carranza.  Having a great team of highly talented, professionals, that understand that the “Golden Rule” is our guiding agency principle means everything to me. I’m forever indebted to all the interns, licensed agents and financial specialists that have worked with us in the past. Future growth plans require an always be recruiting mindset. If you or anyone you know, would like to join the insurance industry, we’d love your help to face the challenges on the road ahead.