Transforming Clients into Lifelong Partners in the Insurance Game with Butch Zemar

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Clients have described Butch Zamar as a leading employee benefits

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consultant, strategic, innovative, and committed when it comes to aiding

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businesses in strengthening their employee benefits offerings while

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decreasing health insurance costs.

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An accomplished writer and engaging speaker, often called upon for his

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vast knowledge in the health insurance marketplace, Zamar recently launched

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his first podcast, the Zamar podcast, which focuses on business related

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topics for small and midsize business owners, as well as insurance options.

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The podcast is available on both Amazon and Apple.

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As an authority on healthcare reform, Zamar provides a stringent focus on

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determining the benefits insurance needs of employees, small and large employee

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benefits programs and healthcare reform.

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A true resource and advisor to CFOs, controllers, and human resources,

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Zamar has also developed a lead.

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benefits formula, a process that all businesses should go through to

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get ahead of the healthcare curve.

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Welcome to the Business Superfans Podcast.

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Our guest today is Butch Zamar with Elite Benefits.

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Welcome Butch.

Butch Zemar: 00:01:02

Hey, thanks Freddy D.

Freddy D: 00:01:04

So how'd you get the started into insurance?

Butch Zemar: 00:01:08

Always say it was always by accident.

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I was young in my early twenties and I worked in the scuba industry full

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time and working for a small business owner and it wasn't getting anywhere.

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And so I was looking for an outside sales position and.

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End up finding a place that was an outside sales for and they call captive.

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We can only sell one product line for health insurance, for solo

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panniers and small business owners.

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And I'm like, sure.

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They throw a big picture on the board saying how much money you can make.

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And, of course my first year out, I made, a fraction of that, like not even close.

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And I probably should have quit in the first year, but I'm into my 19th year.

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I'll be 20 years next year.

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And I think we're heading the right path.

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Wow, almost 20 years doing the stuff.

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That's amazing.

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What do you think that Differentiates you and in lasting 20 years because not

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a lot of insurance people last that long So you're doing something different than

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the other people and what can you share?

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That's Sustained you for all this time

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Perseverance probably and meeting guys like you and coffee shops

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along the way because good people hang out in the right spots.

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But, I would say it's always the good guy never finishes early.

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It's always last.

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And so I think there's a lot of integrity that I bring to the game.

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A lot of my peers do too, but I think the biggest turn turning point

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is really is just that trying to do the best job for the clients, just

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any other professional would, right?

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And and that's created dividends.

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So like for one prime example, right before our recording here.

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So I have a guy text messaging from his accountant's office because there

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was a health related tax situation.

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And I had 10 minutes before I got on the phone with you

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or got on the zoom call here.

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And so I called him and said, Hey, I got, I'm a guest this time.

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I gotta hurry this up, but I want to make sure you get your answer.

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And so he said I'm just going to hand the phone over.

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So I ended up talking to the tax guy, literally three minutes and

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we, and he got all the information you needed and they were done.

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How many people really would, and I was just a coincidence I was available, but.

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Little things like that.

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And that guy will never, he's been with me probably almost 20 years,

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and he'll never go anywhere else.

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And I think he's a superfan of yours.

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He's a superfan.

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I was just gonna put that plug in there, right?

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Like we create superfans along the way.

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And those are the ones that stick around forever.

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And there, there's, years ago, I remember I, I showed up for a meeting.

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We never even got the meeting off the ground, but he's I'm in a pinch.

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He's can you take one of my guys over to my other shop?

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And so I'm like, Yeah, sure.

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I'm already here.

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So I drive him to the other shop and the guy's still with me, even to this day.

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And it's, that one's probably 20 years too.

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And and he still brings up that story that he was in a jam and I happened to

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show up and it was in Southern Illinois too, on top of it, farmland and just good

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people down there, but So anyhow, yeah, like you do the little things to keep,

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I would say the right things, right?

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And we just keep plugging along with, having the right thing of, customers

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first to, get them whether we can.

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And healthcare is definitely a hard thing, especially an

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employee benefit space, right?

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There's always this ever changing model.

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And then you go out to see a business owner and you're like, Hey, the renewals

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20%, like you can imagine the look in their eye and, they're like, holy

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smokes, I got to meet payroll next week.

