What got you into the exciting world of insurance? All the way back in 1876, my great-great-grandfather, TB Beach, started an insurance agency up in the Catsco Mountains in Schenectady, New York. Every generation since, in my family, has been in the insurance business. We've been around for over a year now and working with agents across the country. We've built a software platform to automatically collect declaration pages from clients in the quoting process.
SPEAKER_03I think there's the scare that technology is going to take over in this space. But from the side that I look at it, it's more of like a tool, a tool to really exponentially multiply your efforts.
SPEAKER_00In today's world of more, more, more leads, more leads, I think a lot of agents think like I just need to talk to more people. That's not necessarily the case. Maybe you just have to have more efficient conversations with the people you talk to.
SPEAKER_03What best piece of advice would you give any agent that was either coming into the industry or maybe an agent that just really wants to do things differently? I think uh consistency.
SPEAKER_02How? By uncovering the secrets of creating a predictable, consistent, and profitable agency sales engine. I am a great presentation. I am Jason Feltman and we are agents. We are insurance students.
SPEAKER_01That's a new thing too for season two. I like that. Season two, the robot, the season of the robot. Give me two, Utah. Yes. So who do we have today, Mr. Craig? Oh, we have Mr. Chase Beach, one of my favorite last names because you know what I love. The Beach. Yes, the mountains. Yes. Precisely. Chase nailed it. Cool. Well, welcome. Welcome, Chase Beach. Before we oh, absolutely. It's always a pleasure to get some insure tech folks in here. That's a spoiler alert. But what we'd like to dive into first is everybody's favorite part of the show, which is speed breakers. So we're gonna put you on the spot. All right, let's do it. So answer fast, answer furiously, whatever comes to your mind first. Um, our best time, I think, is under a minute. Let's try to beat that. Are you ready? I'm ready. All right, Chase. Have you ever had a mullet? No. First crush. Mary Mylam. Most embarrassing thing your mom ever caught you doing, be honest.
SPEAKER_00Um I was I wasn't wearing my jock at a football practice, and she showed up in front of the whole team and gave you my jock.
SPEAKER_01Fastest speed ever driven. Uh 123 miles an hour. That's a good that is respectable. Favorite cereal? Uh cinnamon toast crunch. How many kids? Zero. Have you made cry? Oh, uh, two all right, perfect. Count chocolate or count Dracula?
SPEAKER_00Chocolate.
SPEAKER_01Fastest mile.
SPEAKER_00Ooh, uh 658.
SPEAKER_01That's good, respectable, under seven. Favorite flavor? Uh black raspberry chip ice cream. Oh wow, very specific. Dogs or cats? Dogs. You know, if we actually hang up on people if they say cats. So good answer. Tacos or burritos? Ooh, uh burritos. Favorite video game. I don't even know how this snuck in there.
SPEAKER_00Uh ooh, uh NBA Showtime.
SPEAKER_01Ooh, nice. I like it. Nice. Trump or Biden? You don't have to answer that question. Yeah, yeah, I prefer. You have just successfully navigated speed breakers.
SPEAKER_03That's right. But there's one final question. And what was the first concert you ever went to going all the way back to as young as you can remember? Counting Crows. Oh, wow.
SPEAKER_01Ooh, love counting crows. Some good early 90s beats.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, Counting Crows and Counting 5, actually. It was it was a combo. Oh, who I it's jumbled out of the thing. Who was that? Maroon 5 and Counting Crows.
SPEAKER_03Wow.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Okay. Yeah, it was good.
SPEAKER_03Yes. True story. This last December was a rough one out here in Cali with the Rhone. And uh that song Long December came on. I was like, oh yeah, such such a good song. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00No, it is a good one. A little sad though.
SPEAKER_01They're so cool in California, they don't even put the A on the Rona. It's just the Rhone now.
SPEAKER_03Exactly.
SPEAKER_01The Rhone. The Row?
SPEAKER_00Pretty soon it'll just be the You guys are teaching me all this lingo that I didn't know.
SPEAKER_01So where are you located?
SPEAKER_00I am also in California. I'm in uh San Diego, California. A town town north called Encinitas. I love Encinitas.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Close by. That is close. We all know Craig loves the beach. I know. I know. I'm a little bit leaning towards Orange County, though.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01Sorry. You guys are in Arizona, correct? I'm in Arizona. Jason's in Huntington Beach.
