Speaker 1: 0:17

Welcome back to the Market it With Atma podcast, where we give you the tips, tools and strategies to help your business be successful. Today we have Tom Basie with Basie Insurance on the show. Welcome.

Speaker 2: 0:29

Thanks so much for having me. It's a pleasure to be here with you today.

Speaker 2: 0:36

We're glad to have you, so tell us a little about what it is you do and how you got into this industry. So I'll answer the first question, because that's easy and how I got is a little bit harder. So what I do I'm an independent insurance broker. Now what I don't do is property and casualty. I'm not one of those folks I do. I don't protect things, I protect people. So I do a tailored custom solution for someone for individual health and or life insurance. That's what I do, and as a broker I'm appointed with basically all the major carriers, so I'll shop it as well. So if you need some individual health insurance, or your parents need to understand Medicare, or if you need a long-term care policy, then I'm going to shop several major carriers and show them to you and help you find one, because the one you should get is the one you feel most comfortable with.

Speaker 1: 1:10

Absolutely.

Speaker 2: 1:11

Absolutely.

Speaker 1: 1:11

So how did? What urged you to get into this type of industry?

Speaker 2: 1:16

So I'm in it by accident. That was not my intention.

Speaker 2: 1:18

So this is the second career for me. I spent many years. Some people this is the case I tell them I'm a recovering engineer. So I was an engineer and I was a project manager. I worked in corporate America for over 20 years and I was ready to get out. I wanted a second career and actually here at a local university, if you have an undergraduate degree, you can get certified to teach all online. So I was taking all those classes. I was going to get out In fact I'd already. The only thing you can't do online is student teach. You have to student teach in front of a bunch of kids, but I substitute taught.

Speaker 2: 1:45

So I wanted to get out for a second career. I wanted to have more of my own time. So I wanted three months off in the summer and two weeks off at Christmas time and a week off at spring break. But someone explained to me this insurance stuff right before I did this. I mean, I was literally already assigned my student teaching. I had to. All the nurses said you know what? I'm not going to do it because someone explained this interest stuff. It's actually just more flexible. I have more time. So I I work with clients on their time schedule. But my point is, I can decide if I'm taking a week off. I don't have to ask anybody. So that's kind of.

Speaker 1: 2:12

Isn't that a wonderful thing to be able to manipulate your own schedule? It's just a blessing in itself, right? So how do you balance that, that business and life balance? So in your type of business, you're networking, you're meeting with people all day, all weekend. How, how do you balance those two things?

Speaker 2: 2:28

Well. So the short answer is I live and die by the calendar. Now, having said that, what I mean is I do go to, I'm getting to where I can go to the gym basically every day. So I've got that in the calendar. I use those tools so that I can send out a link where someone, if they need to get a discussion with me, then they can use it and get in there. But basically they can't do it on the evenings. I keep my evenings free because no one can jump on my calendar at that point For this busy season during Medicare, I did go ahead and open up the Saturday and kind of in the early morning or afternoon, so someone can do that.

Speaker 2: 2:55

But my point is a combination of using calendar tools and scheduling tools. That's one of the main ways I do it. And the other thing, candidly, there's a big rift between work-life balance. Some people will poo-poo and say no and admittedly, some people will have a good counterpoint. They'll say, well, if I love what I do, I'm having fun and if I'm working with my family, that's true, but I'm on the other side. I do like to keep them separate. Separate, not necessarily fun, fitness finance. You can do some things like fundamentals. That is where you have to take care of business getting the change. But my point is it is a trick, but I do believe you should work to achieve work-life balance, because you've got to get those stuff, I've got to sleep and I've got to get the car oil changed. I've got to spend time with you and I want to too.

Speaker 2: 3:44

So I don't have a better answer for you. That but the. The tools I use are calendar, but I could show it to you. My calendar is color coded. People sit there. They're impressed that it's color coded and it's no-transcript.

Speaker 1: 4:08

You know, honestly, a lot of business owners that I've spoken with in the past. They don't know what their core values are, and the fact that you know them really it helps set the precedence for your business and what you're really looking for. So, in your industry, what are you working with clients on the most right now? Educating, just making them aware of the different options.

Speaker 2: 4:28

Yeah, that's a great point. So that's the thing you said educating. I actually was going to be a teacher. My mom was a teacher, so really I perceive this it would not be inaccurate to call me an insurance salesman, but I don't want to be that right.

Speaker 1: 4:40

You have that stigma. I don't want to be sold to If I don't want to be sold to.

Speaker 2: 4:42

If someone's going to come and sell me, they're going to try to convince me to purchase a product. I'm out, even if it's a good product. I'm out, but mine is, it's cliche. But I have a consultative or educational approach, and I'll use Medicare as an extreme example, because no one even like. If I say life insurance, you kind of at least understand, hey, you're paying something monthly and I, god willing, you're going to get to 65. We're going to make this choice right now.

