We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Vanessa Todd. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Vanessa below.
Vanessa, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the best thing you’ve ever seen (or done yourself) to show a client that you appreciate them?
I have been doing insurance business in Vegas for nearly 20 years, and as the nature of business, I earn income from number of sales each month, each year, without my clients’ supports I am not in this business for this long. Although the carrier has been up and down with unstable markets for the past 3 years, but my clients work nonstop finding referrals for me, I have clients have become good friends.
Vanessa, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am a Vietnamese and like everyone who has come to a new country, we all struggled. Same story with me, I came from a country that didn’t have insurance industry back then, so I came to insurance class like a clueless person, also limited English made it harder to pass the tests, it took me 7 times to obtain my Property and Casualty License in 2006. Then I could not find a job because anywhere I applied the job, they required me to have sales experience background.
I thought I was lucky to be hired as a licensed support for a Farmers Insurance Agency owned by a Vietnamese, but it was just a start of roller coaster in the insurance industry. Farmers took the first-rate increase that upset the entire book of business and everyday people called and yelled, then the agent listened from her desk and yelled over if the answers to clients was wrong, it was terrible experience to start the career. Then she sold the agency to another Vietnamese man who had no insurance experience also and we struggled every day to survive. He left the agency to me and went to Vietnam until Farmers shut down the agency because they were unable to contact the owner.
I was moved around within Farmers agencies from sharing desks with others then to Allstate Insurance with the same title as a licensed agency support, in the crisis time in 2008-2012, until I was hired at AAA, From all the bad and the good, I quickly achieved several awards including the contest and became the face of AAA for several years.
I left AAA and joined Liberty Mutual Insurance Company in 2015 with 2-year gap from 2019-2021 during the Covid Pandemic, I was rehired by the company, now as Comparion Insurance Agency. During these years I have won several contests specialized in protecting clients against financial losses, setting up their long-term savings and retirements with some tax advantage for self-employed, business owners in town.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I personally think Insurance business is the hardest kind of business to me. Insurance is a demanding service because I also speak Vietnamese, making all Vietnamese clients come for other helps that make the love, and the hate happens within a thin line, from all the nonsense happens every day, I also have many clients stand by to support me every day and this is important.
Life will put us through storms, but those storms was built to help us to grow stronger, and I think going through of all like I have no choice but just keep moving forward for people who always believe in me.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I think what has helped me to stand strong in this business is to do the right things, transparency and integrity. I don’t chase after number of sales; I take time to talk and understand my client’s needs and advise them from my best knowledge, ultimately, I do what good for them. I want them to sleep well at night and to do so, when I lay down at night, I know I can sleep well as well. Business can take longer to build in the right way, but it will be last and stable in the long run.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.comparioninsurance.com/insurance-agent/nevada/las-vegas-0643/vanessa-nguyen-todd
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessa-n-bb3655208
Image Credits
Celebrating Summer Sales Contest winners in 2024.