SPEAKER_03Huntington Beach. I'm right up. Yeah. All right. Cool. So, Chase, where are you at now? What company are you at?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so I'm uh one of the founders at InsureGrid. Awesome. And what exactly do you guys do? Yeah, so InsureGrid, we we started last year. Inspiration, I'll tell you, you know, get into detail more about that, you know, from a problem my family's agency was dealing with in the Midwest of you know, streamlining the sales process. And so we've built a software platform to automatically collect declaration pages from clients uh in the quoting process. So we we've been around for for over a year now and working with with agents uh across the country, captives, independents, everybody? Yep, across the board. If you sell person lines insurance, you can and should be a customer of Insure Grid.
SPEAKER_03So let's go back from Counting Crows to Insure Grid. Let us know that journey. How do you between there? There is quite a space. Yeah. What got you into the exciting world of insurance? So exciting.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, good, good, good question. And so it starts even before the Counting Crows concert. It starts all the way back in 1876.
SPEAKER_01So wow, I didn't take you for a uh centurion.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I know, Benjamin Button. But uh yeah, so all the way back in in 1876, my great-great-grandfather, TB Beach, Theodore B. Beach, uh started an insurance agency up in the Catsco Mountains in Skenectony, New York, and started an agency. And every generation since my in my family has uh has been in the insurance business. So my my grandfather came to the Midwest in the 40s and started an insurance agency, a property and casualty agency uh in 1962. And uh my father uh then took that over, went right into the family business, and still runs an agency to this day with with my mom, who he roped into the insurance industry. So I wow, so I I I like to tell people that I I knew what a preferred non-smoker was on a life insurance application before I even knew what smoking was. So very very uh very familiar with agent model and you know, growing up in in the 90s, just you know, just going to the family agency and you know, watching my my dad operate a business. I I was always interested in just being an entrepreneur. But you know, my my real fascination and passion was when was with technology. So um went to school in Ohio, uh left Ohio after I graduated, went to San Francisco and Silicon Valley and worked in in tech. Uh worked at a number of early stage startups, uh, not in the insurance business. Uh I was working in cybersecurity and in robotics, and then uh got into the exciting world of insurance, as you were saying, uh, from a conversation with my mom. Uh, my mom writes uh a lot of property and casualty, a lot of personal lines and um having a conversation Christmas time, just talking about the different challenges that she was facing. And she was telling me more about just collecting information from her clients and people and consumers today, they they don't know what they have, but they know that they want things instant. And consumers' expectations are just so high, right? If if I order something on Amazon, it doesn't show up the next day. I'm calling Jeff up and saying, Jeff, where's my package? And the the expectations by consumers of things to be fast has carried over to insurance. And unfortunately, there was a there, fortunately and unfortunately, you know, there was a gap that agents are still collecting information, you know, like my great-great-grandfather did, you know, in person, you know, just going back and forth with individual asking them what they have. And people don't know what they have. So I just realized there's an opportunity to help both consumers and agents um in in the sales process.
SPEAKER_01Wow. So your family is like Lieutenant Dan's family in that everybody has done the same thing generation to generation. I like that. Yep, we're all we're all on the battlefield, right? And and then merging tech with insurance, which traditionally very slow with tech, and uh this whole insure tech thing is so fascinating because there's so many things that can be brought to this industry to dramatically speed up the process, right? The in in this place where there's so much friction, even if there isn't on the agent side, to the consumer, there is, right? They they come to the table and think, oh, I don't want to change, it's a big pain in the butt because I have to do X, Y, Z. They're asking me for all this information. I don't want to do it. Huge opportunity for you guys.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and and I think too, just just making agents' lives easier. You know, insurance agents, you know, have a lot of challenges because they're they're trying to you know cast a wide net. You're always trying to build your book a business. And and sometimes it's these little efficiencies with technology that will unlock more of you know their skill set in developing relationships and and growing their their business, which is which is what you know from my parents and my aunts and uncles who are in the industry, is what uh insurance agents are are really, really good at. And it's like, hey, you know, there's some things that that technology can help with. And I think it's embracing that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I think there's the the scare that technology is going to take over in this space, but um, I think it's looked at a little for the side that I look at it, it's more of like a tool, a tool to really exponentially use your gifts and talents and uh multiply your efforts, really, right? If anything.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, I I like to think of in insure tech tools like an insure grader. I mean, there's a lot of great tools out there, um, as as a power drill versus a hammer. You know, you can you can hammer away and and you know you'll get sweaty and you'll get a good day's work, but you you can get more done with with a power tool. And it's still gonna take your skill as you know, a builder to be able to put the right pieces together. But if we can make that process more efficient, um, you're you're able to get things done um, you know, bigger, faster, stronger.
