Leadership at an early age

Rough Notes, Jul 2001 by Hanavan, Brett

It's important, Dinger believes, for agents to be able to compete in an era when companies in so many industries offer 24-hour, seven day-aweek customer support. The new business environment has people working at all hours and customers want to be able to talk to people. They might want to call at 11:00 p.m. to find out if their coverage is bound before they leave on a vacation. Among Independent Agent Insurance companies, some offer after-hours support and some do not.

Asked about important new products, Dinger cites employment practices liability insurance. "It is a place where agents can really add value to their customers' insurance program," Dinger says. "I also feel that 99% of people are really underinsured with personal liability. Agencies can quickly increase revenue by just going through their current account and increasing limits or adding umbrellas."

Another area in which Dinger sees opportunity is selling excess liability or umbrella coverage and the emerging ability to quote and bind this additional coverage over the Internet.

"It is fast and very competitive," Dinger adds. "Many agents in the past did not sell umbrella to the client unless it was asked for because it was time-consuming to fill out the application and obtain a quote for very little commission. Now it can be done in minutes and really adds value to you and your client."

As for the young Dingers-the tradition is in place for his twin sons to follow in Dad's footsteps, but the other side of the family may be staking its own claim on the twins' future. Ringer's wife, a graduate of Syracuse University, worked for her family's moving and storage company after college.

"I would love for Carl and Hayden, my boys, to work for me, but my father-in-law has other ideas," Dinger proudly exclaims. "He says he has the edge because little boys love big trucks. My only chance is to get them into golf as fast as I can." Perhaps Hollywood is their destiny. Dinger explains proudly that one of his twin sons, Carl, appeared in the recent made-for-HBO-movie "61" that was directed by Billy Crystal. The young Dinger twin played Randy Maris, who was born during the season Roger hit 61 home runs.

By Brett Hanavan