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And you just told me I got a 20 percent increase on health insurance

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for the entire employee base.

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So providing solutions to save money, money talks, and so in other situations

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that create loyalty and longevity, one example is a construction outfit small

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five employees on the plan and we end up saving them 30, 000 over two years.

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I got a, I got Hawks tickets out of that one, but and he was a guy he, it was

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the two of us and we went with a couple other people and it was a fun time.

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But and obviously he still kept most of the savings.

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The Hawks tickets weren't that much, especially with the losing season.

Freddy D: 00:04:54

Yeah.

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But again, he became a super fan because of the fact that you took the time to

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come up with some clever ways to save him money and put money back in his pocket

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versus just here it is and sorry, it is what it is and there's nothing I can do.

Freddy D: 00:05:10

So that, that, that's what builds that customer loyalty and retention.

Butch Zemar: 00:05:18

Yeah, for sure.

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And that's just, just a few snapshots of why it's worked so far.

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We've had our ups and downs, but, just, I always joke with people, especially

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because health insurance is perceived as a commodity and it's really not.

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So then, therefore you just go with the more charming personality guy.

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And so that's true.

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I always say that's me, right?

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And at least I hope it's me.

Freddy D: 00:05:39

So how important is it to develop relationships with the customers?

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And what are some of the things that you do different than other agents?

Butch Zemar: 00:05:48

That's a great question because it's a relationship business

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and a lot of insurance, other insurance agents will try to get on the good

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side of things and that works, right?

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Like you, you find out, when their kid's birthdays are and you find out

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what their passion is, whether it's scuba or if it's golf, and then you

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can build relationships and that's.

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Great.

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And that's worked over the years, right?

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For many of us, right?

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And and I still use, ideas to try to figure out, how to, why

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people tick, but also just to find out what's important to them.

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And so it could be a little as, finding out what they did in college.

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And then all of a sudden you're reading a wall street journal and that article

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was related to something they said related to what they did in college.

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So you, yeah.

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Send it to him, right?

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And especially more so by mail because nobody's sending anything.

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And so it's probably those little touches that make a little bit of a difference

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to build that relationship, right?

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Because now, I always say insurance isn't sexy, right?

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You could put lipstick on a pig and put high heels on it.

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It doesn't change anything, right?

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And so most people are not jumping on my podcast or my book or my website

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and saying, I want to learn as much as I can about health insurance.

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They're not doing it, right?

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And so you have to find, just another clever niche to get in the door.

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And sometimes it could just be Just the little things, right?

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And and you just have to, work with the people and get to know them and

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sometimes that takes a long time and because they're closed door, they think

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we're a commodity and, the next guy, somebody wants their business, right?

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There's enough there, right?

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There's some accounts that could, you can be making 100 grand a year off of and

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the next guy wants it just as bad as you.

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And so what's that extra edge going to be?

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And and I think most business owners, especially listen to your podcast.

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We try to do that.

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Some say it's over and beyond, but sometimes it's just being

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genuine and human, right?

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Like small town personnel, friendships, just because

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it's all about relationships.

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People die from people that they like and trust.

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And that's, like you said, that's very important is going above and beyond.

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And that's one of the chapters in the book is really is doing the unexpected extras,

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what I call it, which is, something that you do that the person wasn't expecting.

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And, it just sets you apart from everybody else.

Butch Zemar: 00:07:58

100%.

Freddy D: 00:07:59

Butch, what kind of things that you do to get your customers to

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be, basically referral sources for your, what I would call, business

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superfans that are out there promoting and giving you referrals?

Butch Zemar: 00:08:13

A lot of it could be just from an industry perspective to take

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the time to actually explain things.

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I'm sure other people are like this too, where I have a knack in

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some ways to dumb it down, right?

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Insurance can be really complex, right?

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And I think that in and of itself makes it referable because I can

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relate and speak at the level that they understand by not being in the industry.

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And I think that's cool.

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And then.

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The other things, right?

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You do, the little things, like you said, those extras, right?

Butch Zemar: 00:08:38

That helps.

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And then Yeah.

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And then I do certain things like I got hockey pucks.

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I think I sent you one, and so now some hockey pucks are handing them

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out because how many other insurance agents are giving out hockey pucks.

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And I would say zero, and then how many.

