Insurance Careers Month: Q&A with Wendy Shubeck, Customer Service Representative

Besides the agents in our office, we have support staff who also assist clients with their insurance needs, whether it's answering general questions or resolving an issue. Wendy Shubeck is our Customer Service Representative, and she is responsible for a number of tasks in our office. Below, Wendy talks a little bit more about her role here at ETA: 

Name: Wendy A. Shubeck

Title: Customer Service Representative/Accounting

Years in the Industry: 3 years

Years at ETA: 3 years in March 

What are some of your main job duties?  Customer Service Rep/Accounting

How did you get into this field?  I applied for and was offered the receptionist job, and learned about home and auto insurance in the process. I then became our agency's first Customer Service representative.

Describe a typical day for you.  I help our clients with issues like pending cancel notices, processing and make payments, and assisting our agents with various tasks. I also handle the accounting, invoicing, and commissions for our agency. I also answer the phone and assist walk-in clients when they stop by.  Every day I learn something new.

What do you like best about your job? Everything. I love learning new things, the people I work are the best, and I have an awesome boss!

Protect Those You Love With Life Insurance

February is the month of love, and one of the best ways to show it is to plan for your family’s long-term needs with life insurance.

While it may not be high on your list of insurance priorities (probably ranking somewhere below home or auto coverage), life insurance is more of an investment in your family’s financial future. Despite what you hear in the news and online these days, GoFundMe is not life insurance! Rather than rely on the kindness of others to pay your final expenses or help your family in the event of your death, be proactive and purchase a policy so they don’t have to worry about the bill.

Supplementing the family’s income and paying for the deceased’s final expenses are just a few common uses for life insurance proceeds. Others include:

Your children’s education. Many parents open a savings or 529 account to be used to fund their child’s higher education plans.  Life insurance can help to cover remaining costs or provide a nice nest egg for their post-college future.

Charitable donations. If the insured was involved in a local organization or there was a cause especially important to them, you can arrange to contribute to that organization using some of the proceeds. Depending on the amount of the gift or the number of causes you wish to support, you may need to meet with a financial planner to make sure the funds are distributed according to the deceased insured’s wishes.

Continue a family business. Rather than sell the company that likely took someone years to build, life insurance proceeds can be used to offset business expenses, whether it’s purchasing new equipment, upgrading or buying a new building, or expanding in other ways.  

ETA Benefits Group works with several life insurance carriers and can customize a plan to meet your family's needs. Contact us to learn more about the different types of coverage available.

Do you have life insurance? Why or why not? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

Insurance Careers Month: Q&A with Ed Titus, Licensed Agent

Here at ETA Benefits, our agents sell a wide range of products to fit our customers' various needs. From personal lines such as home and auto to commercial policies for business owners to employee benefits and Medicare, we're proud to offer insurance for virtually everyone. One of our agents, Ed Titus, has a long history in the insurance industry and with our office, and he's sharing more info about his job below.

Name:  Ed Titus

Title:  Insurance Agent          

Years in the Industry:  27 years

Years at ETA:  13 ½ years

What are some of your main job duties?  Shop and do changes for all different types of insurance for both existing and prospective individual and group customers.

How did you get into this field?   Started at Aetna 27 years ago paying health insurance claims and checking provider contracts were loaded into the computer system correctly.  I decided to get on the other side of the spectrum and actually sell and be able to directly help people.

Describe a typical day for you.  Developing quotes for prospective insureds for both the individual and group level for all different types of insurances.  Also, processing change requests both on personal insurances and group insurances.

What do you like best about your job?  The satisfaction of helping people save money.

Why is insurance a good field to get into?  It is a very rewarding experience helping people understand insurance better and helping them get the correct coverage, etc.

What advice would you have for someone new to the insurance industry?   It is a very rewarding experience learning about all of the different types of insurances and being able to help prospects and clients understand them better.

Insurance Careers Month: Q&A with Joann Chickilly, Licensed Agent/Office Assistant

It's always important to make customers feel welcome when they enter your business, and that is always the goal for us here at ETA Benefits Group. If you stop by our office, chances are the first person you'll see is our receptionist, Joann Chickilly, who is also a licensed agent working primarily with home and auto. Joann talks a little more about her job below.

Name: Joann Chickilly

Title: Licensed Agent/ Office Assistant

Years in the Industry: 12

Years at ETA: Just shy of 1.5 years

What are some of your main job duties? Main jobs consist of taking care of walk-in customers—assisting with their current policies and writing new home and auto policies. The newest addition to my plate is Medicare.

How did you get into this field? After returning to the area from accompanying my husband through his 23 years of active duty military service, I needed employment.  I started as a part-time office assistant with another agency, and within 4 months I was a licensed, full time P&C agent. 

What do you like best about your job? One of the best parts of my day is helping our clients solve problems with their insurance, save money, or most important, ensuring they have all their assets properly protected.

What advice would you have for someone new to the insurance industry?

My advice to anyone getting into the insurance field is if being a trusted adviser and being there to help people when they are at a time of need is something you find fulfilling, then the insurance business is for you!