Speaker 2: 5:11

Once you get Medicare, you really are either going to then add something it doesn't cover drugs, for example. So you're either going to get a Medicare supplement and a drug plan or you're going to get an advantage plan. What I do is explain it to you at length so that you understand this, because you got to make that choice right. I help you understand it and then I look across multiple companies to let you see it. But so my point is I have a consultative, educational approach rather than sales. I don't, I don't, I don't want to be sold to, so I don't sell anybody then that's wonderful.

Speaker 1: 5:35

I think anyone's hearing sales it has a stigma attached to it for sure.

Speaker 2: 5:39

Now I noticed on here that you're actually bilingual so you're able to help kind of anyone interested in just educating or purchasing Medicare coverage versus their own right now, you're right and what I would offer is there are plenty of people who speak Spanish, particularly in the southern half of the US, but it's one thing to speak it. I know how to say copay and policy and stuff, so people know how to say you know, I want to go home, but they don't know how to say that. So, yeah, I can, I can explain it to them using, so I can explain terms like premium copay policy in Spanish.

Speaker 1: 6:12

but yeah, I speak, I'm fluent in Spanish.

Speaker 2: 6:14

And so, folks and that's the thing they're they like that, they like the fact that I will speak to them about it in their, in their language.

Speaker 1: 6:19

And their native language. Absolutely so for listeners new to Medicare, what are the key things they should know when exploring their options, do you think?

Speaker 2: 6:27

So number one, you have to understand Medicare. Medicare is health insurance from the government for people over 65, approximately. There's some exceptions, of course. Always right you?

Speaker 1: 6:36

can get on there after 24 months disability.

Speaker 2: 6:38

But it's insurance from the government. But the thing is, as I mentioned, it doesn't cover medication. So if you were turning 65, first I'd help you understand. It's a red, white and blue card and it has Part A and Part B. Part A you've already paid for, likely as they took FICA tax out over 40 quarters. Part B will cost you something, without getting into the details. Most people pay $175 this year for that.

Speaker 2: 6:59

But now you story 65-year-old story in the future. Now you've got to do one of two things. I said. It doesn't cover drugs, so you can either go ahead and get a Medicare supplement, which also doesn't cover drugs, and add a drug plan. You can do those two or you can get an Advantage plan. I don't want to go into the details. What I would offer is one of them, in the simplest form I might say. A Medicare supplement is pay me later. There are pros and cons to each and I'd have to explain it to you, but the good news is Advantage Plan does have drug coverage in it. It even has the bells and whistles like dental and vision.

Speaker 2: 7:29

So I explain it to you, and that's the thing. If you take one med every carry, it doesn't matter who it is. They don't cover every single drug. So another thing I do is I get a list of medications. Sometimes that's one that may dictate. You know you want to go with the carrier that has that medication on their drug list. Otherwise that'll be very expensive.

Speaker 1: 7:53

Absolutely. I know a few people in mind that would really need that information, because a lot of prescription information isn't covered with our insurance.

Speaker 2: 8:01

And then they. I'm telling you that everybody has a tiered system. It's approximately tier one through five. Sometimes they're six. But my point is for one medication you have, if one carrier it Tier 2 drug and the other one is Tier 3, it's simply going to cost cheaper on the other one and the more drugs you get, the more complexity that it adds. But the good news is there are tools for us brokers that allow us to look across companies.

Speaker 1: 8:21

And that is a wonderful thing. So it looks like your client base spans from Hawaii to Virginia. What opportunities or challenges has this national span had with you?

Speaker 2: 8:32

And so that's a great way to put it because it is both once an opportunity and a challenge, right? So clearly, some folks I've seen them via Zoom. So that's the thing I started pre-pandemic and so I was doing a lot more virtual networking, but I've met people and then actually people will refer people in other states. Now I'm not appointed in all 50 states yet, but often, as I need to, if someone says, hey, you know, I've got an aunt and uncle, then I can go and get it. So the good news is I started in the state of Texas, I'm over, I'm like 26 states or so, but so, as you might imagine, the challenge is time zone, getting on a Zoom, have to do the explanation, but Zoom allows that. And or teams, whatever you want to say. So I got, they got to sign that.

Speaker 2: 9:16

And number two, whichever plan they select, I've got to pre-fill that out. So, as you might imagine, there is some challenges but it can be overcome. And then, conversely, that's great that I have that opportunity, In other words, because the industry has really been, as I've been, involved only six years in but it started out a lot more paper-centric. I mean literally I can add states as appropriate online, kind of just log in, say I want this state Each state costs a different amount for this reciprocal non-resident license but I just kind of add it and then I can talk to the person. So it can be done. But it's not without its challenges and, to your point, it's a little bit harder than you and I sitting at the Starbucks downstairs or whatever. And yet but also I'm not limited to just wherever I'm willing to drive. I can service a bigger area.

