Posts

Showing posts from 2014

2014 - The Story.

Image
Its hard to think that a year has gone past!! All the plans at the start of the year, the ideas and clear thinking...... That was mid January and now its the end of December! I know its said often but time really flies, this year in particular. Its a year that was so busy it happened in a blink. Don't know how it was for you but for us we never sat still. So time to do a little bit of reflecting on what went on in 2014. Whilst we were extremely busy we were fortunate that our region did not have as big an issue with natural disasters as previous years. When we came back from holiday in January we still had over 10% of our entire client base working through Hail Storm claims from the November events in Tamworth, Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie and Taree. These were extremely destructive and at the time of writing we are still working our way through the final phase of these claims. January saw Perth suffer Bushfires and tragically loss one soul and 55 homes. Bushfire also ri

A new IAA partnership is forged.

Image
On September 30 2011 two 30 something kids from The Manning Valley kick started their own business. It was a simple little day which involved sitting in our dining room with the sounds of Dora the Explorer in the background and a highlight being getting the head shots taken. 3 years on I don't think we've changed much aside from a few more grey streaks that seem to be permanently etched into the side of my head. How time has flown. From our dining room we moved to the formal lounge room and set it up as a separate business centre. Then some 12 months later our first major step when we opened our first physical office above the RTA in Macquarie Street Taree. We have been in this location for just on 2 years now and love meeting with clients in our informal meeting room or putting together green slips for the community. So as we celebrate our 3rd birthday today we are pleased to announce the next chapter in our business. Effective tomorrow October 1st 2014 we take possess

Do the numbers add up?

Image
When running an Insurance agency that operates on behalf of you - the Insurance purchaser - the topic of insurance companies over charging comes up almost on a daily basis. Whilst yes we 100% work on behalf of our clients in dealing with Insurance companies we have a strong relationship with these same companies to negotiate the best terms and conditions for you. So over the years we have gained a respect for how pricing of insurance works. My first job in Insurance after leaving the media full time was with GIO. It was at the time that GIO were establishing the new inbound call centre for domestic sales. ie: Home, Car and Caravan Insurance. It was in Toowoomba and after making the decision to leave Radio I figured with 180 jobs available surely I could talk myself into one with GIO. I knew nothing about insurance, probably like much of the community, however very quickly grew an apreciaiton of the role it played within our lives. One of the 1st points we learned during orientat

Cheap and Cheerful... Until something goes wrong.

Image
The value for money question is one we ask ourselves in everything we do in life. We have have just gone through it with our Family Health Insurance. I guess being in the same industry we pay a bit more attention to it, but it is easy to get dragged into the 'cheapest' deal when a salesman is pushing it on you. We used one of the comparison companies who obviously earn a commission if they place you through a certain company. It was an interesting process as it proved again that all we seem to peddle in Australia is "Cheapest is best." We were happy to stay with our current provider even though $35 a month more as it had more cover. There was research done in the past decade showing what clients in various countries look for during a sales process. For example in Germany the customer looked for efficiency, USA looked for the 'whats in it for me,' whilst Australians purchased on the desire to have a relationship. We didn't care what it cost as long as w

150 Deaths in only 12 years..... Alarming

Image
It's interesting how our blog sometimes manifests itself. it can be something topical at the time or simply something we observed that people take for granted. This weeks comes from the observation category and really only has a small insurance slant to it. Over the holiday season many headed to rural properties to camp or hang out with family and friends. A regular activity on these properties is Quad Bike riding. Over January whilst travelling on at least 3 occasions we passed properties where people were enjoying time on a Quad Bike. Don't get us wrong, this is not the fun police coming out, Quads are great fun! However why is it that just about every time we see Quad bike's it's being ridden by a child looking no more then the age of 10 who is not wearing any form of protection? Sorry but it simply doesn't make sense. With all the world knows about Quad - or All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) - bikes we still let children rip around a paddock and over mou

The Hot Topics for 2014

Image
2014. If we believed the moves of the late 1980's & 1990's then we'd either be driving hover cars or be dead by now. How many flicks had the world ending in the early 2000's?! Yet here we are, no hover cars, still driving combi vans, no robots taking over the world and so on...... Time does fly though and how about the Summer break! It went by way too quick. One minute we were sitting back indulging in a Christmas ale and the next we're back in the office and putting the first blog of the year together. We hope you had a relaxing break and maybe you are still taking time off. It's fair to say life doesn't return to any semblance of normality until School goes back. For us it means our youngest daughter Jasmine enters the world of school. We don't know who to wish more luck to, Taree West PS or Jazzy herself. Jazz has been ready for school for over 12 months and now with just under 2 weeks till she starts I think we're ready too. Jazz