We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Marshall Benson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Marshall thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Any thoughts about whether to ask friends and family to support your business. What’s okay in your view?

I feel as though if someone is truly interested in helping you succeed, then there would be no need to ask for the support of family or friends.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

A brief overview of myself. I was born into a family of 17 boys and girls, of which I was number nine. Growing up and not having much, one may think that it would make you selfish once you were in a position to obtain certain things in life. To the contrary growing up in a large family tends to make you want to share the little things you are able to gain in life. While in every family there are exceptions mine is no different. Of my living brothers and sisters, there are only four, my oldest living and the last three born into the family that do not have some of their business with my agency. I don’t know why that is the case, however I can conclude that it has something to do with the fact that the later they were born into the family the need to share was not as great since the older siblings had reached a point where they could provided assistance to the younger and the need to return that support was not as great. I have no reason for the oldest in the family.

I got started in this business after retiring from the military after 2o plus years of service, I started my search for employment by sending out resumes during interviews and networking to the best of my ability. After countless interviews, the only companies interested in my services were telemarketing agencies. I had obtained a BS in Behavioral Science and Masters Degree in Human Resources Management. Neither the local government, city or county, nor the leading companies in the area were willing to hire me in any compacity. Finally after visiting the Employment Office on numerous occasions I was told that I would probably be able to find employment in the insurance industry.

While insurance sales were not on my radar as an employment opportunity. I went on an interview and just like every debit insurance company they are looking for warm bodies to collect premiums, and knock on doors canvassing for individuals to purchase life and health insurance.

Since I had a warm body and was walking upright I fit the bill and was hired. Since insurance sales is commission based the only way you make money is to sale policies. You could work everyday all day and reap nothing for your effort. The things that stands out to me is the days I would make appointments and when I returned to home for the sales appointment I found that I was the only one at the prospects home. Disappointment would set in when you realized that you had forsaken your family to meet with someone who didn’t value your time enough to have the courtesy to call and cancel the appointment.

I did this from 1992 until 1999 and during this time the industry did not change much, however, I not being a quitter believed that there was a future in this industry since this is where God had placed me. Either that or I was to clueless to realize that perhaps I wasn’t cutout to be an insurance agent.

As the days got hotter during the Summer and colder during the Winter. I began to realize that there had to be a better way to make a living in the insurance industry. When the days were too hot to be walking around in a suit and tie I would make my way to Walmart to cool down or when it was too cold outside I would again make my way to Walmart to warm up. The more I looked around I realized that there were insurance agents who were making a living and they were not in Walmart for the same reasons that I was there. Who were these agents making a living and not knocking on doors and missing time in the evening with their families. They were the State Farm, Allstate, Nationwide and Farm Bureau agents. I soon realized that the way to get out of Walmart was for me to get into an office.

Selling Life and Health Insurance in an office is not the ideal way of making a living in the insurance industry. My plan was to find a part-time job working at the local university during the morning and working at selling insurance in the afternoon. God reviewed my plans and decided that my plan had some flaws and he put me on a path where I could succeed. I only had life and health license. All those agents sitting in their office had property and casualty license which gave them the ability to sell homeowners and automobile insurance along with commercial insurance.

I was introduced to a mortgage broker who would complete mortgages for clients and when the clients mortgage was in place I would meet with them to sell them life insurance coverage to protect their investment in the event of their death and their love one would not be left with the burden of a large mortgage payment. That got me into the brokers office, and out of the weather, but the number of clients were far and between. It just happened that a marketing representative was going through the local telephone book and decided to give the mortgage a call and setup an appointment to meet with him in the hopes that he could be convinced to sell their auto product.

After meeting with the marketing representative the mortgage broker who had his property and casualty license asked if that would be something we would like to take on. If we did I would need to get my pr0perty and casualty license. I was willing to do that and see where it would take us. The mortgage broker would continue working the mortgage business and I would work the insurance side of the business.

