Moving Around and Making it Happen with Jeromy Huerta, Episode #37

In this episode of The Power Producers Podcast, David Carothers and co-host Kyle Houck interviews Jeromy Huerta, President at Heritage Insurance Inc. Jeromy talks about his career in the insurance industry and how he got into the insurance business. He also shares his knowledge and expertise on how to acquire agencies, and make them grow.

Episode Highlights:

• David introduces Jeromy Huerta. (1:29)
• Jeromy shares his background and his career in the insurance industry. (3:26)
• Jeromy mentions that he doesn’t have enough experience that’s connected to insurance. (3:27)
• Jeromy shares that he trained at a Mexican restaurant, and they only had one customer in two months. (3:39)
• How does the restaurant stay open if they have one customer every two months? (3:59)
• Kyle mentions that it sounds like it was more of a hangout place rather than, a job. (4:22)
• Jeromy shares that his love and passion for sports didn’t leave him and because of that, he ended up playing at a junior college community, in Washington. (5:38)
• How did Jeromy tear his abdominal muscle? (7:31)
• David thinks that a lot of people don’t appreciate what they have today. (11:43)
• How did Jeromy get to where he is now, in insurance? (13:53)
• Jeromy shares that Heritage has started to expand in other states and what’s great about it is that he could hire people from other states. (16:44)
• What kind of niches is Jeromy working on? (18:33)
• Jeromy mentions that one of his best friends own the largest LPG distributor in Oklahoma. (19:18)
• David shares that he’s having a hard time placing any trust on other people, to be the revenue stream for his agency. (20:50)
• David mentions that he has never stopped going out and work in the deals, and hustling to try and generate ideas organically. (21:09)
• Jeromy mentions that he just acquired another agency a month ago in Phoenix. (21:38)
• Kyle thinks that the other aspect of it is that you can always bet on yourself because you can’t always rely on somebody else. (22:13)
• How did Jeromy end up in Phoenix and Washington, while the other agency he recently acquired is in Arizona? (22:41)
• Jeromy shares that organic growth is good but also hard. However, he wanted to expedite it. (23:57)
• Jeromy mentions that he’s currently looking at two other acquisitions. (24:25)
• What’s Jeromy looking for, when he’s acquiring? (24:35)
• Jeromy shares that he likes to buy smaller agencies, where he can build a relationship with the owner better than a big broker or bank, and that people aren’t interested in. (25:23)
• How does Jeromy go about integrating it into what he has now? (26:10)
• David mentions that it’s probably easier to integrate somebody who has nothing than, somebody who has systems, and everything already in place. (26:19)
• Jeromy shares that when it comes to company, he’s looking for agencies that he wants, and cut about half the markets because he’s going to bring in markets that he has relationships with and are going to grow with him. (27:20)
• How often does Jeromy have to go back and refer to the paperwork? (29:10)
• Jeromy shares that he tries to keep the name the same as possible and take their model, go in internally, and change things. (29:46)
• Jeromy mentions that it took him three years to switch the branding in the Scottsdale location because it was a classic insurance company. (29:58)
• What’s the average age of these agencies? (31:15)
• David shares that currently, most of the mainstreet agencies have good appointments with carriers that are difficult to get appointed. (32:05)
• Jeromy shares a story about a deal that he was closing in Washington. (32:40)
• How does Jeromy go about funding? (37:13)
• Jeromy explains SBA loans. (38:09)
• Jeromy felt that he finally had the last piece, which is a bank that’s there for him. (40:26)
• David thinks that he’s having waterfall envy, from Jeromy’s pool. (43:50)
• David shares a little bit of his guerrilla warfare, from a marketing standpoint. (44:39)
• In Jeromy’s opinion, if you’re competitive and you see someone else having success, and it doesn’t grind you a little bit, and bother you. For him, that’s a part of being competitive. (47:46)
• David shares that part of their industry that he likes, more than anything else is that the longer it takes him and the more strategic he has to be to get a deal done, the better. (49:00)
• What has Jeromy learned from the first acquisition that he made, through where he is today? (50:20)
• What advice would Jeromy give to agency owners that are looking to the acquisition game? (50:31)
• Jeromy shares that he learned that it’s essential to evaluate and ask all the questions beforehand of the setup of the agency, and find out everything that you need to know about the daily operations. (51:17)
• Jeromy mentions that it’s significant that you have to know what you’re buying. (51:48)
• Jeromy shares that he has grown so much as an individual and as an agency owner, by building relationships that have helped him, in his business. (54:20)

 Tweetable Quotes:

• “I played and I had a chance to play longer but, it’s kind of like how my mind sees things better but the body just isn’t the same.” – Jeromy Huerta
• “I always had a plan, the plan was just to stick to what I felt what I wanted to do, right? And especially at a young age, it’s difficult at times if you have these dreams, goals, and aspirations because as you get older, you lose those hopes and aspirations that you had when you were young, where you feel like you can accomplish anything.” – Jeromy Huerta
• “We’re working now to refine how we go after those people, the psychology of those people where they’re shopping, what messages are they wanting to hear, and what’s going to bring them in.” – Jeromy Huerta
• “We had things in place, we just needed some direction, and I don’t care if I know everything, I don’t want to know everything. I’m going to find people that are better than me.” – Jeromy Huerta
• “If I get a good product, and we’ve always done a good job, I don’t care if somebody walks in and they give me more candy, I don’t care if they’re better looking. If you don’t respect that relationship, that’s just not something I want to do it.” – Jeromy Huerta
• “I like to buy what other people don’t like, from a standard agency point of view, right? Because we don’t write that. But that’s how I grew up in the insurance industry, so I understand it.” – Jeromy Huerta
• “We’re in sales, you know, and we take care of our clients. We have a unified purpose, we compete for individuals, but it also goes back to as a business, what’s best for you, right? So I look for agencies that don’t have good contracts, so I can bring mine in.” – Jeromy Huerta
• “What you see is what you get. If you tell me a joke and it’s not funny, I’m probably not gonna laugh at you. Not to be rude, but that’s just how I am. So in the business, it’s got to be the same.” – Jeromy Huerta
• “I feel… I finally have that last piece where you have a bank that’s there for you. And once you start doing deals, and they see that you’re successful, then I just think there’s more leeway, right?” – Jeromy Huerta
• “I’ve started taking a step back out of the day-to-day. I just want to build like if we had a very successful agency, and nobody knew it was me, I don’t care when it comes down to it. I just want to win, and winning is different for everybody, you know, and you’re always competing to get your best sale.” – Jeromy Huerta
• “If you just want to acquire something to grow, that could be great. But what is the reason? Are you trying to hit, increase your policies, and force your companies so you get a better payout? Are you trying to get bigger so you can build the book, and then bring on other appointments? You know, you have to know what you’re trying to do, and I think you have to be more strategic and have a better plan.” – Jeromy Huerta

Resources Mentioned:

• David Carothers LinkedIn
• Kyle Houck LinkedIn
• Florida Risk Partners
• The Extra 2 Minutes
• Jeromy Huerta LinkedIn
• Heritage Insurance Inc.