Specializing in a niche is a great way to grow your agency's book of business, but getting started can be intimidating. We spoke with HawkSoft customer Jackie Zampella of EAB Insurance Group, who was recently featured as a Rough Notes Agency of the Month, about the agency's thriving niche in the nonprofit space, which now makes up over 30% of their commercial business.
The agency has always been involved with nonprofits in their community, making the niche a no-brainer for them. Jackie's mother, Doris "Dee" Zampella, is on the board of multiple nonprofits in their community in New Jersey and was recognized in 2015 as the Somerset County Citizen of the year. We asked Jackie to share a few tips for agencies who may be interested in building a program for nonprofits.
In this article
Agent and client education
The agency’s nonprofit program is built on education, Jackie says. “A lot of our nonprofits work with abused women or children, so we partner with Selective for sexual abuse and molestation coverage. We have a presidium, which is a program to educate staff and volunteers on signs of sexual abuse. If they take the classes, they can get credits back on their insurance policy. The education piece is big because every penny really counts with nonprofits – saving $1,000 on their premium could feed a family for a month.”
For agencies who are considering a nonprofit niche, Jackie recommends getting familiar with the carriers that offer coverage. “There’s only a few carriers that write coverages for nonprofits, but you need to be familiar with what each of them offer so you can make sure you’re placing them with the best fit for what they’re doing. Do they have drivers on the road? Are they working with women and children? Do they have products in a warehouse? What kind of things are the volunteers doing?”
“The education piece is big because every penny really counts with nonprofits – saving $1,000 on their premium could feed a family for a month.”
Even two nonprofits of the same type can have very different coverage needs, she points out. “You need to dive in and become a student of the nonprofit you’re helping. Find what program is going to best serve them and then tailor it for their specific needs. You’re their trusted risk advisor, so make sure you really understand their issues and needs.”
Jackie recounts a story where a nonprofit became a customer solely because of the education Dee provided them. When asked for advice, she told the organization their current agent was still the best fit for them, but provided some education on things to look for and pay attention to. Several years down the road, the organization asked to become Dee’s customer because of the lasting impression her assistance had made—and eventually Dee even became a chair on their board of directors!
Yvette, Jackie, and Dee (from left) meet with Food Bank Network of Somerset County Executive Director Steve Katz. Image source: Rough Notes
Submission tracking
Jackie says the agency appreciates HawkSoft’s submission tracking feature, which helps them organize, track, and report on the applications they’ve submitted to carriers. “Dee and I meet with our carriers several times a year, and they’ll ask us why we haven’t written more business with them,” she says. “With that submission tab in HawkSoft, we have the data to say, actually we gave you 27 submissions this quarter, and you declined 24 of them.”
She sees potential for the feature to help with remarketing accounts as well. “If a client says my price is too high, I want to go out to market, we can look at the submissions and say, it’s not in the appetite for these two carriers, so we have to go to different markets. I think it’s going to be a really big time saver and generator of easier renewals in our agency.”
Team building & community involvement
An added benefit of working with nonprofits is that it gives the agency a great way to be involved with charities in their community. Volunteering with nonprofits in the community also helps build brand recognition in the community for the agency.
Jackie says the agency tries to volunteer at one of their nonprofits at least once a quarter, which are great team-building experiences. “We're going to donate to community causes anyway,” she says, “so why not donate to the causes that we actually insure? It becomes great team building for our office, too.” The team recently spent a day volunteering at a farm that grows food for food banks, and pruned enough peach trees to yield 5,000 pounds of fruit for families in need.
“We're going to donate to community causes anyway, so why not donate to the causes that we actually insure? It becomes great team building for our office, too.”
Getting started with nonprofit
Starting any niche takes some time and effort, but nonprofits can be an especially rewarding specialty for any agency to take on. Choosing a program and carriers, utilizing tools for tracking, and involving your team are great first steps for agencies looking to get started in the space.
Learn more about EAB Insurance Group's storyLearn about the agency's 3 generations of women leadership in insurance across 70 years in business, and see their tips for building an agency that stands the tests of time.
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