"The Champ is here!" and 9 Questions with A.J. Lovitt of Combined Agents of America
Question 1:
Is it true that you showed the Grand Champion hog at the Nebraska State Fair?
A.J. Lovitt:
I grew up doing 4-H and FFA showing sheep, cattle and pigs. I went to the State Fair several years. And my last year, I actually won Grand Champion Market Hog which is kind of a cool deal!
It’s something I always look back at—something I did that nobody else I've ever known has ever done before. You get these pigs when they're 16- to 18-pounds and you raise them. You groom them and exercise them and prepare them to be at their very best for the show. Then to win the biggest show you ever go to is a pretty rewarding experience!
Question 2:
Do you still have the trophies you won over the years?
A.J. Lovitt:
My parents used to have this trophy case in the basement with all my 4-H trophies. My wife used to call it the “Wall of A.J.” like the “Wall of Gaylord” in the movie, “Meet the Fockers.”
Question 3:
What does A.J. stand for?
A.J. Lovitt:
It stands for Andrew John, which is kind of ironic because when I was born, my mom actually wanted to name me, Joshua John. But she did not want me to be called by my initials.
Then, somewhere along the line, my name ended up being A.J. I've been known by that for as long as I can remember.
Question 4:
Were you raised on a farm?
A.J. Lovitt:
Yes, in Crab Orchard, Nebraska. My Dad and another guy had a construction company, but he farmed a little on the side too. Pigs, cattle, goats, corn and soybeans.
The town of Crab Orchard was super small. We didn't have fast food or cable TV. The closest grocery store 30 minutes away.
My parents still live there today. The house I grew up in has been in our family since the late 1800s. The house was actually a Sears and Roebuck house. They bought it out of a catalog. It was basically pre-built in New York, taken apart, and then shipped down the Atlantic Ocean, up the Mississippi River, up the Missouri River, picked up by horse and wagon, and taken out to where it was eventually built.
By the way, when you grow up on a farm, you learn to never name anything, because it’s always dinner. It's the reason Trent and his family still have Fernando!
Question 5:
Is there any correlation between working on a farm and working in insurance?
A.J. Lovitt:
Yes. If you grow up on a farm, I think you develop a strong work ethic at a very young age. You need that in insurance too.
One other thing that’s kind of similar is, there's always something to do. There's never a day off on the farm. In insurance, there's always something more you can do, too.
And probably the biggest thing is, you always have to be prepared for the unknown in farming and in insurance. So many things happen outside of your control. You have to have an ability to assess, adapt and figure out how to move on.
In farming, you could have all your crop going in, all looks great, and you get hit by a hailstorm in June—and it all goes away. Or you could have all these great plans and your hay catches on fire, or you get disease running through your livestock.
Things change, but the bills are still there. The responsibility is still there. You just got to figure out how to be successful despite what's going on.
Question 6:
When did you leave the farm and start your career in insurance?
A.J. Lovitt:
I left the farm when I was 18 and went to school at K-State. I was convinced I was going to be a veterinarian. Then I realized I never really liked animals enough to be a veterinarian. I never wanted to do the “small animal” thing. I grew up on a farm where it was all large animals. Dealing with dogs and cats and pets and all that stuff? I didn’t want to do that.
I also really didn't want to go to school for eight years. I was a semester away from getting my pre-veterinary degree and I shifted over and got a finance degree.
Then in my junior year of college, I did a summer claims job with State Farm, where I did what they called Cat Duty, which is when you go all over the country, chasing storms and doing claims.
I thought it was awesome. They gave you a company car to drive for the summer, put you up in a hotel, gave you a per diem and paid you. As a college kid, it was great. Hotels, happy hours and dinners. They'd pay me like $40 bucks a day in per diem. I'm like, “How could life get any better?”
I really enjoyed the claims thing, so when I got out of college, I ended up at Allied Insurance out of Lincoln, Nebraska.
If not for insurance, I would never have been able to do some of the exciting things I've been able to do, nor lived in the places I lived. I'm the only person in my immediate family who's ever moved more than a couple hours away from where I grew up.
