PayneWest Insurance
Owner: Jon Mitchell
KW: Tell us about your business.
JM: PayneWest is one of the largest brokers in the Inland Northwest. I help people with their personal insurance: auto, home, and life, and have been doing so for 20 years. We have several partners we work with, which is nice, to help people with their personal insurance. We focus on the three C’s: Clients, colleagues, and community.
KW: Who is your target customer?
JM: The uneducated insurance consumer. I love the first-time home buyer, that doesn’t have any idea how insurance works. Also, young people who don’t have a lot of experience when it comes to insurance. I like to educate them on the best insurance they can choose for their lifestyle. I like to make sure I do everything I can to get the right coverage for them. They will be well taken care of.
KW: What has been the greatest impact of COVID-19 on your business?
JM: I’m an agent that for 20 years made house calls. The impact is that business is still good because people still need insurance. But not meeting every client in person has been harder for me. I want to meet all my clients but meeting them in person is not feasible. Most of the time we are taking care of everything over the phone.
KW: What are one or two actions you’ve taken to make a difference?
JM: Offering to go to their home versus me going to their office. I ask if they would like me to come by, and most of them like that. A silver lining from this is calling people during the day – since they are working from home, they answer the phone more often. That has alleviated some of the evening calls.
KW: What is a mistake you’ve made along the way that other people can learn from?
JM: Not taking every opportunity to cross-sell. That means offering everything that your company offers. There are times that I didn’t offer something, and then tragedy struck and if I had offered that coverage, they might have chosen it. They would have benefitted. I try to do as good as I can every week, even if they don’t take the service – at least I put it out there.
KW: What is inspiring to you today?
JM: I was born and raised in Spokane. I’m inspired by the community here, even during dark times. This time of year, people would be out and about, giving each other hugs and shaking hands. Every day when I drive to work, I visualize things getting better. I’m really excited about how resilient our community is and will be.
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PayneWest Insurance
Owner: Jon Mitchell
509-755-9322
jmitchell@paynewest.com
www.paynewest.com/colleague/jon-mitchell/
By Kendra Wiiest