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Insurance agents have podcasts.

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It's very few and far between but they are definitely out there and

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they're leaders in the industry.

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So I encourage people to listen to them as well.

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And I think a lot of that helps come together and create superfans.

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And.

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And they become, you become referable at that point, right?

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And in some cases, just by doing the right thing and then

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sharing that knowledge, right?

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And and one, one example is years ago when the Affordable Care Act

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was passed, I wrote a book on it, but a reader digest version.

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And so it's very simple.

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And there, even to this day, I still get referrals and they'll.

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They'll call me and say, Hey, so and so said to call you because you wrote

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the book on the Affordable Care Act.

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And instant, superfan.

Freddy D: 00:09:31

Yeah, you're an expert.

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You're a knowledgeable person and you're sharing your knowledge to

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help educate other people so they can make educated decisions with regards

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to their insurance requirements.

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That's a differentiator right in itself.

Butch Zemar: 00:09:48

For sure.

Freddy D: 00:09:49

What strategies do you use to ensure customers

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stay with you a long time?

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You mentioned a couple of them that have been, with you for 20 some years

Freddy D: 00:09:58

what are the things that, that makes

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that difference?

Butch Zemar: 00:10:02

That's a great question because there's so many different

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tactics that people are recommend and I certainly not one to figure it

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out, but there's things that we've.

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I have personally have tried to do as even as we grew because we grew and

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there were certain things I used to do.

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And then I ran out of time and capacity and I can't do the same things.

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So you have to do enough to keep moving.

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And definitely stay in touch right there and we before we started recording this,

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we were talking about ways and strategies to stay in touch and podcast and articles

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and publications are just one form of that let alone like just, quick note

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just to say, Hey, I'm thinking about you.

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I hope you're doing fine, and if there's anything you need just call.

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And even at that, there's people that I say, it doesn't have

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to be about health insurance.

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You need a plumber, you need a doctor.

Butch Zemar: 00:10:48

Yeah, you need a lawyer, right?

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Call me, right?

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I'm connected in so many ways that, maybe I don't have a resource,

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but I got somebody that does.

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And so that's definitely paid dividends to the keep longevity.

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And then obviously it's the constant touch, right?

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And so we have a team that, that works on a, we have internal processes

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to help stay in front of them.

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get in front of them, especially when renewals are coming in.

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And we were working on January 1st stuff in the last 60 days and people

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were still on vacation, right?

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And we're ahead of the spectrum and I think people appreciate that

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instead of waiting to the last second.

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And and everybody's a little bit different on touch points, right?

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So there are certain people that want to wait a little later and there

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are certain ones that want the phone call, they don't want the email.

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So it just depends on, and you learn those Personalities as time goes on.

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And sometimes, and you were from Chicago at some point, I know you're originally

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from Michigan, but sometimes, you just have to get into that conversation

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with a client to figure it out.

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And a lot of South side of Chicago, they're just going to

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tell you the way it is, right.

Butch Zemar: 00:11:48

And sometimes that'll point you in the right direction to

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know how to work with them.

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And so there's some clients that like some of my staff won't call them.

Butch Zemar: 00:11:54

I have to call them because of the personality and that's.

Butch Zemar: 00:11:57

That's fine because I understand their personality.

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And once we get on the same page with that personality and how they want to

Butch Zemar: 00:12:03

do business, everything flows easier.

Butch Zemar: 00:12:05

And I think a lot of times in business transactions, sometimes we're so

Butch Zemar: 00:12:09

worried about the transaction.

Butch Zemar: 00:12:10

We never get beyond that.

Butch Zemar: 00:12:11

It goes back to the relationship.

Butch Zemar: 00:12:13

And then eventually once you get on that side of the fence and get

Butch Zemar: 00:12:16

on that side of the desk, then you become, you start making superfans.

Freddy D: 00:12:20

Yeah, it's, relationships is everything, and you bring up an

Freddy D: 00:12:23

interesting point that I don't think a lot of people really take into consideration

Freddy D: 00:12:27

is the different personality types and being able to adjust, and that's the

Freddy D: 00:12:33

key word, adjust your personality to the other person's personality type.

Freddy D: 00:12:39

If you've got someone that's what I would call a driver personality and you're the

Freddy D: 00:12:43

opposite, you're an amiable personality and you're not going to get along.

