How a Fantastic, No-Regrets Relationship Accelerated an Independent Agency’s Growth
When Holden Smith started Lennox Insurance, he knew nothing about the independent side of the insurance industry. By building a fantastic relationship with an insurance network, he’s been able to create a successful agency with three locations.
From Layoff to Launch
Holden started his career in insurance by working for a State Farm agent who happened to be his best friend’s dad. He worked there for a while before switching gears and going into car sales. Although he enjoyed car sales, it wasn’t a good fit for his family.
It was time to start looking at other career paths. Holden decided to go back into insurance sales, and, in the fall of 2015, he joined AIG. Soon after that, AIG made some changes to its business model, which resulted in layoffs.
“I was one of the folks that was part of a reduction in force, and decided being fired wasn’t all that fun,” Holden says – a sentiment many people can relate to. “So, I decided to open an independent insurance agency.”
Holden knew he wanted to open an independent insurance agency; he just didn’t know how to go about it.
Therefore, he did what most people do when they need information: “I started Googling how to open your own independent insurance agency, and Kim at Smart Choice popped up,” he says, referring to Kim Carney, the Arkansas state director at Smart Choice. “Within 20 minutes, we were on the phone.”
He told Kim about his background, his goals, and how he needed help. Kim said Smart Choice would be happy to provide it. That conversation took place in January. Shortly thereafter, he was ready to launch his new agency.
The “Smart” Decision
Although there were many insurance networks in existence at the time, Holden only looked at two: Smart Choice and one other network.
He says he had nothing against the other option, but he preferred Smart Choice.
“I felt at ease with Kim from day one. I’m a people guy and, to me, Smart Choice has my people,” he explains. “From the beginning, it felt like home.”
He also liked the Smart Choice contract. “One thing everyone has to consider is that Smart Choice has no setup fee,” he says. He goes on to explain that having no upfront costs is huge for someone looking to start a small business on a shoestring budget. “I didn’t have five digits worth of cash sitting around. That’s not where mid-20-somethings who just got fired are sitting in life,” he says.
Achieving and Exceeding Goals
Holden’s goals were initially quite modest. He thought that if he could make a decent living by insuring his friends and family and securing a couple hundred clients, he’d be good.
It’s safe to say he’s exceeded that goal. Holden founded his agency, Lennox Insurance, in 2016. He’s since expanded into three locations (all in Arkansas) and has 10 employees and somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000 clients.
“Things just keep growing,” he says.
A friend recently pointed out that Lennox Insurance has become bigger than Holden. “It’s weird. I never thought about it that way, and I never thought about it getting there, but we’ve reached a point to where it has its own life outside of me,” he says. “We are hoping to hit that seven-digit revenue number this year. It would be ideal if we could pull that off. If not, we intend to be very, very close.”
A Fantastic Relationship
“Smart Choice has been great,” Holden says, explaining that he didn’t know anything about the independent channel when he started out. “All of my experience was with a captive carrier or in the life insurance space.”
He didn’t know how to get contracts or codes or even who to reach out to. “Kim really handled the majority of that for me,” he says. He goes on to describe a particular submission that almost fell through – Kim stepped in and saved the day. “That State Auto contract changed my life. And if it wouldn’t have been for Kim, and if it wouldn’t have been for Smart Choice, we wouldn’t have gotten it.”
Over the years, Smart Choice has helped the agency with other difficult situations. “It’s been a fantastic relationship,” Holden says. Whenever he has a question, Kim is available to help. “She’s there for you, she looks out for you, and she helps you grow. Smart Choice has been a fantastic partner for us.”
Expanding into New Lines
“Our bread and butter, and what we’ve built the agency on, is personal lines,” Holden says. However, things are starting to change. Faced with changing marketing conditions and carrier appetites, he’s found it necessary to expand. “We’re becoming more commercial focused.”
Holden still loves personal lines, but he sees how expanding into commercial lines can strengthen his agency.
As he explains, “If you can break into commercial and then into a little bit bigger commercial, your revenue per account trends upward and the amount of people you have to service trends downward.”
When Holden had the opportunity to expand into commercial lines, he knew he had to seize it. “Back in December, we had three acquisitions, and they came with more commercial business than we were used to,” he says. He hired someone to be the agency’s commercial lines director, confident he could rely on Smart Choice for assistance. “Because of our relationship with Smart Choice, we have access to commercial carriers.”
No Regrets
Looking back, Holden says he has no regrets about signing with Smart Choice.
“It’s been fantastic. You hear some agents talk about how they’re going to leave their aggregator,” he says. “Not us – we’re going to stay. We are happy here. We’re well taken care of. We feel like we get our money’s worth every 30 days. We’ve got no complaints. We love our Smart Choice relationship. It’s part of who we are.”