Surviving in the insurance industry for an insurance agent is becoming even more difficult with every passing day. This is mainly due to increased customer expectations. Insurance agencies are forced to offer customized services to the highest level. In recent times, providing best in class customer experience and a quick return on investment has become the topmost priority for agents. Streamlined scalability is also an essential part of growing an insurance business because so many agents spend countless hours early in their career just trying to find their “true north.” By availing the services of an outsourced provider, agents can easily overcome their hurdles and have enough free time to focus on their core competencies.

An experienced service provider like North Star Insurance Advisors is well-known for providing top-notch support services to insurance agents. The company was founded in 2015, and it is based in Wentzville, MO. North Star Insurance Advisors provides support services to agents who don’t want to be responsible for every detail of their insurance business but want the freedom of owning a business. North Star takes care of all the marketing, customer service support, technology, and licensing renewals so that agents can focus 100% of their time and energy on helping people find the life insurance coverage they need. By utilizing the company’s proprietary support system, insurance agents can help more people in less time and enjoy a much better work/life balance than is afforded to so many entrepreneurs and business owners. On average, the most successful agents on this platform make over $200,000 per year while working only 40 hours per week.

In conversation with Tony Hakim and Aaron Eidson, Co-CEOs of North Star Insurance Advisors

Tony Hakim & Aaron Eidson, Co-CEOs North Star Insurance Advisors

Q. There are other significant players in this sector. How are you a better service provider?

We were one of the pioneers to start successfully selling over the phone, so we do not have many actual competitors in this space. We’ve maintained our growth by going above and beyond for our insurance agents and our employees. It would be difficult for any company to match the commitment we have to our company and culture. The amount of service and support we provide our insurance agents is what sets us apart, and that is the primary reason our agency will write over $30 million in final expense premium this year. We have a motto; no one works for anyone here. We all work together, and that’s been the real secret to our success. We have some very incredible people working with us. Many of them are single moms and women who went from working retail jobs, working nights, and weekends to having a better work/life balance and making life-changing money to support their families.

Q. As other industries have optimized customer experience, expectations have risen across the board. Customers expect the same levels of digital connection and personalization from their life insurers as they receive elsewhere. How do you manage to meet customer expectations?

We are not insurers, so our primary customers are our insurance agents. They pay us to take all the weight off their shoulders and streamline their path to success so they can, in turn, reach and help many more seniors looking for a solution to cover their final expenses. That way their family won’t have to open a GoFundMe account or pass the offering plate at church to help them pay for them like so many families are forced to these days. That said, we have developed our proprietary Customer Management System that connects directly to the insurance carrier, so they have all the updates on any of their customers’ policies. We’ve always been pushing our technology to meet the needs of our agents, and it’s made our transition to working remotely from home seamless during this pandemic. Many of our agents around the country already worked from home, and those in the call centers quickly transitioned to doing the same. We host virtual meetings and stay connected through business instant messengers, e-mails, and phone calls throughout the day. Our customers are mostly senior citizens, so they are not as “tech-savvy” yet, but we have a dedicated customer service team that follows up with those seniors regularly with phone calls to just check-in or wish them a happy birthday. We do everything we can to stay connected to our insurance agents and the customers, making all the difference as we continue to grow even through this pandemic.

Q. What is the importance of having a plan for final expenses?

Look around in every major city in America, and you will find a Potter’s field, a place where unclaimed bodies are taken for burial. It’s a sad truth, but some families do not claim a loved one because they cannot afford the funeral and burial services that have skyrocketed in the past 20 years. We provide plans that require no exams and are simple to apply for over the phone and are, most importantly, affordable. Customer by customer, we are helping to provide our low-income seniors with a peace of mind so their loved ones can afford to give them the dignity they deserve after they’ve passed on.

Q. How do you market your services?

Marketing is such a critical part of any sales business. We are constantly looking for new lead sources and marketing trends to attract more agents to our platform and drive more customers to their businesses. From TV commercials to social media ads and e-mail campaigns, you can’t keep all your eggs in one basket. We use a proprietary blend of all lead sources, which we have found to be optimal for our marketing and demographics.

Q. Do you have any new services ready to be launched?

Yes, we are currently working on a proprietary technology that will allow our agents to give their customers instantaneous feedback on their eligibility for the life insurance plans we offer. For the customers, we are working on a support system that will walk them and their loved ones through any funeral prearrangement needs and offer discounts on different products and services to add more value to their relationship with our agents.

Meet the leaders behind the success of North Star Insurance Advisors

Tony Hakim and Aaron Eidson are Co-CEOs of North Star Insurance Advisors. Tony began his insurance career marketing leads to insurance agents, and Aaron was one of the first insurance agents to start successfully selling final expense life insurance over the phone. They began working together in 2010 when Aaron was looking for a new source of leads for his call center. They quickly found out how much they had in common from a business philosophy and their relationship flourished from there. They’ve worked tirelessly over the past five years to build the largest final expense call center in the nation. They are united in their vision for the business, which helps thousands of people find the life insurance coverage they need and provides insurance agents a home they can feel secure and supported within which is so rare in the industry. A conviction in their four core values of Trust, Enthusiasm, Advancement, and Money has been vital in growing at such an unprecedented rate.

“Team members enjoy the benefits of our “plug ‘n play” Telesales platform, allowing our Call Center and At-Home Telesales agents to sell Final Expense 100% over the phone at a high volume all across the country.”

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