Freddy D: 00:12:48

It's just not going to happen.

Freddy D: 00:12:49

So you've got an, and you're the, the amiable person as an example,

Freddy D: 00:12:54

you might be an analytical person or you might be an expressive person.

Freddy D: 00:12:58

You've got to make, you got to make tweaks for that to work because

Freddy D: 00:13:02

otherwise You're talking, but neither one of you are listening.

Butch Zemar: 00:13:06

Sure, absolutely.

Butch Zemar: 00:13:07

And I and you make good points.

Butch Zemar: 00:13:09

One, one thing I try to do is let them lead, right?

Butch Zemar: 00:13:12

And then they're leading the horse and then I just follow, right?

Butch Zemar: 00:13:16

And I just adapt as we go along.

Butch Zemar: 00:13:17

Because the reality is, it's not about me and it's not about.

Butch Zemar: 00:13:21

the product.

Butch Zemar: 00:13:22

It's not about the commissions.

Butch Zemar: 00:13:23

It's not about the people I serve.

Butch Zemar: 00:13:25

It's about the person that needs the product itself, right?

Butch Zemar: 00:13:28

And and we have to meet them where they're at.

Butch Zemar: 00:13:30

And we're somebody that we, and you work with business owners too.

Butch Zemar: 00:13:33

They're business owners at a certain point that you're, you could see things

Butch Zemar: 00:13:37

because you've been there, you've been around it, but you can't tell them

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yet because they're not there yet.

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So you have to meet them where they're at.

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And then there's other businesses that are at a different level or person people

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that are at different levels and you have to meet them where they're at and so it's

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just a matter of adjusting and getting to know and seeing that right and making

Butch Zemar: 00:13:54

the and it comes with experience you've been in business a long time right and

Butch Zemar: 00:13:57

so you've seen a lot of personalities all walks of life and and I think that

Butch Zemar: 00:14:01

helps build a little You know, culture that comes into the workplace that these

Butch Zemar: 00:14:06

businesses are working with, and not only me, but like I'm buying from them.

Butch Zemar: 00:14:10

All right.

Butch Zemar: 00:14:10

And as long as the everybody's coming together and meet where

Butch Zemar: 00:14:13

they're at, I think it's a win.

Freddy D: 00:14:15

So what do you do with with your team?

Freddy D: 00:14:17

How do you get them motivated?

Freddy D: 00:14:18

And how do you get them to become superfans of elite benefits and

Freddy D: 00:14:23

promoting the organization to the circle of people that they know?

Butch Zemar: 00:14:30

I'm indebted to the staff for sure.

Butch Zemar: 00:14:32

And I, I hired in some ways, we had some learning curves and a couple

Butch Zemar: 00:14:36

people are gone, but, they're, I've been lucky for the staff that's there.

Butch Zemar: 00:14:40

And I think it's that pay for forward mentality.

Butch Zemar: 00:14:43

And, we don't.

Butch Zemar: 00:14:45

Try to create conflict, resolve it.

Butch Zemar: 00:14:47

Like I always say we're in a square peg round hole industry.

Butch Zemar: 00:14:50

And they I think just by keeping everything positive and outcomes,

Butch Zemar: 00:14:53

and then, obviously the team meetings and keeping communication going and

Butch Zemar: 00:14:57

then praise and give them credit where credits do like I'm doing

Butch Zemar: 00:15:01

right now, but I, there's so much that they do independently that I.

Butch Zemar: 00:15:06

Couldn't do on my own either.

Butch Zemar: 00:15:07

And so I think that gives them the wisdom and the power to keep pushing

Butch Zemar: 00:15:12

along and having pride in what they do.

Butch Zemar: 00:15:14

And that comes obviously from, the company itself.

Butch Zemar: 00:15:17

And I think that obviously resonates with the people that they communicate with.

Butch Zemar: 00:15:21

And I get the feedback from the clients too, where I get on the

Butch Zemar: 00:15:24

phone and they're like, Oh, I talked to so and they were wonderful.

Butch Zemar: 00:15:27

Like, how'd you find her?

Butch Zemar: 00:15:28

And then it's she actually found me out.

