As the owner of Carolina’s 1st Choice Agency LLC, Christian Gallardo strives to give his clients the best in terms of coverage choice and personal service.
Christian’s agency is located in the southwestern part of North Carolina, and earns most of its business through referrals, thanks to satisfied clients and Christian’s extensive community involvement, including work with local schools and law enforcement agencies.
In 2022, Christian was honored with the Five Star Professional Award for home and auto insurance and the Man of the Year Award from La Noticia, an independent news organization serving the Latino community in the Greater Charlotte area of North Carolina. He also won the 2023 Charlotte Ledger 40 Over 40 Award.
Learning the Ropes
Like many insurance professionals, Christian climbed his way up the insurance professional ladder and wore many different hats along the way. He began his career at American Bankers (now Assurant), State Farm, and eventually landed at Allstate, where he served for years in many different capacities.
“I learned a lot from working in different Allstate departments,” Christian says. Eventually, however, after spending the majority of his career working as an exclusive agent, he realized he wanted to be independent.
“I noticed that one company’s products didn’t work for everyone,” he said, explaining that he decided to go independent to bring his clients more choices and customized solutions. “As an independent agent, you can access many different carriers, and each one has different underwriting criteria, so you’re able to serve more customers,” he says. “Plus, I can still write Allstate,” he adds. After being with them for so many years, that was really important to him.
Finding a Partner
Being independent meant Christian could finally give his clients all the options he felt they needed – but only if he was able to secure the right contracts. Realizing he would likely need to partner with a network or market access provider, Christian began looking into different options. After hearing a glowing recommendation from another agency owner, he ultimately decided to go with Smart Choice.
One thing he particularly liked was that Smart Choice’s Smart Start program could handle the underwriting for him if he wished. “All I need to do is fill out a simple online quote form and the team takes it from there,” he said. “You know, time is money, so I like that way of doing business.”
Smart Choice also taught him how to navigate placing business with new carriers. He had extensive knowledge about insurance in general – and Allstate in particular – but he wasn’t familiar with the ins and outs of other carriers – a common barrier agents face when transitioning to an independent role. Through Smart Choice, he learned about their underwriting appetites, application requirements, and processes, which helped him narrow down which carrier might be a good fit for an individual client.
“As an independent agent, you can access many different carriers, and each one has different underwriting criteria, so you’re able to serve more customers.”
Delivering Choice and Service
Christian likes to make himself available to his clients, and having Smart Choice manage some of the workload frees up his time, allowing him to focus on relationship building.
“I always give my clients my cellphone number,” Christian said, explaining that he started doing this back when he worked for Allstate. He tells his clients to call him if they ever need help. “You can call me 24/7. It doesn’t matter the day and it doesn’t matter the time.”
Christian’s agency also serves a lot of contractors. Securing coverage for them can sometimes be tricky, especially when they’re dealing with lapsed or canceled policies. “I may get a call or a text that they want an answer to right away,” he explains. If he doesn’t have the answers himself, he reaches out to Smart Choice for help. By being there for Christian, Smart Choice allows Christian to be there for his clients.
How Teamwork Makes Dreamwork
Going independent doesn’t have to mean going alone.
Christian has worked hard to build a successful agency – and he’s worked smart. He delegates, relies on his Smart Choice team, and uses Smart Choice’s established processes and systems instead of trying to reinvent the wheel.
With Smart Choice by his side, Christian can write more business with less staff. He can also bring his clients more choice and better service than he could ever achieve on his own.