Speaker 1: 9:57

Absolutely so. Say, someone is wanting to find a resource or educate themselves. After you've given them a brief information, what go-to resources or recommendations for staying informed with the insurance industry would you recommend? Well, I don't think there's a single one for the insurance industry, but you recommend.

Speaker 2: 10:11

Well, I don't think there's a single one for the insurance industry, but I would offer when it comes to Medicare, though, you really can go to medicaregov. That is literally the go-to place. So the good news is, when it comes to that, someone can go and check things. The challenge is it's so voluminous I mean, there's a lot, so it's a struggle to find comes to that. You can't when. Conversely, if you want to know about long-term care, you really can't. You can go online and find sources that will at least help you figure out how much things cost, because the cost of care is going to be dealing with long-term care, but with the exception of Medicare and perhaps, I might argue, aca as well, the Affordable Care Act. Actually, it's similar, yet different to Medicare. You can go to those websites. Beyond that, there's really not a single go-to. I think you need to that thing. You can either find a person associated with a company and ask them, but that's the thing. They're going to be a little biased towards their solutions. I'm a big proponent of finding brokers.

Speaker 2: 10:58

You want to help people at the end of the day and, just like we were saying, you find somebody that you have a good rapport with, talk to several people. If you have a good rapport with, you want someone that you trust, someone that you get along with, and then let them go on the journey with you.

Speaker 1: 11:11

That's wonderful. And now for any of our viewers that may be looking into maybe what you do as a second career, what are the top three reasons you would say they should get into this type of industry?

Speaker 2: 11:22

That's a great question and that's the thing. So I made this switch unplanned and so there are more than three. I got to pick the top three. So number one I will go with time flexibility. Now, there may be other places, there are some. You know what I mean, but it's hard to beat my time flexibility. Like one of the analogies I make sometimes, because there is this licensing thing, is a real estate Like, actually I love watching HGTV and I love homes, but the thing on that is you're on the client schedule, you both have to meet at some house right when me. As I mentioned in the Zoom, we just figure out a time that's mutually convenient. We can do that and there is no. So number one is time flexibility. Number two, perhaps, is inventory, again, whether I'm going to use, if I'll use, a home analogy. If you're a real estate agent, you can only offer the homes that are in your market where, conversely, I'm going to use life insurance because it makes a better analogy.

Speaker 2: 12:15

I can have exactly the size. So if you owe $237,000 remaining on your home that's the mortgage and you want to cover just that I can have a policy exactly that size. So number one is time flexibility. Number two is no supply chain. Have exactly the size product people need, and instantaneously.

Speaker 1: 12:32

Number three Number three.

Speaker 2: 12:33

Number three I guess I'll go with scalability then, because I can, I can go into other markets easily and that's the thing actually, if I help somebody get their license and get appointed, then actually in my industry the word is an override, I get an override on their production, so it's actually scalable. So those are the three I'll go with. I'll go with time, flexibility, no supply chain issues and scalability.

Speaker 1: 12:55

That's wonderful. Those are some pretty intriguing. I may need to look for a second there you go let's talk after the break. You advocate for having a mentor, especially within this industry. So how has mentorship shaped your career and what mentorship advice would you give others?

Speaker 2: 13:15

So that is a complicated question because I'm older than most listeners. Actually, and you phrase it that way, I've had, I had mentors in corporate America as well. So I, at the end of the day, whether you're working in corporate America, you're an entrepreneur or specific to the insurance and it really it's anywhere right Mentors are simply invaluable. So what I, what I would offer is uh, you're, you're not, you're likely not. In fact, I've mentioned you only had one your whole life.

Speaker 2: 13:38

You're probably doing yourself a disservice good to have more than one, either over time or even concurrently, because nobody's a an expert on everything. So I think you seek out people who have achieved things where you want to achieve, have, have the time to spend some time with you, and then you get along with them well, and so I would offer those for them. But it's important to like your mentors, them be able to contribute, and really, how about this? Can you do some value add for them? Also, kind of like Barton, there's something you can do for them. But I'm a big proponent of mentoring. But I think that's what I will say is is they have an expertise in your area where you want to know they have time and are willing to do it for you and you get along with them.

Speaker 1: 14:14

That's wonderful advice. I have a couple of my own, but I always want to make sure my mentors are doing a little bit better than me, which is kind of what you described just now. You can only learn from them. So, on social media and insurance, you have an Instagram platform that showcases your insurance right? How has social media helped you in this industry or in your job title?