Butch Zemar: 00:15:30

I couldn't tell you like I'm not going to take any credit for that.

Butch Zemar: 00:15:32

But so I think that's probably what it comes down to is just,

Butch Zemar: 00:15:36

having that environment, right?

Butch Zemar: 00:15:38

And I think paying it forwards all the time and defending your staff when

Butch Zemar: 00:15:42

certain situations come up, even when the mistakes are there and that way you.

Butch Zemar: 00:15:46

Make them feel like you're, they're being supported and then obviously let them

Butch Zemar: 00:15:49

lead a little bit so they can take a little ownership and things and I think

Butch Zemar: 00:15:53

that's helped throughout the years too.

Freddy D: 00:15:55

Oh, absolutely.

Freddy D: 00:15:56

One of my quotes in a book is that people will crawl through broken glass

Freddy D: 00:16:00

for appreciation and recognition.

Freddy D: 00:16:03

That's what you're doing is you're appreciating them

Freddy D: 00:16:05

and you're recognizing them.

Freddy D: 00:16:07

And that makes a big, huge difference in, in their mindset, because

Freddy D: 00:16:11

at the end of the day, just like you said, they're the front line.

Freddy D: 00:16:15

So that particular customer that talks to them, they're representing the business.

Freddy D: 00:16:19

So if they're, they don't feel appreciated and they're not been recognized, their

Freddy D: 00:16:23

whole tonality is going to be different.

Freddy D: 00:16:25

Their whole demeanor is going to be different.

Freddy D: 00:16:28

And that outcome is going to be different.

Butch Zemar: 00:16:31

Yeah, absolutely.

Butch Zemar: 00:16:32

A hundred percent.

Butch Zemar: 00:16:33

You nailed it right there.

Butch Zemar: 00:16:34

So yeah, I think we're on the same page and I think you, you build a team

Butch Zemar: 00:16:38

that resonates with your core values.

Butch Zemar: 00:16:41

I think it pays dividends as time goes on.

Freddy D: 00:16:44

So what about complimentary businesses?

Freddy D: 00:16:47

How do you work with complimentary businesses and get them to become

Freddy D: 00:16:51

referral sources and your referral sources to them and get them to

Freddy D: 00:16:56

be superfans of your business?

Butch Zemar: 00:16:59

And that's a great question because when I'm trying to think of

Butch Zemar: 00:17:02

all the center of influences that we they, we work with for referrals,

Butch Zemar: 00:17:06

like a lot of them are different.

Butch Zemar: 00:17:07

And I think, the biggest thing is the knowledge behind it.

Butch Zemar: 00:17:10

First off in my industry, I always say that health insurance

Butch Zemar: 00:17:13

is the niche product, right?

Butch Zemar: 00:17:14

So the average insurance agent is not selling health insurance, right?

Butch Zemar: 00:17:17

It just.

Butch Zemar: 00:17:17

It's just the way it goes.

Butch Zemar: 00:17:19

So you have a niche product to begin with.

Butch Zemar: 00:17:21

And then on top of that, breaking it down so that people don't feel dumb when

Butch Zemar: 00:17:24

you talk to them and making it easy.

Butch Zemar: 00:17:27

And I think that's what and trying to make sense of the non

Butch Zemar: 00:17:30

affordable of the affordable.

Butch Zemar: 00:17:32

Side of things, right?

Butch Zemar: 00:17:33

And because premiums are expensive and I think it's just helping them

Butch Zemar: 00:17:36

and then being a resource, right?

Butch Zemar: 00:17:38

I gave the example that it was a client that called and

Butch Zemar: 00:17:40

they were at the tax office.

Butch Zemar: 00:17:41

There's a lot of times it's reversed.

Butch Zemar: 00:17:43

And the tax person calls me and the person on the other side of the

Butch Zemar: 00:17:46

desk is not a client of mine, but they're running it past me and I'm

Butch Zemar: 00:17:50

not billing for that time, right?

Butch Zemar: 00:17:51

They're spending 10 minutes on the phone with me trying to figure

Butch Zemar: 00:17:54

out a situation for their client and that adds value for them.

