The Long Term

Carl Stapleton, our senior broker in the Sydney area, often rises by four-thirty. During golf season, he might head out to the course for an early tee off. But most mornings he enjoys a couple of hours of reading, before the family wakes and before the phone starts ringing.

On any given evening, you might find Carl playing guitar at a kitchen party or coaching the local track and field or curling team for the Special Olympics. Or, if you’re really lucky, you’ll catch him in a play at the HAT (the Highland Arts Theatre).

Dedicated and diligent, Carl has built a large book over the years and also been a welcome mentor to others in the insurance industry. He’s completed his Canadian Insurance Professional (CIP) designation, and was one of the graduates of the very first Canadian Accredited Insurance Broker (CAIB) program in Nova Scotia.

With a major rollover underway at AA Munro, I recently sat down with Carl at his office in Sydney River to benefit from his valuable perspective on our work.

INTERVIEWER

The Portage rollover, what does that mean for you?

STAPLETON

One positive thing is we’re going to get everything up to date, cleaned up and better on our system, which will be good you know to be better able to rate in the future.

INTERVIEWER

As you’re doing it, does it get a little frustrating?

STAPLETON

Well AA Munro wisely have taken a lot of it away from the brokers themselves. We’ve got Darlene downstairs she’s collecting information for those that are doing the rollovers. Darlene may call and ask me if I remember something or I know a person so I can help out if it’s something she can’t get, but she’s very good at collecting the information. And so far we’re not having any issues with the customer, which is really good.

INTERVIEWER

That’s good to hear.

STAPLETON

Sometimes change is good. And maybe us as front line workers we only see the short term—how it’s going to affect us you know immediately, and we sometimes forget to look at the long term benefits.

INTERVIEWER

Is there anybody at Portage in particular that you are going to miss?

STAPLETON

Oh yeah there’s Lois of course and Jerry. I’ve been dealing with Lois for as long as I’ve been in the business. And Paula in the auto department. Of course you’re going to miss them and they tell you to drop in if you’re in the area to say hello. They treated me very well. I think it’s important for a broker like myself—and I always try to do this with each company I work with—to get to know somebody in the auto department and in the property department and to try to stick with that person.

INTERVIEWER

Why is that so important?

STAPLETON

You get to know them and they get to know where you’re coming from and how you do your work. I find that very beneficial. The relationship gets closer and it’s easier to talk with that person after a while instead of talking to somebody new every time you call. I think company people appreciate that too, if you get to know them better.

INTERVIEWER

How do you think the rollover will go?

STAPLETON

I guess there’ll be some energy used up but I think after it’s all over, like at this time next year, I think people are going to breathe a big sigh of relief and they’re going to look at their work and say you know this is good.

INTERVIEWER

Do you think some clients will go to other brokers who still have Portage?

STAPLETON

Oh I would think so. I haven’t seen it yet, but of course we’re just new into it. And I think some will just based on price maybe. But that being said I know Portage are going to have to look at their book too. They’re going to start getting into more strict underwriting themselves. I think they’re going to have to because we’re in a hard market and all the companies are looking at ways to be more profitable. With what’s happened, all the claims, especially what’s happened in Alberta—that’s going to affect us down the road sometime. I don’t know when but it will.

INTERVIEWER

Is that the direction you see the industry going?

STAPLETON

I think it’s only going get harder for a while. For a couple more years anyway. I really don’t know, but I think it’s going to be tough for a while yet and the companies themselves are going to be cleaning house. That’s what they’re doing now: they’re looking very closely at what they write. But it gets people to make sure things are updated like if they say their roof is a certain age or their oil tank is—they’re all having a closer look at this stuff. In the long run it’s only going to help everybody right. You know the companies have been having losses for a reason, so they have to fix it. And there’s nothing new under the sun [laughs]. We’ve been through all this before.

INTERVIEWER

Right.

STAPLETON

I don’t know how many hard markets we’ve been through. It wasn’t all that many years ago where it was the auto you know—we were restricted on how many auto policies we could write because of claims. And home policies were making money. If you follow the industry like all the companies are in the same boat. They’re all having their losses now with homes and most of them are making money with auto, so who knows. But you can’t predict it.

INTERVIEWER

So what should we do?

STAPLETON

I think if agencies like AA Munro keep doing what they’re doing, keeping their name up front in the public, you know people are still going to call. I talk to a lot of people on the phone and they would like to deal with somebody on a personal basis and local. It’s only technology that has changed over the last number of years. I find the business is still much the same. You’re still writing your policies and you hope to write good business that’s going to be profitable. It’s just the method of doing them now. Everything is easier to do. You can quote better. It wasn’t all that many years ago that I just quoted out of the manual. You opened the manual and you quoted. You had to know your driving classes and you figured out yourself whether they’re a class one or an eighteen or a ten or eleven or a twelve or whatever. You had to find the rate group for their vehicle and then you had to go in your manual and work that premium out by hand [laughs]. It wasn’t all that long ago!

INTERVIEWER

Technology has changed a lot, and quickly.

STAPLETON

I remember having seven or eight people waiting for quotes, lined up outside my door. So yeah, technology is the biggest thing that changes. Insurance is still insurance. That hasn’t changed. You’re trying to fill a need for the community and you want people to be insured and they want to feel secure so that if something happens they’re going to be looked after.

INTERVIEWER

Definitely. Have any particular technological changes been tough for you?

STAPLETON

Just trying to keep up with our system, but I don’t find it’s too bad. We have such good support right like you need something and you call Tracey. AA Munro has a good system. If you got problems you know who to call. There’s always somebody there to help you out if you want more training. AA Munro’s not shy on that. You know, we like coming to work. Our biggest thing here is that we want to be able to write the business that people are calling in for us to quote on.

INTERVIEWER

And what would you say are the challenges with that?

STAPLETON

Just to know our markets. We want to know our markets, and the more we know about them and the more they have to offer us the better. It’s good when the companies come and give us training, like Aviva or Intact.

INTERVIEWER

Yeah, you want to be able to do your job.

STAPLETON

See the Portage rollover affects us more here in Cape Breton because our book with Portage was so big. Some of us thought we’d lose a lot of business but that initial anxiety is over. I think it’s a lot better now. If there’s no real big difference in premium you know customers are not going to leave. I’ve found over the years that some people are just plain shoppers. They’ll shop every few years and hey if they can save themselves twenty dollars they’re going to go. But I think the majority of people, if they’re treated right by a local agency most of them are going to stay. I think that’s why we have so many long term customers.

INTERVIEWER

What does it mean to treat somebody right?

STAPLETON

[laughs] I don’t know. I think you just try to be yourself. Just be yourself and just tell it like it is. That’s all. I think that’s treating people right, like you don’t look down on people. Of course I don’t think you’re going to satisfy everybody. Sometimes there’s automatic chemistry between people that it’s not going to work. But you can try your best. You know, you’re an individual and they’re an individual—just treat them fairly. It’s how we treat people that will determine how long they’re going to stay.