How long have you worked in insurance in general and for Courtika in particular?
After studying to be a radio and TV presenter, I worked in sales before starting my own business. One of my friends at the time was the general manager of an insurance company. Every time we met, he used to tease me by saying that he saw me in the insurance field. When I decided to sell my business, his suggestion seemed to have a lot more appeal. Since then, I’ve been working as a farm insurance broker for the past 10 years – the last three with Courtika. I give advice to farmers and really enjoy this role.
With your training in communications and your specialization as a radio and TV presenter, how does this background help you in your insurance work?
My training helped me become a good communicator – someone who can interact well with people, ask them the right questions and listen carefully to their answers so as to understand their needs. In fact, this is one of my strong points. I’m in very close contact with my clients and regularly meet with them because I’m committed to giving them personal service. The human relationship is what it’s all about. Since I have a keen sense of their individual circumstances, I can offer them the insurance products that best match their needs, and then provide better support if they suffer a major loss.
As an SMB insurance specialist, what are your best tips for agricultural start-ups?
When someone has just taken on a farm operation, it’s important to carefully calculate the worth of all its assets in order to get the right amount of insurance protection. Rather than using market or resale value, the assets should be professionally appraised in order to determine the values to be insured and the adequate level of insurance required. Since insurance is geared to protecting assets, I also recommend that it be budgeted as a business expense.
Most of your clients work in the farming sector in the Eastern Townships. What advice would you give them?
It’s all about trust. Farmers should first make sure that their insurance broker has the necessary expertise and experience to understand their particular reality and offer them the best insurance package to protect assets such as buildings, animals, equipment – and even income. That’s why Courtika has several seasoned agricultural insurance specialists like me.