Butch Zemar: 00:17:57

It could be a financial advisor that's dealing with a business and they have

Butch Zemar: 00:18:01

a situation that occurs and they ask me to come out on a visit to the company

Butch Zemar: 00:18:05

to go through things and I walk away and I always joke that said, if you

Butch Zemar: 00:18:08

feel guilty, let's go grab lunch, right?

Butch Zemar: 00:18:10

Like it's not a big deal.

Butch Zemar: 00:18:11

And I think that builds the credibility.

Butch Zemar: 00:18:14

As long as I always say, look, just don't waste my time and I'll be there for you.

Butch Zemar: 00:18:17

All right.

Butch Zemar: 00:18:17

If there's genuine questions, genuine interest and you need to

Butch Zemar: 00:18:21

solve a problem for a client, I'll make you look like a rock star.

Butch Zemar: 00:18:24

And that's cool with me.

Butch Zemar: 00:18:25

I just want the business to come, that we can get out of it at some point.

Butch Zemar: 00:18:28

And it usually comes, right?

Butch Zemar: 00:18:29

It's like the farmer, right?

Butch Zemar: 00:18:30

You just keep farming and farming.

Butch Zemar: 00:18:32

You're going to have dead crops, right?

Butch Zemar: 00:18:33

You really do.

Butch Zemar: 00:18:34

You're going to have bad seasons, but eventually it just starts

Butch Zemar: 00:18:36

coming along over a period of time.

Butch Zemar: 00:18:38

And the same thing with these referral sources where.

Butch Zemar: 00:18:41

It takes a long time.

Butch Zemar: 00:18:43

Everybody knows an insurance agent, right?

Butch Zemar: 00:18:45

And there's perceptions that come involved where, some are better than others.

Butch Zemar: 00:18:49

But but eventually when you start building that reputation with that person

Butch Zemar: 00:18:53

and you become available when to meet them where they're at, then I think

Butch Zemar: 00:18:57

that becomes very credible over time.

Butch Zemar: 00:18:59

And then you become a referral source for them.

Freddy D: 00:19:01

Yeah, can you share a quick story of a situation where

Freddy D: 00:19:06

you help somebody with a challenge with regarding insurance and how

Freddy D: 00:19:12

you were able to get that addressed and turn it around to a positive?

Butch Zemar: 00:19:17

And that's it's a mixed answer, because there's so

Butch Zemar: 00:19:19

many different scenarios, money's the biggest portion of it, right?

Butch Zemar: 00:19:22

So you talk to any business owner, any CFO, any employer in America,

Butch Zemar: 00:19:26

and it's the top three line items of an expense sheet, right?

Butch Zemar: 00:19:30

And so a guy like me that comes in with an innovative idea that doesn't

Butch Zemar: 00:19:34

jeopardize coverage, doesn't jeopardize provider access, but we're able to drop

Butch Zemar: 00:19:38

the price now they're interested, right?

Butch Zemar: 00:19:40

And then you become the hero.

Butch Zemar: 00:19:41

But one example is somebody had called and they were connected with another

Butch Zemar: 00:19:46

client of mine by family relations, and they were trying, they just said,

Butch Zemar: 00:19:50

can you just give us what they got?

Butch Zemar: 00:19:52

Because their premiums are lower than ours.

Butch Zemar: 00:19:54

And while we can't do that, they're two separate companies, there's no ownership.

Butch Zemar: 00:19:57

And I'm like how about if I just come out and just talk you through some ideas?

Butch Zemar: 00:20:01

And so that's what I did.

Butch Zemar: 00:20:02

And we talked through some ideas and we stayed with the exact same carrier.

Butch Zemar: 00:20:06

We added a couple of plans.

Butch Zemar: 00:20:08

We moved things around.

Butch Zemar: 00:20:08

I call them plan designs.

Butch Zemar: 00:20:09

We changed some of the plan designs that actually worked in the favor

Butch Zemar: 00:20:12

of the employees in the local environment where they're at.

Butch Zemar: 00:20:15

And it happened coincidentally saved 25 percent off the premiums, right?

Butch Zemar: 00:20:21

And all I did was spend two hours in the car.

Butch Zemar: 00:20:24

And maybe an hour with them and talked about some of these strategies and

Butch Zemar: 00:20:28

in the first year, this guy saved I think it was like 28, 000 just in

Butch Zemar: 00:20:33

the first year we were with them.

