Agency Profile: Right Place, Right Time

Lewistown Insurance

Lewistown, Montana
Founded: 1981
Employees: 7

In the age of the “quick sale,” Scot Solberg says his agency’s success lies in using the opposite approach.

Solberg, who will take the reins of his family agency this summer, credits strong community relationships for the opportunity to leverage the aftermath of the Affordable Care Act.

Life-health now represents 30% of Lewiston Insurance’s book, due in large part to writing group health insurance for schools. Solberg says after the ACA took effect, the agency’s main health insurance carrier could no longer group like employers together for health insurance. As a result, the agency now offers three trusts and has a lot of association business, including schools, small employers and others.

“Our property-casualty reputation allowed us to get in on the health side,” Solberg says. “We got a lot of the schools because we had relationships with board members.”

SCOT SOLBERG, VICE PRESIDENT

I came from a large agency with that pressure to sell, sell, sell. Go cold call. Get expiration dates. Coming to the smaller agency side, the smaller community, was a struggle for me initially. In a small town, building relationships is more important than the ability to cold call somebody.

My father has taught me those relationships are important to keeping the business, and you grow once people trust you. A lot of people don’t have three or four years to gain trust in a large agency. That’s the big benefit my father gave me. I was able to grow into that position, and I think it’s reaping rewards right now.

MONTE SOLBERG, PRESIDENT

I’ve never advertised an open position at our agency. You have to recruit constantly because they’re not going to come to you looking for work. You have to find a fit. You have to find people that can blend and work together. I want somebody who wants a career. I don’t want somebody who wants a job.

When I bring people on, I want to give them the opportunity to be in ownership or management if that’s their dream, because I came from three generations of owners. My grandpa and my dad were farmers and they wanted to be the boss, and I wanted that too. I’m pleased that my son wants a chance at proving that he can do it.

RON MILLER, COMMERCIAL AND BENEFITS PRODUCER

I was a math teacher and a coach for 22 years—I was actually Scot’s basketball coach. I started researching what a math person can do in outside of teaching, and what came up was the insurance industry and actuaries. I saw the word “insurance,” and I knew Monte. One day I asked him if he could ever use an actuary. As you can imagine, he laughed and explained what actuaries do, but the timing was good—he was looking to bring someone in.

The model here is make sure we take care of our customers and make sure we get out and service our community. Our owners are very generous. That makes it exciting for an agent like me to come to work every day.

Photo by Thomas Lee