[MUSIC PLAYING] I became an agent with ERIE in 2006 because I was working for a mortgage company, and there was a gentleman downstairs underneath us that was an ERIE agent. He was always coming in at 9:00, leaving at 5:00, which I thought was great, and always happy. And I thought to myself, I don't want to be doing what I'm currently doing with the rest of my life. I want to switch and be happy. He said, Erie Insurance is special, and they're looking for special people. There's just something special about the relationship that we have, both with our clients, as well as what we have with the company. It's kind of a unique culture in our business, where that relationship is really based on an extremely high level of trust. One of the unique features that ERIE has is the personal relationships that you have with your underwriter, your DSM, your claims department. I mean, you know people by first-name basis, not last-name basis. For me it's important to know that they're there for any questions, any support that we need, you know, and it's immediate. So it's something, a very special relationship. The value that we have as an agent, working with a company that only works with independent agents, it's just huge. It creates a legacy for my family. I got the business from my grandfather. My son works with me. He's going to get the business from me. And that doesn't happen with a direct writer. ERIE really caters to independent agents. I don't have to worry about them developing like direct online platform. It's good, because basically there's other carriers who work with agents, but at the same time, they're also competing against the agents online. ERIE's claim service is amazing. When I write with ERIE, basically, I know that we'll take care of them when they need us. Our clients would have their checks in hand, ready to begin repairs, long before many of their neighbors who are not with ERIE even had an adjuster. I think our most loyal and best clients are one that has gone through the ERIE claims experience. The majority of clients that I have are Spanish speaking. The fact that ERIE is really trying to come out with marketing materials. They actually have a lot of postcards and brochures, and a bunch of resources to kind of target those clients, and they're in Spanish. I've been to the technical learning center twice actually, and it's just a fantastic facility to be able to see how the body work is done, to see how the construction of different properties is done. It's just fascinating to see it. The claims people seem to be a better caliber now coming out of that training program, because they get more hands on before they hit the ground running. So it's been a good benefit for us locally. ERIE incentive trips are something amazing. I think the one thing that totally impressed me on these trips was just how accessible every level of management was. It's really a unique thing when you see the CEO and actually even board members present at these events and totally accessible, and totally available, and totally interested. My two cents worth is, if I was starting over again, I would do exactly what I did do, because I can see the difference now between other carriers, and I'm happy being an ERIE agent, which for me is tremendous. You soon learn quickly that this is a very special culture. There's something special about the ERIE family. [MUSIC PLAYING]
