By Josh Chetwynd
In 2004, Gary Meyer met Joe Convertino, Jr., the president of the Syracuse, N.Y.-based CH Insurance, and the two immediately hit it off. Meyer is unique in the insurance business because he’s deaf. At the time, he was running a small Rochester, N.Y. agency called DHH (Deaf and Hard of Hearing Agency), but within a year his bond with Convertino, Jr., led to a merger between CH and DHH. The pairing has been an excellent partnership as Meyer has developed new business for the company, while CH has added marketing muscle to Meyer’s work.
Ibamag.com talked with Convertino, Jr., and Meyer about how they connected, what drew Meyer to working in insurance and how his background informs his work.
Company profile
Name: CH Insurance
Year founded: 1999
Type of coverage: Property/Casualty Insurance and Group Benefits
Number of employees: 27
Number of clients: 3,500-plus
Q: Joe, how did you two meet and decide to go into business together?
JCJ: One of my clients was a non-profit communications service for the deaf and hard of hearing where I provided all the property/casualty programs and group benefits. The human resources executive who I dealt with for the programs was deaf [and] he always wanted me to meet with his good friend Gary Meyer from Rochester. In 2004 we had breakfast one morning and we never looked back. Gary was at a place where he was only providing personal insurance to a very small population out there and needed to go to the next level with marketing and service. I saw the vision and opportunity to take him to the next level. I am happy to say that since the merger, Gary has been consistently a top producer at the agency.
Q: Gary, how did you decide to enter the insurance business?
GM: I started my first permanent position/internship with
Allstate, and after a few years I decided I wanted to go into sales/marketing instead of accounting. I saw the opportunity to sell insurance to the deaf and hard of hearing market after I read an article in the
Allstate newsletter about a hearing claims adjuster signing a deaf customer. I started selling life/health insurance with Prudential, and they had a program for new agents. After a few years away, I decided to go back to the insurance business, and started a call center with SAFECO Insurance. I then set up my own agency in 1999.
Q: How many deaf and hard of hearing clients do you have? How often does that ability come into play in your daily business?
GM: I have worked with over 2,000 deaf and hard of hearing clients since 1999. I’ve worked with many local, state and national nonprofit organizations that are run by and for the deaf. Since I am deaf, and I am always on the videophones with my prospects and clients, my technology allows me to access the deaf industry all around the country. This is through video relay (similar to Facetime) where I access the person and we discuss insurance needs for them. The interpreter uses the relay service to sign in real time for me, so technology is very important to all aspects of my business. This makes the communication so much better and leads to almost a 95% retention rate.
Q: Are there any differences working with clients who are deaf or hard of hearing compared to other clients?
GM: Yes. Many hearing agents don’t necessarily take the time to communicate with deaf clients about the different risks. Many times I have found that they are underinsured or have the wrong coverage. An agency that has deaf clients typically struggles with the communication to the deaf community. At CH we have created a culture that has a separate service division for the deaf industry and related risk management programs.
I had one large account where the president and CFO were deaf. They had four separate entries, and the previous agent never spent time understanding their organization and never provided the proper coverage and consulting to set up their policies the correct way. I have now been working with this client for seven years, and I spend a full day each year with them to review their insurance. Communication is key and that is one of the greatest differences between me and other agents around the USA. It has allowed me to create a niche for this community, whether commercial or personal insurance.