Butch Zemar: 00:20:35

And so fast forward two years, now there's trust, there's credibility

Butch Zemar: 00:20:39

because now we have a good relationship because I saved them money.

Butch Zemar: 00:20:42

Employees were happy, right?

Butch Zemar: 00:20:44

And it wasn't like it didn't blow up in their face.

Butch Zemar: 00:20:47

So we came out with another idea, and so they were a little bit hesitant because

Butch Zemar: 00:20:52

now there's more changes that occur, but we actually decreased the out of

Butch Zemar: 00:20:55

pocket expenses in this particular case.

Butch Zemar: 00:20:58

We actually gave them a slightly larger national network, so they may not need it

Butch Zemar: 00:21:02

because they're more local, but, if they needed to go to a cancer clinic outside

Butch Zemar: 00:21:05

of the state of Illinois, for example they would have easier access to get there.

Butch Zemar: 00:21:10

And then on top of that, we brought their premium back down 50, 000 a year.

Freddy D: 00:21:14

Wow, that's huge.

Freddy D: 00:21:15

That guy's a superfan.

Butch Zemar: 00:21:17

Oh he, yeah, but he gives me hell all the time.

Butch Zemar: 00:21:21

But he always actually brings up the podcast all the time.

Butch Zemar: 00:21:23

He goes, you're going to quit the day job and go do this podcast thing for real.

Butch Zemar: 00:21:26

And no, it's costing me money.

Butch Zemar: 00:21:28

And but then it could be on the flip side where.

Butch Zemar: 00:21:31

There are certain situations that come up where they have an employee that needs

Butch Zemar: 00:21:34

to get access to a certain facility.

Butch Zemar: 00:21:36

And and there was this 1 particular client.

Butch Zemar: 00:21:38

We did switch carriers because there was a concern, even though there's regulations,

Butch Zemar: 00:21:43

but the employee was willing to share the information because they needed to get

Butch Zemar: 00:21:46

access to a facility to get treatment.

Butch Zemar: 00:21:48

And so we end up switching insurance companies.

Butch Zemar: 00:21:52

It actually cost them a little bit more.

Butch Zemar: 00:21:54

It was very marginal, but we end up, helping that employee extend their

Butch Zemar: 00:21:58

life just because they were able to get access to that facility, right?

Butch Zemar: 00:22:01

So the money was not the most important thing in that situation But they were

Butch Zemar: 00:22:04

trying to help out one employee that was running into problems with now provider

Butch Zemar: 00:22:08

network situations and so that creates superfans too, like even though it's

Butch Zemar: 00:22:14

not a monetary it definitely gives a peace of mind and in other situations

Butch Zemar: 00:22:19

We've put together programs where not only, the health insurance may remain

Butch Zemar: 00:22:23

the same, but if we could get them access to higher quality facilities,

Butch Zemar: 00:22:26

and in some cases, we've actually eliminate the employees out of pocket.

Butch Zemar: 00:22:30

If you think about it, that your employee gets diagnosed with a

Butch Zemar: 00:22:34

condition or has a heart attack, and you need to go to a heart clinic, or

Butch Zemar: 00:22:36

you need to go to a cancer clinic.

Butch Zemar: 00:22:38

But if you go to some of the higher ratings facilities in America,

Butch Zemar: 00:22:42

your cost is zero to go there.

Butch Zemar: 00:22:44

The employee pays nothing out of pocket, right?

Butch Zemar: 00:22:47

And so those are the things that, that we work on a regular basis to

Butch Zemar: 00:22:50

try to reverse that trend, right?

Butch Zemar: 00:22:52

And create super fans, right?

Butch Zemar: 00:22:54

And all we're trying to do is the right thing, right?

Butch Zemar: 00:22:56

And then, commissions is always a big thing in our industry too.

Butch Zemar: 00:22:59

And for years, it's always been hidden, right?

Butch Zemar: 00:23:02

And so at some point.

Butch Zemar: 00:23:05

We have to disclose our commissions for what we get paid.

Butch Zemar: 00:23:08

And a lot of times these brokers employers find out that they're way

Butch Zemar: 00:23:11

over paid for what the work they do.

Butch Zemar: 00:23:13

And I'm only bringing that up because there's loyalty in our

Butch Zemar: 00:23:16

industry and every industry, right?

