Good Neighbor Podcast Estero
Bringing Together -
Local Businesses & Your Neighbors in SWFL
Good Neighbor Podcast Estero
EP# 111 - Balancing Life's Policies and Passions with Brian Chapman
When insurance gets personal, that's when you know you've tuned in to something special. Brian Chapman of Chapman Insurance Group joins us to share the highs and lows of a career spanning over a decade and a half, where he's seen everything from the calm of day-to-day operations to the stormy challenges of catastrophic events like Hurricane Ian. His story isn't just about policies and premiums; it's a journey from the roots of a family business to the strategic maneuvers of becoming an independent agency. It's about scaling a company to meet the needs of the unexpected and ensuring that each client's story is heard and secured, whether it involves homes, autos, or boats.
But it's not all work and strategy. The heart of our conversation lies in how Brian balances the intensity of his professional life with the warmth of his family life. He shares how his dedication to his clients mirrors his commitment to his children's sports and his own hobbies—because even an insurance expert needs to cast a line and unwind. You'll take away not just a deeper understanding of the insurance world but also the importance of personal connections and the power of a business that values those it serves as much as the Chapman Insurance Group does. Interested in how you can be part of their story? Stay tuned and discover a different kind of coverage, where the policy is personal.
Chapman Insurance Group
Brian Chapman
4507 Se 16th PL
Cape Coral, FL 33904
(239) 205-2012
brian@cigflorida.com
WEBSITE
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, cabo, jim Schaller.
Speaker 2:Welcome Good Neighbors to episode number 111 of the Good Neighbor Podcast, estero. Today we have Good Neighbor Brian Chapman from the Chapman Insurance Group.
Speaker 3:Brian welcome Cabo thanks for having me Glad to be here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely Pleasure to get to meet people in the community and learn a little bit more about them, so why don't? You start off by sharing a little bit about what you do over at Chapman Insurance Group.
Speaker 3:Yeah, chapman Insurance Group, we specialize in kind of the walls and the wheels. So if it's got walls or it rolls, the only other thing we could add probably is anything that floats, because we do boats as well. But anything that's in that property and casualty insurance space you know for for kind of the common terms would be my home or my auto insurance, or my homie or my auto, as as we saw over the Super Bowl commercials. But home insurance, auto insurance, we do as well. A residential, a commercial residential, which is condo association insurance, very well, condos, you know that line up and down the beach, so yeah, and we've got them in inland as well. So that's just a little bit of a snippet about what we do, but I'm sure we'll dive in a little bit deeper as well.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, absolutely. So let's back up a little bit. How did you get involved in the insurance industry?
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know, actually it's a family, a family. Dad started his career at State Farm, right, so I actually cut my teeth there at his state farm office back in the early 2000s. I graduated from FGCU and, you know, thought, hey, let's go look at this insurance gig that dad started in the 80s. And so I dove in there, graduated FGCU, got married a week later, started my career a week after that and, yeah, so fast forward, you know, about five and a half, six years with him kind of leapfrogged over to the independent side. You know, state Farm being a captive, you grab a State Farm can only ride with State Farm type approach and so one and more options and jumped over to the independent side and that's kind of how the Chapman Insurance Group brand got started back in 2009.
Speaker 2:Interesting, interesting, much better. Yeah, you got to love it. So I guess anytime you own a business, you run a business. There are certain challenges or obstacles that you've faced, you know, growing it, you know, or getting it off the ground. Is there something you can look back at now and say you know what? I'm in a better place because of it?
Speaker 3:You know, sarcastically, the wind has been on our back the whole time. It's smooth sailing. We've only seen a couple waves that we've run across, and we know that that is not reality at all. You know, I would say, with every challenge the opportunity exists, you just have to find it. And so you know, when we look at the insurance space, much like other spaces, you know where was.