SPEAKER_03Love it. Who's your perfect agent that really fits well with InsureGrid?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so I think you know, anyone who's selling personal lines insurance, uh, right now we're really focused on on personal lines, our platforms built to help facilitate the personal lines sale. You know, anyone from an agent that just started, uh, whether they just got their uh, you know, contracts directly from carriers or maybe they're working with an association to a captive agent. So those new agents looking to grow their book of business, uh, really kind of expand their network all the way up to you know large brokerage firms that uh are looking to round out their book of business. My dad likes to say that there's there's gold in the file cabinets, and there's a lot of agencies that you know might have monoline clients because they work a lot with mortgage brokers and so they're doing homeowners, but they don't get the auto. Or they have a massive book of business for commercial, and it's like, hey, all those people have uh homes and and cars, and so how can we efficiently cross-sell them? Um, so I know that I'm being a salesperson right now and telling you that you know, everyone's a customer as long as they sell personal lines, but I I really do think that there's there's something out there for any size of business, but it comes down to efficiency. And, you know, even though you you've been hammering away for a long time, um, you know, just being open-minded to try something new and also something that consumers want, uh, because consumers they don't want to call a taxicab anymore. They they want to call an Uber. And so it's just giving uh your customers an experience that that they're used to and that they expect.
SPEAKER_01So let's talk about um agents that kind of follow our model, uh, though because we're agents too. And in our agencies, uh, we've developed basically uh a telefunnel. So what we do is we have we buy lots of internet leads, those internet leads come into the funnel. Our our telemarketers through the um teledudes uh platform that we have, uh, then they call, make contact, then funnel those over to our agents who then sell the idea of the quote, then then sell the the insurance. Uh often they are, you know, they'll say, Oh, I could I only got the auto, I couldn't get the house, and maybe they didn't bring it up, or maybe they just really couldn't get it. But how would this be something that could they could insert into that process and and leverage it and then maybe talk a little bit about exactly what it is?
SPEAKER_00Sure. So um, and just so I can I can understand uh your model a little bit better. So, you know, a telemarketer calls and they get a they talk to a lead, and that lead says, I'm I'm interested. Is it a live transfer or does your agent it's a live transfer? They'll move it over to our producers. Okay, great. So so you know what InsureGrid is is InsureGrid it's essentially a unique link to an agent or an agency that is shared with a prospective client uh digitally. So either uh over email, over the phone, uh via text, or you know, on social media. And so maybe when the the teledude or do it dude is talking to the lead before they transfer them over to the agent, they would send um let the lead know that they're gonna be getting a link to connect to their current insurance policy so the agent can have uh can understand more what they currently have and be able to provide the most accurate quote. Because we we've learned that consumers want the most accurate and fast quote. And you know, to have the most accurate quote, you need to know what someone has so you can know you know what what the parameters are of what their insurance policies should be, but it has to be very quick. And so with insure grid, you're able to accomplish both of that. So um, you know, a teledude or even the agent, once the agent is talking to the lead, they would be able to then share their insurgrid link and say, Hey, you just received this link. All you need to do is connect to your current insurance policy. And and Craig and Jason, do you guys both have a Venmo account? We do. So do you remember when you text your guys, but I do your bank account to your Venmo account? Uh-huh. So it's the same exact thing, but instead of choosing your bank account, you're choosing your current insurance account, and then you're connecting your current insurance account uh via the authentication of your username and password. So it's the same process um just with insurance. And so the insured gets the link just like they would connect their bank account, they connect their insurance account, and insurer grid pulls that information. So when the agent's having a conversation, they know uh what the insured currently has.
