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| Ann Mullen |
With expertise in the Texas automotive industry they have developed a significant marketplace for specialized programs. The agency began by writing insurance for the Texas Independent Auto Dealers and has expanded its business from there.
Below are some excerpts from my interview with Ann & Phyllis:
Tell me a little bit about how you got started?
Ann: I have been in the insurance business for 30 plus years and I arrived here like a lot of others I’ve met in insurance – without rhyme or reason!! When I graduated from high school, I needed a part-time job to offset my expenses while attending college. I’m from Tioga, Louisiana, and my first college experiences were at LSU-Alexandria – so you know the employment opportunities were not rampant in my area. One of my high school teachers knew someone who was opening an Aetna Insurance Branch Office and –viola! – a job.
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| Phyllis Wilson |
When I moved to Dallas, it seemed that every ‘quick-to-locate’ job was in the insurance business and I worked a number of them. I wasn’t looking for a career, just an income supplement while my children were small. When my youngest went to kindergarten, I went to work with the hope of beginning a career. In what? Insurance, of course.
It was not long before I landed a position with a Dallas life insurance agent who was opening a property and casualty branch. He had a Texas Independent Auto Dealer connection and every dealer must have a surety bond. We established a relationship with a surety company and the rest is history, as they say. It wasn’t long before I was feeling the restraints of working for someone else and wanted my own agency. In 1988, I opened Mullen Insurance Agency and in 1995, we incorporated.
Phyllis: I was born in Greenville, Mississippi and moved to Abilene with my parents when I was seventeen. My husband was in the service and at the time he passed away I was Ann’s neighbor. She invited me to come to work with her at the agency where I initially began in the mailroom running errands.
Later, I moved to the Bond Department and now I am the Senior Bond Customer Service Rep. It is a position I enjoy because of the opportunity to work with many people and varied personalities.
I specialize in commercial bonds, with the vast majority being written for Texas Independent Auto Dealers.
Who has had the most influence on you?
Ann: The person who most influenced my life in a very personal way was my mother. Although she died before my 13th birthday, she used every minute of her life with me showing me how to live. Her actions loudly proclaimed that life is always about others and that the only blessings one can expect to receive are those they give.
Even when she was ill, she made sure a sick neighbor knew she was thinking about them; when it came time to say goodbye to me, she took the time to explain things and how grateful she was to have had the years we had together. She was so good at it that I was saying goodbye to my mother and still feeling as if I was favored among all children. Even today, I often think “I would rather have had my mother for 13 years than any other mother in the world for 100 years.”
I’m impressed and influenced by strong people who care, who take responsibility for who they are and are willing to work as hard as they can to create a better world.
It is unnecessary to be famous, be rich or be powerful on a grand scale to change the family, the neighborhood and the community in which one lives. I admire the Maya Angelou’s, the Eleanor Roosevelt’s, Elizabeth Warren’s, Mary Barra’s, the Hillary Clinton’s of the world, of course, because they stand out as examples of women’s courage, leadership and responsibility; but, I equally admire the grandparent who has the time to share life’s lessons with their grandchildren, the school teacher who buys the ‘extras’ out of their pocket so some child is not made to feel poor or different, and the list is endless.
What do you think it takes for an Agent or CSR to be successful?
Ann: The greatest differences between the agent who succeeds and the one who fails are:
- A real concern for their insureds’ insurance well-being, i.e. customizing insurance plans to fit individual insureds
- Willingness to work. Insurance – particularly for the beginner- is not a nine to five job.
- People skills. The best agent’s clients believe they are ‘special’ and important to their agent.
Phyllis: Being straightforward and honest. Letting the customer know you are working for them makes the difference between agents and CSRs who excel versus those who don’t do as well.
Do you have any stories or experiences you can recall from your early days in the business?
Ann: This question gives me trouble because I don’t have a lot of interesting stories from my early days in insurance, rather they are all mundane, trying-to-do-my job, situations.
I do specifically remember a seminar I attended during my early training as an agent. One of the speakers talked about how easy it is to find one’s self in an E&O situation and the importance of remembering that every meeting with a client is a business meeting on some level.
He told the story of a night he went to dinner with client, more of a social engagement than a business dinner. During the course of the evening, his client said, “Oh, I forgot to call your office today. I picked up my new Mercedes; I still have the papers here in my pocket. Can I just give you the information now?” The agent recorded the VIN number, the cost new, all of the pertinent data – on a napkin, put it in his pocket and promptly forgot about it.
Two weeks later, the Mercedes was totaled. The client’s personal auto policy had another vehicle on it with liability only, so as a newly purchased vehicle, at most, the Mercedes had liability only. The agent had errors and omissions insurance, but the deductible was too large for it to be of much help.
That story influenced me not just for that day, but for how I do business every day. It is impossible to completely protect yourself and your business from every loss, but being aware that any and all contact with clients must be professional and going the extra mile to close those gaps is important.
If that agent had simply said to his client, “Be sure to call me tomorrow so I can get an ID card to you because you need proof of your insurance before you are covered,” and then followed it up, the agent would have still been smiling two weeks later.
In your opinion where is the insurance market headed and where do you see opportunities for growth?
Ann: Weather conditions are wreaking havoc in the property insurance market. We’ve had a soft market for the past several years – at least, as it has applied to my niche market, Texas car dealers.
About a year ago, I noticed fewer and fewer companies were willing to offer weather coverage with loss aggregates in areas not typically designated as hail or first tier counties. This year, the market has become less flexible, and all I hear from my underwriters is that I haven’t seen anything yet!
The result is not that the coverage is unavailable anywhere – usually, there is a Lloyds market out there to come to the rescue – but rather that premiums are escalating. The inability to buy property insurance at a rate many dealers can afford is changing the look of my book of business.
From an agent’s point of view, I believe the best way to grow is to find a niche, become the best agent there is for that niche and market your expertise. Do not try to be everything to everyone – pick a marketplace, learn everything you can about that marketplace – the clients, the coverage they need, and then find the insurance sources to satisfy those needs.
In my case, the marketplace is Texas Independent Auto Dealers and I depend on Insurors Indemnity to satisfy many of the property and casualty necessities, from dealer bonds to property coverages.
Finally, when you are not building Mullen Insurance Agency what personal interests do you have?
Phyllis: I enjoy the outdoors as well as traveling occasionally. With four adult children and nine grandchildren between Dallas and New Orleans I also enjoy spending time with my family.
Ann: I like birding and I look for opportunities to combine my hobby with my love of traveling, meeting new people and exploring varied destinations. When it is impossible to get away, I combine the back porch swing, the bird feeder and a good book for equally enjoyable mental trip.