After getting the insurance business up and running for a little over a year, I found that I was not making any headway even though the business was making money it was paying much of the profit to the mortgage company since it was the established business and had the infrastructure in place such as office equipment, telephone, advertisement and office space. I again found that I was working but with little to show for my effort. I did have a place where I was out of the cold of the wind and heat of the sun, but other than that there had not been much change.

Since the mortgage broker controlled the financial books, I soon found that I was using my credit card to put gas in my car to get to work and getting little to nothing in return. It became apparent that I had fallen into a bad situation or, God was giving me the lesson I needed to branch out and become my own boss. When I could no longer put gas in my car to get to work I began considering ways to pull away from this situation I had found myself in . Then one day as I was on my way home I noticed that there was this office just up the road from my house that was up for rent. I spoke with the owner of the building and we came to an agreement on the rent.

In September 2000, I started my agency with a single desk, chair, telephone, printer, and computer. I was able to secure my initial contract to sell automobile insurance with Omni Insurance company, a homeowners insurance contract with Foremost insurance company and Life insurance with Ohio National to compliment the contract I had with Illinois Mutual insurance company. I worked in the agency alone from 2000 until 2002 when my daughter graduated from college and began working with me. At the time of her joining with me, I had grown the agency to a point where I needed help but wasn’t making enough to hire someone. Together we were able to grow the agency to a point where it was able to support both of us. While insurance was not her desire she stayed with the agency while working to start her photography business. She worked on her photography until it has reach a level that is supporting her and giving her the freedom to reach her dreams.

The most rewarding part of being an insurance agent/owner is the ability to help solve problems or help others meet their need. While the opportunity to make money in the insurance industry presents itself, the enjoyment of helping others outweighs any amount of money you receive. What I have tried to do to set us apart from others who work in this business is that we don’t sell insurance, others buy insurance.

The one thing that concerns me is that there are few minorities in the property and casualty side of the insurance industry. While we all must have insurance which in many cases are mandated by government and industry i.e. automobile, homeowners, workers compensation. The individuals benefitting from the sell of insurance in many cases don’t look like the one purchasing the insurance. I would love to see more minority insurance agencies serving the individuals in their churches, neighborhood and clubs.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

After deciding to start my own insurance agency I knew I would have to do it without any seed money. I had my military retirement income which was devoted to mortgage payments. I had to cut back on all spending and any large item was purchased with credit card. I had reached a point where I needed an infusion of cash but with a credit history I would not consider giving myself a loan. But along the way I had taken to heart a motto I developed for the agency “Lord guide my path this day, in this vocation you have given me, so that through my ability to help others, I may be able to help myself and my family.” With this being the driving factor I each day begin believing that if I could help someone else I would be helped. So as my needs began to grow I reached out to a bank who worked with small businesses. This bank was willing to take the risk of providing funding to the agency. And like I said earlier, I didn’t think I was worthy of their trust God touched the hearts of those making the decision and a loan was granted. With that loan I was able to meet payroll, provided a well deserved income to my daughter who had been working with little or no pay. Slowly the work days went from 12 to 14 hour days to a regular 8 hour day.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

The first thing in business is to learn how funds are to be distributed. The first one to get anything from the business is the business itself. Having paid the expenses of the business ensures it will have another chance to become profitable next month. Whenever you are dealing with a product that requires trust it is imperative that anyone you are dealing with know that they can trust you and your word. Never lie, never stretch the truth and never be afraid to admit you made a mistake. If you are honest in your dealings others will respect you for it and that will go a long way in building your reputation. If you put out good vibes, good vibes will come back to you. There is a saying I truly like “There is a destiny that makes us brothers, none goes his way alone: all that we send into the lives of others comes back into our own.: Edwin Markham. This has probably helped me to increase my standing in the marketplace more so than anything. Believing that if we are willing to help someone, then someone will be willing to help us.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.benson-agency.com
• Facebook: Benson Insurance Agency, LLC