Speaker 3:if it was easy, everybody would do it and you know, you find, you find yourself where the the more complicated it is, or the more disruption there is, the more opportunity there is. And so if you can just kind of push through that ceiling and get out of your own way on thinking, uh, you know, this is, this isn't something that I can achieve or overcome, or this mountain's too high, the opportunity exists on the other side and I can tell you, you know, when you're faced with those challenges early, early on, it's kind of interesting to catch this podcast at this moment. Yesterday, on april first this is not an april fool's joke uh, was our 15th year. Uh, literally what? 15 year anniversary. So you know, we catch this.
Speaker 3:And I called I had one other gal that started with me and I called her um, you know, just because it was the two of us who still works here, um, and we just had this conversation of like she still works here, and we just had this conversation of like, hey, remember this, hey, remember that right, and I mean it's 15 years ago.
Speaker 3:It's not like it's, you know, forever ago, but it's far enough. You know, we're like hey, it feels like it wasn't 15 years, and then other things feel like it was like 25 years and you know so, you know we talked about some of those early challenges, like hey, like remember when we were like the office was so eerie, quiet and the phone wouldn't ring right and we giggle, you know, and uh, you know, just just kind of fun to catch up on that history and and look back at some of those tougher times and some of the great times and and all those little obstacles that we face along the way that you mentioned there, that you just kind of push through and when you do, there's that opportunity, that's there that reward.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Speaking of obstacles, how has Hurricane Ian affected what you do?
Speaker 3:I mean, I would say probably more so than Irma. The biggest obstacle we have faced and you know the reason it's an obstacle is because it's kind of like I'll use an analogy this isn't the best analogy, but it kind of get the point across is like you know, you know, you can't build a church for Easter Sunday. You know, easter Sunday church is packed, right, it's like when people go to church, right, that may be Christmas day, but you can't build a church that mega size because that's not every week, it's just Easter Sunday. Well, it's the same is true for an insurance agency. I can't build for the worst storm in Florida history. I can't have enough personnel for that moment to capture everything that needs to be done. And you know, restaurants can't plan for, you know, 50% growth in a week, you know. So there's just all those things and that that was a tremendous obstacle.
Speaker 3:And so what we did is we decided, you know, a couple, couple months after the, the blow, um, we said, okay, let's take a, let's take a breath, let's, let's connect here. What are we going to do as a leadership team? How are we? How are we transitioning? How are we changing? How are we? What are we doing what? What is the moda operanda for the next 12 months? Like, let's just talk about that in the 90 days. You know, we kind of live in a 90 day world here, and so how do we, what do we look like in 12 months? But in bite-sized pieces.
Speaker 3:And so immediately we said, okay, there will be real estate transactions and they will need insurance. There will be, you know, new construction that is coming to completion, that will need insurance. But the traditional Southwest Florida marketplace of high volume construction real estate transactions is going to taper right now. And so what we did is we had at that time we had a sales team of about 14 people. That was just personal lines, and we left two of the 14 and said you're going to sell policies to new clients, and the other 12 we just said, hey, you're, you're going to join the other 50 of our service team. And so we we scaled, you know, to about a service team of 62 and said we're going to become the best service agency in southwest florida.
Speaker 3:And so the problem was we didn't have enough personnel and and the solution was, if the hope was and it's paying dividends now is if we become the best service agency post ian. Others will tell our story for us. What's the real result? And exponential growth that we never thought was possible and it's it. That was the opportunity, right?
Speaker 3:So, problem, opportunity, um, and you know, say it enough, you gotta say it seven times through your team to believe you, because they're, all, you know, sweating and hairs falling out and you know clients are calling I'm not getting here from my adjuster and just you know the tremendous trauma we all faced. And you know, ultimately, here we are. Uh, you know, the sales team now is it just personal lines is 20. Um, so we, you know we, we 50% growth on that. They're at capacity, we're trying to figure that piece out. And we, you know scale, our service team, and you know now we're a team and just really quick order of 95. I mean 95 people, you know from 65 to 95. And you know. So, where there's the challenge, there's the opportunity. And, ian, certainly probably the most difficult of anything we faced in 15 years.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's great. Through adversity, you find a way to pivot and adjust and, you know, actually care about your customers and provide customer service.
