Rising star Nick Lengthy explains why he is preserving tabs on the ‘Silver Tsunami’, rising inflation costs and extra.
Come see the celebs! As a part of our ongoing protection of the highest brokers within the industrial insurance coverage area, Threat & Insurance coverage®with the sponsorship of Philadelphia Insurance coverageextends its protection rising stars — these brokers who characterize the subsequent wave of expertise in insurance coverage brokerage.
Search for these prolonged profiles on the Threat & Insurance coverage web site and in your social media feeds now and thru 2023.
Right here we communicate with Nick Lengthy, Regional Vice President of Gallagher and a Energy Dealer finalist in advantages 2022 and rising star.
Threat & Insurance coverage: Describe your background within the brokerage area. What introduced you to the profession you have got at this time?
Nick Lengthy: I began with Aetna shortly after graduating from the College of Texas. I spent a number of years as a junior gross sales consultant for a big company in South Texas. I had a somewhat poor brokerage task and shortly realized that there weren’t many large firms headquartered on the border. There have been, nevertheless, many pretty giant public entities and college districts. The senior workplace reps did not wish to trouble them, so I dove in.
After a number of years of stable success, I moved to Aetna’s new public sector division and led gross sales for Texas for a number of years. I loved working for Aetna, however at all times felt confined to having to push just one resolution.
In 2011, I left Aetna to discovered the Garza Lengthy Group, a advantages consulting agency that focuses completely on the wants of enormous public entities in Texas. Our laser concentrate on public entities and our distinctive service mannequin proved profitable, and in 2013 the GL Group was acquired by Gallagher.
Because the acquisition, I’ve labored as a supervisor in Gallagher’s public sector apply and helped develop this area of interest into Gallagher’s largest.
R&I: What are among the rising tendencies you might be presently monitoring on your purchasers?
NL: A “Silver Tsunami” is already hitting the shore for a lot of public entities.
Issues with an getting old workforce and restricted budgets have been exacerbated by the tight labor market. Hiring and retaining prime expertise has by no means been tougher.
Public entities lack the wage or office flexibility of the personal sector, so usually they need to compete with their profit plan. After all, many of those identical points even have a big impact on their advantages plan prices.
We leverage the distinctive benefits of public entities, resembling workforce focus, group partnerships, to manage prices and ship worth to staff.
R&I: What has been the proudest second in your profession thus far?
NL: Every time a shopper recommends us to one in all his friends. Nothing is a better praise than when a present shopper places their repute on the road by evangelizing for us.
R&I: What’s your brokerage philosophy?
NL: We don’t dealer merchandise. We act as a guide on a flat fee foundation. We’re product and service impartial and at all times concentrate on what’s finest for the client.
R&I: Wanting forward, which tendencies needs to be prioritized for the remainder of 2022 and into 2023?
NL: Clearly, everyone seems to be feeling inflation. Public employers are in issue, the price of many infrastructure initiatives has elevated by 20 to 40%.
On the identical time, they’ve to extend the salaries of their staff or danger dropping good individuals.
Public entities will likely be compelled to proceed doing extra with much less and must begin downsizing their workforce. They should pay their prime performers extra and create sturdy profit packages that may compete with the personal sector. &