Using Trusted Choice® and CAP to Get Ahead

As I write my fourth Chairman’s Voice column, it is turning much cooler in Oklahoma and the leaves are really falling. Nanette and I recently made visits to the Kentucky and Indiana conventions; both were very well attended with lots of activities, continuing education and, of course, great people. It is always wonderful to see old friends as well as meet new ones.

I also saw more and more excitement about CAP and its upcoming roll-out of the portal, as well as renewed excitement about Trusted Choice®—especially as it ties in with Project CAP. In addition, I witnessed younger agent and college student attendees asking how they can help their agencies or agencies in general prepare for the portal roll-out. All of that got me thinking about the real importance of Trusted Choice, CAP and young people, and so I decided to devote this article to the topics.

It has been a bit more than a year since we became “all in” with Trusted Choice. Since then, it has been amazing to see the excitement around the country for the consumer brand—especially from many of you who were not supporters even a year ago. Past Chairman David Daniels and former Trusted Choice Chair Bob Fee did a great deal to move this needle forward.

Trusted Choice is now enjoying a great relationship with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. On the heels of raising $170,000 for the children’s charity, we now have a custom-made Trusted Choice motorcycle built by Orange County Choppers, and we raised another $150,000 in Facebook “likes” for MAW. My wife Nanette and I have seen the chopper (which is awesome, by the way) at many venues, beginning with the Trusted Choice Big “I” National Junior Golf Championship in Austin, Texas in August. There is much more to come with the Trusted Choice brand. Stay tuned as CAP and other projects are rolled out to be marketed through the consumer brand.

Tom Minkler, Dave Walker and the CAP team have been working very hard with the CAP board to continue the roll-out of the initiative. Regular communications have been coming from the CAP team so that everyone is able to stay abreast of progress. There are CAP people attending state conventions, doing seminars and taking part in panel discussions. Also, one of our own recently joined the CAP team on a part time basis. New York state executive Dick Poppa has been allowed by his state to become a part-time employee of CAP. Dick is a great “get” for the CAP team as this portal project readies for its roll-out in early 2013.

I want to personally thank Scott Deetz and his CAP team, as well as our volunteer leaders Tom Minkler and Dave Walker, for their incredible work in bringing this project to us. I also want to thank many young people who have been willing to work with the CAP team in the background, working out kinks to make the overall project smooth and successful for our association agencies.

I have said for years as well as in previous writings for this column that young agents are the lifeblood of our future. Please trust me when I tell you this project is the key to our personal lines future while we continue to retake lost market share. As we begin to roll this project out in your state, my advice (as many of you have heard me say before) is for you older agency owners (like me) to get out of your younger people’s way and let them carry the water and take your agency to the next level. Young people get what CAP is truly about and that being active on the Internet is key. Please let them do it—I beg you!

Trusted Choice, Project CAP, Young Agents—this is the way of our future for personal lines now and in general as we move forward.

Nanette and I wish you a happy and prosperous New Year, and we are proud and blessed to serve you.

—Bobby Bramlett, Big “I” chairman