SPEAKER_01Wow.
SPEAKER_03Love it. Love it. And what is the what does the client see on their end as far as uh did does it link the new quote to their to their uh current policy?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so so what it does, so the the experience for the consumer is they simply just put in their uh they choose their carrier, they connect their account, and then in SureGrid, we pull all the information and upload it to the agent's dashboard, we call it. And so the agent's able to see all their current policy information, and then from there be able to tailor, tailor a quote. So, you know, we're we're still at the you know, the step step one in the in the process and in the funnel of just how can we get that information? How can we make that connection from the insured, from the the prospective client to the agent? How can we make that uh data connection really easy? And then from there, I think, yeah, Jason, I mean, there's a lot of things that we want we want to do once we get that data.
SPEAKER_03Will it pull VIN numbers and everything of the autos that are on the policy? Wow, yep. That can be a huge value. Love it. I love I love the insure tech world of just those little things. Those little it's it's like uh Batman, right? His utility belt. Yeah, it's just putting another thing in the utility belt that gives you the leverage to be able to one up the the next dude.
SPEAKER_00Oh, and also too, if you think about agents, you know, I think a lot of in today's world of more, more, more, more leads, more leads, I think a lot of agents think like I just need to talk to more people. And it's that's not necessarily the case. Maybe you just have to have more efficient conversations with the people you talk to. Or um, you know, and I'll tell you a story about an agent who's used uh InsureGrid with you know old leads, is is you have a lot of people that you've talked to in the past. So what if you could go back to them with something like InsureGrid and say, hey, I'd love to take a look again at your policy. Click here for me to verify your insurance. And consumers, because consumers they want the fast connection, um, are more than happy to do that if they know that they're gonna get an accurate and fast quote.
SPEAKER_03Love it. Yeah, you got to maximize every opportunity.
unknownRight.
SPEAKER_03Doing those daily drills, you know, whether it be training with daily drills or or just making sure that whole process, that that those few minutes that you have with that person, that you maximize that is is key. Right. Because the whole process can be expensive.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, exactly. And and I think a lot of agents that that I talk to, you know, sometimes they're like, oh, you know, we can't get deck pages. And or I don't get deck pages because I don't I don't quote apples to apples. And it's like, I understand you're not a fruit farmer. We're we're not fruit farmers here. We're we're in the insurance industry. But, you know, if you can have, if you can understand what someone has currently, you can have more of a consultative conversation instead of a price-driven conversation. And just knowing what they have, you know, there are people, a lot of people in the world that just are underinsured or have gaps in their coverage, and you don't know that unless you know what what they're dealing with right now. And traditionally, it's been so hard for agents to get this information. And uh with technology, um, I mean, not only insure grid. I mean, obviously, uh, you know, we're working hard to build something special, but there's a lot of great technologies out there that just make the speed and ease of use of business better for the consumer.
SPEAKER_01Sure. Love it. It really could be a great piece to add to that follow-up funnel. So even if you can't get it on the first try, a follow-up you know, email or um in situations that warrant or permit a text, that can go and boom. Hey, we missed you, but fill this thing out, we'll get right back to you and have an accurate proposal for you.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. And um, I I have a great story in that one of our agents, John, John Williams, real customer, real agent that uses Insure Grid. Um I've gone Williams. Yeah, you know what I mean? So John um you know, uses Insure Grid and he has a lot of leads that he never even got in contact with. And he uses Insure Grid link and reached out to all the leads that um he didn't end up winning their business and just said, Hey, would love to take another look at your insurance. You know, click this link and we can instantly verify your current insurance to see if you have the right coverage. And within five minutes, someone went through, connected their policy through Insure Grid, and within a week, he binded a $6,000 premium policy. And he was an agent in Texas, so premiums, you know, can be can be pretty large in Texas, but you know, it wouldn't have happened if he didn't have that utility tool uh of Insure Grid to really maximize his reach and maximize the money he's spending on leads.