I spent a few years in Lincoln, then I spent about six years in Central Kansas, where I met Jeremie and Trent—oh yeah, and my wife too!
Later, we lived for about four years in Denver with Nationwide Allied. After that, we moved to Scottsdale for three years. Then we moved to Texas three years ago.
When the holidays come around, I'm always the guy that has to go back because nobody else ever left.
Question 6:
You’ve worked at the carrier level, and now you’re the leader of a network. What are some of the challenges facing the insurance industry and how can better use of data help?
A.J. Lovitt:
The biggest challenge is making sure you have the resources in place to take care of the people you need to take care of. Another one of the challenges is getting young, talented people into the industry. You struggle with that on the company side. You really struggle with that on the agency side.
Insurance—I tell people all the time—it's a very well-kept unsexy secret. For the most part, nobody really wants to go to college to pursue a career in insurance. But it’s such a great way to make a living. There's a lot of really smart people in it, but it can be hard to attract people.
A lack of consistent and accurate data is a huge problem, and that goes all across the board. In everything you do, making sure you have the right information on policies you write, and, as a carrier, making sure you have the right information is a challenge.
Question 7:
How do you think a company like AgencyKPI is helping the industry?
A.J. Lovitt:
Data is key in everything. Everything we do in this world now is a data-driven experience, whether people want to admit it or not. To me, the biggest opportunity with AgencyKPI is the ability to have consistent, reliable and transparent data.
You always want to be able to go into a conversation and into a meeting and at least make sure you know you're not at a disadvantage. You'd love to be at an advantage—and I think AgencyKPI can help networks, like CAA, in a big way.
Look at the Shark Tank experience. Some people have really great products, really great ideas, but don’t always have the data to back up what they’re trying to sell or market. Each of the Sharks say, “I’m out.”
When you have data to help you have conversations and make decisions, you can make the most informed decision you can make versus the most emotional decision you can make.
We shouldn't be thinking, guessing, hearing, or feeling. We need to know.
That’s the superpower of AgencyKPI. When we go into a meeting with a carrier, or talk to our agents, and they ask a question, we don't have to think or feel. We can know because we can show the data. That just changes the whole conversation.
One of the things we're always asking for on the network and agency side is, “How do we get the most resources we can from our carrier partners to help us be successful?” Having the data-driven information to show why we deserve those resources is huge.
Agents work hard. They bust their tails, and most of them just try to write as much business as they can write without having any strategy behind it. Data can give you the ability to have a strategy, so you can strategically grow and partner with the right carriers and bring in the right people to grow your company.
Question 8:
When you arrive at a hotel, what’s the first thing you check out: Pool, Gym, Bar or the Snack Bar?
A.J. Lovitt:
The Snack Bar. I will admit, I do love Peanut Butter M&Ms. The thing is, sometimes you happen to stay out late at night, and after the bar closes, guess what's still open? And what do they also typically have in there?
Beer.
So I always look to see what kind of snacks they have. Like I said, I'm a sucker for peanut butter M&Ms. But just in case there's a time when you want a beer after the bar closes, you’ve got to be prepared. It's a little recon mission just to make sure.
Question 9:
You’re known for your socks and shoelaces. Where’s the best place to buy some socks?
A.J. Lovitt:
Nordstrom is really good. When my daughter was in that 8 to 10 range, she used to think it was the funniest thing to go pick out socks for me.
Years ago, we were living in Denver, and I was buying shoes. My daughter said, "You should get some cool socks." And I said, "Not really my thing." She got them anyways. So I started wearing them and started getting complements. People do actually pay attention to that stuff. As long as it's nothing completely stupid or asinine, as long as people remember you for something good, that's never a bad thing.
Some people give me a hard time about it, but I'm like, “Okay, as a guy, when you work in a conservative corporate environment, like insurance, you’re pretty much stuck with monotone suit, white or blue shirt, and brown or black shoes. That's pretty much what you get to wear. The only fashion accessories that you're going to have is either socks or shoelaces.
So I got into trying to match my shoelaces with either my shirt or my tie and just trying to find fun socks.