Butch Zemar: 00:23:18

So there's employers that will never leave their broker or individual or

Butch Zemar: 00:23:21

solo preneurs that never will, but they never know how much they're getting

Butch Zemar: 00:23:25

paid and what they're getting for it.

Butch Zemar: 00:23:26

And is there a better deal?

Butch Zemar: 00:23:28

Out there and so a lot of times when we make these big moves and we save

Butch Zemar: 00:23:31

the employer money, we actually make less money, but it's not about us.

Butch Zemar: 00:23:35

It's about trying to ride.

Butch Zemar: 00:23:36

Make superfans.

Freddy D: 00:23:38

Right?

Freddy D: 00:23:38

That's at the end of the day.

Freddy D: 00:23:39

That's what it is.

Freddy D: 00:23:40

Because you don't have super fans You don't have anybody that's a basically

Freddy D: 00:23:44

it's a brand advocate I just call them business super fans They're out there

Freddy D: 00:23:47

promoting and giving you the reviews because in today's world reviews is

Freddy D: 00:23:52

the new word of mouth Yeah that's those things that are a really important.

Butch Zemar: 00:23:56

Absolutely.

Freddy D: 00:23:57

So Butch, how can people find you?

Butch Zemar: 00:24:00

LinkedIn is probably the best.

Butch Zemar: 00:24:01

I tried to share on a regular basis on there.

Butch Zemar: 00:24:03

We put our podcast up there and maybe a little snippets from the podcast, as

Butch Zemar: 00:24:07

well as articles and other publications that we try to share and broaden,

Butch Zemar: 00:24:11

the network of, centers, influence, superfans to try to provide information

Butch Zemar: 00:24:15

for LinkedIn is probably the best.

Butch Zemar: 00:24:17

I'm the only Butch Zemar are in the whole wide world.

Butch Zemar: 00:24:19

So you're not going to miss find me.

Butch Zemar: 00:24:21

And Zemar in general is not that common, except for there is an

Butch Zemar: 00:24:24

insurance agent in Michigan.

Butch Zemar: 00:24:26

Believe it or not what the last name is Zemar, but and I've actually had

Butch Zemar: 00:24:29

a couple of conversations with them, but the website for the company's

Butch Zemar: 00:24:32

elitebenefits.net and then for any of your listeners and super fans that you

Butch Zemar: 00:24:37

have you can get access to some of these things that we had talked about on here

Butch Zemar: 00:24:41

for free if you go to elitebenefits.

Butch Zemar: 00:24:43

net forward slash playbook and then you can download your own own

Butch Zemar: 00:24:46

playbook and then you could actually see some of the concepts that we had

Butch Zemar: 00:24:49

talked about here on this podcast and it won't cost you anything.

Freddy D: 00:24:52

Okay.

Freddy D: 00:24:53

And is there anything that you're offering to our listeners?

Butch Zemar: 00:24:57

Yeah, you can download the free book.

Butch Zemar: 00:24:59

Those solopreneurs that that buy their own health insurance you could contact

Butch Zemar: 00:25:04

me on LinkedIn and say, you heard heard our podcast on the super fan podcast,

Butch Zemar: 00:25:08

and then I'll send a quick ebook on how to guide them through purchasing

Butch Zemar: 00:25:13

their own health insurance, whether they working with me or not, they could have

Butch Zemar: 00:25:16

that for free and along with employers can get access to that playbook.

Freddy D: 00:25:20

Okay.

Freddy D: 00:25:21

Excellent.

Butch Zemar: 00:25:21

We can't discount products on our side.

Butch Zemar: 00:25:23

So we just give away the content for free and second opinions are always good too.

Butch Zemar: 00:25:27

And because at least, that the current guy's in check.

Butch Zemar: 00:25:30

Cool.

Freddy D: 00:25:32

Butch, it was great to having you on a business super fan

Freddy D: 00:25:34

podcast show and hope you had a great time and we look forward to

Freddy D: 00:25:38

having you again in the near future.

Butch Zemar: 00:25:40

Absolutely.

Butch Zemar: 00:25:41

Freddy D, it's always good to catch up with you and chat with you.

Freddy D: 00:25:44

All right.

Freddy D: 00:25:44

Thank you.