Speaker 3:Well, it's important that you care for your customers. Yeah, a lot of people don't nowadays. That's the thing.
Speaker 2:You know it's good to see people actually doing it. So are there any myths or maybe misconceptions around the insurance industry that maybe we can clear up for our listeners?
Speaker 3:Well, probably probably common one. I'll give you some common ones that we hear. Uh, probably probably common one. I'll give you some common ones that we hear um, and and it's just. It's just kind of a way of people say things in a conversation to to describe a comfort level that they have about something, and so that one that I hear a lot is you know, when people talk about their auto insurance, they'll say I have full coverage and and I, any insurance, good insurance agent worth anything, chuckles at that because there is no such thing as full coverage. Um, now, the way to articulate that would be you have coverage up to your limits, right, right, so it's full coverage, meaning like I have no matter what happens, no matter how bad, I have max, you know no it doesn't.
Speaker 3:It doesn't work that way. So sometimes I'll hear like you know full coverage and you know it has it like just as an insurance geek. It kind of makes you think, oh well, it's coverage up to the limits. But I know what you mean, I think I understand what you're saying. Like, you have comp, you have collision, you have liability, you don't want to turn motorist okay I got you, uh, but it's coverage up to the limits, you know.
Speaker 3:So we, we chuckle at that there. There is no such thing as full coverage. Um, I I would say the other thing is, uh, it my opinion obviously I'm going to have some bias of being on the independent side. There's nothing wrong with working with a captive insurance carrier, but I think you're, and they could be, the most competitive. There are situations where they are, but I think working with an independent agent or agency that has a really good lineup of carriers is the most competitive way to do that, to handle your insurance.
Speaker 3:And so you might not, and most carriers today don't write home and auto bundle as they say they do on tv commercials that we see. They do that in other states but in florida they don't. They don't really do a lot of the home and auto bundling they I mean it's it's, it's a small percentage of what they actually do. And so I think working with an independent agent, you know, think of, think of, change your mindset to think of I'm bundling with my agent, not with one company, and so bundle, you know, your home like we will have your home with one company and your auto with another and you're bundled with our agency. And that's kind of a kind of the twist I put out there, just kind of an understanding of you can still accomplish the same thing. It just doesn't sound as cool.
Speaker 2:But it's what's best for the customer, that's it.
Speaker 3:Governance and price. Price is always number one, right? Let's look at it. For 80% of people, price is number one, and our job is to figure out, okay, what's number two? We're what's the? What's the? We listen. We're consumers too, like we understand. You know this is a product that you're buying. It's, you know, competition. Let's try to figure out where we can be the most competitive. But what's the next thing that's most important to you? And usually you can uncover a lot just having that short dialogue.
Speaker 2:Yeah, price is great until you need it right.
Speaker 3:I mean, we all learn that after Ian for sure, right.
Speaker 2:So so are there outside of work. I'm sure running your own agency is very demanding. What do you enjoy doing when you get a free moment?
Speaker 3:I mean, you know, right now life outside of work is consumed by some some family time. So I have two middle schoolers and three elementary so yeah, and and five, five kids total, five and a half years apart, and if you, uh, the last two weekends I mean just kind of a short view into the life of of chapman is, um, back-to-back saturday, sunday, a volleyball tournaments, uh, and and not local. So this last weekend we were in Orlando, the weekend before that we were down just outside of.
Speaker 3:Miami, and so that is the fatherly love we display to our children, helping them pursue the opportunity of sports and athletics. So that's number one. I've got a track runner in there. I've got a baseball player right now in there, um, and then I have two younger ones that are one will next year be in volleyball. And then the youngest one, you know, she's a little more free spirited. We're trying to figure out, uh, what's gonna, what's gonna drive her, but but outside of that, um, I, I love just our, our selfless sort of lifestyle here at the boating um I'm a I'm a, I love to fish.