SPEAKER_03Love it. What are you seeing some trends-wise in the industry? And what are you seeing uh agents do to really maximize the value of their leads and just real pro productivity in general?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, I there's a there's a lot of great, you know, sales automation tools, um, whether it's you know agency Zoom, uh whether it's agency MVP, where you can set up actual campaigns. Um, you know, where you where you're hitting people with different value props, you know, in in the funnel. But you know, I come from the world of of SaaS sales. And so really adopting that kind of outbound uh value-added seller where you're you're educating your client um based on the location, based on the time of year, uh, you know, like the different weather that's coming through, and and really not just like pushing people for quotes. I think traditionally a lot of agents have really just been pushing people, here's a quote, here's a quote, here's a quote. But now it's more, hey, let me let me educate you on what you should be looking for in your in your policy and and having more of that um you know consultant, consultative conversation. Because it just it goes a I think it goes a longer way with with consumers.
SPEAKER_01Right. There is a there is a balance to deliver that that speed and the speed that they want, but at the same time create some value by educating.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, without the value, it's just the price game. Right, right. And and yeah, it's it's tough to play that price game, right? It's just it's really hard when when people are just looking at can you beat this price? Can you beat this price? And it's not it's not about price, it's it's about proper coverage. And you really need to educate your consumers on, you know, do they have the proper coverage? You know, what you know what happens if you know something happens to your house or to your car? And and I think um consumers are starting to to really want to be educated as as well. Love it.
SPEAKER_03So what would you say going into 2022? It's kind of like the you know, the 1992 going towards go going towards. Yeah. Uh what would you say for the rest of the year? What what best piece of advice would you give any agent that was either coming into the industry or maybe an agent that just really wants to do things differently, get things started, rocking for the future? Yeah.
SPEAKER_00What advice would you give that dude? Good question. I think I think uh consistency. I think Jason, you're talking about this, but but just creating creating habits, whether it's you know, I want to reach out to you know 20 new people a day and in with a personalized message, or I want to create, you know, three new partnerships with a with a mortgage broker, loan officer, a real estate agent, and just having those those weekly, almost weekly goals, maybe daily or weekly goals, of of just really just delivering high value content. Um instead of instead of taking that shotgun approach where I'm just gonna send a blast to a thousand leads, I'm gonna create a partnership uh with someone local and community, and then I'm gonna send out customized messaging to to people in in my network. Um, I I think it's just gonna get agents and especially new agents um a lot a lot further along. Uh just going back to consumers, they they want accuracy and and they they want speed. And so if if you're really consistent with your content, I think you're you're gonna be able to build up a good book of business, but um, you really have to stick with it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, consistency is key and content is king. Consistent content is key. Put that on the Instagram, Ron. Yeah, one of our marketing guys. That's awesome.
SPEAKER_03So, Chase, where where can somebody get a hold of you? Check out uh InsureGrid. What give us all the deets?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so so yeah, www.insuregrid.com. Um, you know, visit visit the website, and and we do have an offer going on for the whole insurance dude podcast network. And uh our product is is $99 a month. But being part of the insurance dude, if you're here listening to us now, you can get your first month for $75. So just go to our website, you know, you know, click the link, find the time on my calendar to get set up, and um we'll we'll take good care of you. You can also reach out to me directly. Uh Chase, like the bank, no affiliation at insureg.com. Uh, I'm more than happy to help you and really just to talk to talk with you because we you know we believe that the agent is still very relevant. It's gonna become more relevant in the insurance conversation. And so, how can we as people in the industry as well as you know, people developing technology work together? And and that's what we want to do. We don't want to replace agents. Uh, my parents are not gonna go away anytime soon, but our whole team, I mean, we have a team of five, uh, my co-founder Charles, Alex, Joe, Jack, Joella, Mike, who's joining us next week. We got a whole team. We're working really hard, and and we just want to hear with you and work with you.
SPEAKER_01Awesome. And I bet that they will people will not get the opportunity to be onboarded by one of the co-founders for much longer as this company takes off. So good time to take advantage of that. We'll put the link down below. And uh, Chase, thank you so much for coming on the insurance studes. It's been uh fascinating to learn about your company, and we really appreciate you.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, thanks, guys, and appreciate you throwing me through the ringer at the beginning. That was fun.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, speed breakers is tough. So we'll see you down the road. Thanks, man.
SPEAKER_00All right, guys. Thanks, thanks, Chase.