Speaker 2: 14:35

so you're. You're formulating your questions very well, thank you. So, number one, you say help me. I get things from social, so I learn. I'm a big student, so I find podcasts that I'm going to listen to or books that I'm going to read, so I benefit from it.

Speaker 2: 14:48

Having said that, I think traditionally an entrepreneur might wonder yeah, but how are? And so that's the thing. So what I do do is I try to have presence on all platforms. As you might imagine, depending on the age of the platform and when I got involved, that varies, but I do have presence either as an individual or as my company and all the different platforms.

Speaker 2: 15:07

And then what I've done, which has really worked out for me you know, necessity is the mother of invention. I got engaged first with a local high school student, and now I have multiple university students that work as interns for me, and so I get to collaborate with them and so they're actually generating a bunch of content for me, and we're looking at data analytics, trying to get my hands around the numbers, to get reports and stuff to figure out what it's doing. So I use it a lot. It is not my number one source of clients yet, but I but I've made a lot of progress and so I both benefit from it personally, and then I try to get a lot of good information to potential clients.

Speaker 1: 15:39

That's. That's very kind of you as well, Cause you don't have to do that, but that is very kind of you to be able to give them that immediate response without having to set up an appointment. So what would you say is the best resource? You've been using efforts?

Speaker 2: 15:57

Well that you know. So here's the thing. There's a clue in what you're saying. When you say best in my struggle, that's because there is a multi-pronged approach, I'm not just doing one. And actually all of them work pretty well, but none of them are killing it. So actually I do do networking, probably so number one actually client referral. Since a year and a half ago my number one source of new clients are clients.

Speaker 1: 16:19

And so.

Speaker 2: 16:19

I love that, because that's positive feedback for me. I must be doing something right.

Speaker 2: 16:23

And it's the implication of the business. The business will grow if clients. We get clients, so that's good. Number two is actually probably networking for me. So I do a lot of networking, both in person and virtually, and although I'm telling you I have a big presence in social media, I'm working on a lot. It doesn't beat either of those. Yet I would love to, and we'll see how that goes. And then actually there's also just native search and stuff. So I do have presence on the search engines and that kind of stuff, so people find me that way as well.

Speaker 1: 16:49

So being vetted and referred because of your services that you've done in the past is a great point.

Speaker 2: 16:54

So I do have that thing. I have my referrals that live on those search engine things as well. So, yeah, that's wonderful.

Speaker 1: 16:59

So if there is one key takeaway you could give to our listeners today, what would it be?

Speaker 2: 17:05

Again one. You're challenging me. I can't do one for you. So, number one, what I will tell you is I'm enamored with entrepreneurialism and serving people, so I think they can take that away. So, I'm enamored with that. Even if somehow you're going to be an employee, I used to consider myself an entrepreneur, which was one of the rough cause. I would act like an entrepreneur within the company, but so I'm a big proponent of entrepreneurship and serving others, Any final things?

Speaker 2: 17:31

And then I actually, I guess the other thing I would say is branding. I am a proponent of large, well-branded companies sometimes so I may have access to other companies. For the most part no, for the most part I'm going to present to someone these companies. I'm still a proponent of that, just kind of from a trust or a liability or security or something I'll say.

Speaker 1: 17:48

Absolutely so. If anyone wanted to get in touch with you to set up a consultation with you now that they've heard more about what you do, how would they get in touch with?

Speaker 2: 17:55

you, so I would love for them to do that. As you can tell, I like to talk, so I want to have conversations. I claim I'm available, I meet them where they are, so I claim to be on any social media platform, any of them. They can check me on that. But in other words, let me try to name right. I'll miss some of them LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Nextdoor, Aligned Threads, TikTok, YouTube. I have some level of presence on all those. I would say it varies some bits and then I'm available. My website is basey-insurancecom, but basically, if they look for Tom Basey or Basey Insurance, either one of those, they're going to find me and I would love to connect and they can connect to me. They can message me in whatever format they want and often the links are available. So if they want to, you know what I'd like to talk to you and they can even book it. They can just say I want to talk about Medicare, I want to talk about health insurance. Often they can book even a specific content.

Speaker 1: 18:51

Man, you're available everywhere, so you make it pretty easy and hopefully you make insurance that easy as well.

Speaker 2: 18:58

I try to do that, that's a great point. So that's the thing that's for the client to decide. But my claim that I'm able to make it relatively simple, that's certainly my objective.

Speaker 1: 19:07

Wonderful Well. Thank you, tom, for joining us, and if you ever want to come back on this show, you are more than welcome to. You have a lot of insight into this industry and we would love to hear, after the first of the year, any updates or new information you want to share with us.

Speaker 2: 19:21

This has been fun. You can tell I like to talk, so yeah, I'll come back again.

Speaker 1: 19:24

Always Well. Thank you everyone for joining us again on Market it with Atma. We'll see you again next time.