Speaker 3:Um, I will get out there and and hunt them down and um, you know, just just work, work them all day until I find them. Uh, so, so I enjoy that that part of the life where we're a beach family. We'll go out there, um, you know, on a saturday for for the afternoon and um cut in the evening.
Speaker 2:So yeah, and you're one of the lucky ones. That was what born and raised down here, right that's right.
Speaker 3:Born and raised, I mean yeah, you know why move when you, when you live where people make exactly.
Speaker 2:Um. So what's one thing that you wish our listeners knew about chappin insurance group that maybe they don't know?
Speaker 3:yeah, I mean, I, I think one of, uh, one of the most important things, that that we, you, you know it's one thing to say. You know we treat you like family, or we take you know customer service is our mantra, or I mean, it's the cliche things, right, it's all of those things that we're all used to hearing, and I think what we have found is that that you get lost in that, and the reason we get lost in that, if that's what we say, is because it's what everyone else says, right? And so one of the things that we're trying to articulate to a potential customer or someone that doesn't know us but they're like intrigued just a little bit, is we're trying to connect with them on, you know, like one of my favorite commercials of all time, which was Dave and Khakis on, or Jake and Khakis at State Farm, right, it was like a human being that really cares for you, and more than just like uh, you know, like hey, how's it going? And like great to hear from you, talk to you later. But like hey, it's like we just happen to collide at this moment to talk about insurance because you called me. But like, hey, we genuinely care for you.
Speaker 3:Like I own a home too, I drive a car too, I have kids too, like you know, like just all of those things that make it make it real and not, hey, we treat you like family and hey, our customer services, like. I almost feel like those things should, should be there and should be assumed, and yes, you want to say them and yes, you provide them. But it's the other part that I feel like clients that that are not clients of ours. Most of most of them do not experience that, and I think that's the first thing that happens, and it happens in two places with our company. One is our customers that that join us. They say, oh wow, I didn't know us. They say, oh wow, I didn't know. And I remember this happening so many times, um, with you know, clients coming from state farm or usaa or geico, and they just feel like, oh, it's nervous, I'm stepping out in this independent world, and then, like a couple weeks later, they're like wow, this was easy I didn't, I didn't know it was, I didn't know.
Speaker 3:You guys are like, just like those other guys I'm like, yeah, we are, I think we're better.
Speaker 3:but um and then, and the other thing and I think this speaks to the health of the organization is the same exact thing happens with our team members.
Speaker 3:When our team members come over and they join us and they could have varying backgrounds, doesn't? They're not all coming over with insurance backgrounds usually in that first two to three weeks they say okay, like look, I get it like this is, and and they almost become like you know, like the reminder to our existing team of like hey, remember, I just came from out there and it's, it's not good compared to here, and so like, I think I think that speaks a lot of volumes and it's not the coolest thing, and it's not the coolest thing and it's not the sexiest thing, and no one's going to call you because your team members are happy. But I think that that transitions right, that it communicates right through a phone call, right through an email, and I think people you know the customers experience that and and realize what you know, why did I wait so long? Or I've been missing this and didn't know I was so.
Speaker 2:And that, and that's the important part right there. Speaking of which, how would the listeners go about getting ahold of you if they were interested in learning more you?
Speaker 3:know we try to make it. We try to make it simple. Most check us out online first, right, so that's cig florida spelt outcom. You can text us, you can email us, you can chat with us, you can call us old-fashioned call us. You can actually submit uh information right online, right on our website, to you know, uploading documents and yeah. So there are many, many ways to reach out to us, but probably the easiest way, instead of shouting out phone numbers, is just go to CIGFlorida. com.
Speaker 2:Perfect, brian, it's been a pleasure getting to know you and thank you for being such a good neighbor and I hope to see you out in the community here soon.
Speaker 3:Thanks, Cabo, appreciate it.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the good neighbor podcast Estero. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNP Esterocom. That's GNP Esterocom or call 239-296-2621.