Is Customer Service Really Table Stakes? with Heather Bowers

Welcome back to the Broker's Voice. I am excited to have Heather Bowers join us from Lone Star Benefits. Heather, welcome to the Broker's Voice.

Thank you so much for having me, Andy.

Well, let's. I want to get into your story a little bit because you've got a cool backstory about the agency. I'm sure it's one that will resonate with a lot of people that, that are tuning in.

And we're going to talk a lot. We're going to also talk about some of your passions and hobbies so people can get to know you and the team. But let's just start with Lone Star Benefits. Who the heck are they? Where are they located? How was it started?

Yeah, definitely. So we are located in Frisco, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. We have been around since 1998. So in May and here in a couple of weeks, it will be our 25th anniversary. So super excited about that. And the agency was actually formed by my dad, John Heath. He's been in the business forever. He's your typical baby booming broker. He came from a large agency in Dallas where he started their benefits operation back in the 80s and they merged, emerged again, and around 97 he decided he was ready to go out and do his own thing. And so he started Lone Star and I joined him in 2000. So this year will be my 23rd year with the company as well. And yeah, just loving what we're doing.

Being the daughter. So second generation. Did you feel, you know, go back 23 years, did you feel like this? Did you know this is what you were going to do? Or how did you end up finding yourself working for your dad at the agency?

Sure. So does anyone really go into insurance?

No.

Like plan to go into insurance. We all just.

I know, I know about five people who actually went to college for it, but that's about it.

And are they still doing it? That's the, that's the question.

Good question.

Yeah. So, no, I never thought that I would follow my dad's footsteps to being benefits or an insurance. So in 2000, I was working. It's actually a client of ours now, but the time I was working for them and they went through some changes and so they were going to have to reduce my hours and so decided to just put in my notice and was kind of hanging out, not really doing anything, trying to figure out what to do next. And my dad said, hey, why don't you come to the agency? I can keep you busy doing something. And so I started again working there In June and pretty fast into it, decided I was very intrigued. I liked the idea of getting licensed, becoming a broker, being able to do sales where I wasn't stuck behind a desk all day. And so from there, yeah, the story's just kind of gone. I was able to purchase the agency the very end of 2018. So I own the agency now and we're booming and yeah, enjoying what I'm doing there.

You know, that's a. Brings up a good question because your, your sister's in the business as well. Holly. So both of you did. Now, did she also work for your dad? Was she at the agency at that time?

Not at that time. So she started kind of similar story, but she was with another company. Things just weren't going the way she thought they were. At that time. I was pregnant with my second child and was going out on bed rest unexpectedly. And so with Holly, I said, okay, you've got to come work here. And then I can for my house, kind of tell you what you need to be doing there in the office or in front of some of my clients. And so she started and she's been there, I guess this year will be 18 years for her.

So that's awesome. Well, it's, it's always cool to see a female led agency.

You know, just out of curiosity, you're part of our league of, of their own community as well. Like being a female owner of an agency inside an industry that is very male dominated and you've had the agency for now five years.

What's that been like, you know, for, for the, the other women who run agencies that might be listening in running this agency, like I said, in a, in an industry where there are definitely more men than women, definitely more. Or Caucasians and minorities being a minority in this business, what is. Have you seen any challenges with that?

I'm getting older, so it's easier now. But when I first started, I will never forget, I don't know how many conferences I went to, and every single male would say, oh, are you an account executive? Or oh, who do you work for? And so it was probably.

13 or 14 years ago. Yes, I had that comment and I basically looked at him, told him I was a broker and that I was his worst nightmare. And he kind of just looked away because I don't think think he knew how to respond. So again, getting older, now that I've been here for so long and I look older, it's been easier to be accepted amongst male peers. I don't really hear that comment anymore. Because there have been more women coming into this industry. But I would say, yeah, initially, especially as a young person, it's a challenge because people look at you and assume if you're female and you're young, you're probably account support and account management manager, account executive, things like that.

Yeah, I think you bring up a really relevant point to.

I personally feel what a lot of people lack in this industry is a chip on their shoulder. And a lot of people, I think, believe that comes with a negative connotation. But I think there can be a lot of success when you go at things with that chip on your shoulder. And I feel like for women, especially women who are running agencies, most of them I know are successful.

And maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like part of it might be because they do operate with that chip on their shoulder. Because going back to the comment you received when you got in, oh, you must be an account exec. There's no way you could be a broker. There's no way you could run your own agency.

So, yeah. Now, by the way, if you're listening in, I'm about to ask Heather some questions I did not prepare her for. So. So this. You're getting this raw, unfiltered right now. One thing I wanted to talk about, and I think it's one thing that makes you guys unique. And if you're willing to talk about this, your husband's now in the business.

Yes.

When did Jason join Lone Star? What year was that?

So the end of 2018. So when I knew that I was getting close to purchasing the business, I just knew I couldn't wear all the hats, I couldn't run the business, still be a producer, have employees under me, pay the bills. I mean, there's just a lot that goes to owning a business. So he was in corporate finance with Toyota, and so he chose to leave corporate America. His whole life he's been in corporate finance and join our agency. And it's been so awesome having him there, even though he is my spouse. A lot of people say couldn't work with their spouse, but we're definitely a rock star team together.

Well, so as you can see, the dog we're sitting for right now is stretching right here as we go live. So I hope everybody saw the stretching. I wanted to bring that up, though, because the fact he did come from corporate finance and From a Fortune 50 company, we're talking big time corporate finance. Have you seen that becoming an asset at all for the agency? Having somebody with that kind of financial background Because I talk about our industry being math and storytelling how having somebody who comes from corporate finance, has that been an asset for you guys?

Huge asset. Just his. The way his brain thinks is obviously very financial. And so when we're putting together analysis for clients.

He'S great at kind of tearing apart that data. For me personally or selfishly, he is like Excel Master. And so just the efficiencies in our office from building out the craziest formulas you've ever seen in your life, being able to take different data sets that clients, being able to quickly and easily, you know, again, take all these different data sets and merge it into one thing, that's been huge. Being able to talk to our team just on how you talk to CFOs, you know, because their. Their mindset's going to be totally different than an HR director or even a lot of times than a business owner. And so with him coming from that angle, he's gonna. He views things differently. He can kind of guide us differently on that. And so, yeah, it's been a huge asset having him. Having him there.

Yeah, I would. I would have to believe so, because I think that is one of the biggest things advisors struggle with, is having a business conversation with the C suite, not a benefits conversation. I think he's probably been such an asset around that. And you. You talked about processes and everything he dealt with at the corporate level bring. He brings a secret weapon I think a lot of agencies lack. And on top of that, you have a producer, right, who used to be part of a Fortune 50 company at PepsiCo. And I think just having people who've been able to have those conversations at that high level is invaluable. Sure. It really is. I'm gonna switch gears on you for a second. Talking about Jason. You and Jason, one thing you guys really pride yourselves on is your health. And I wanted to hit upon this because, again, I talk about it a lot. And I know I get fingers pointed at me for saying this, but it's funny to me that in an industry, we're constantly talking about health, the people who are out talking to companies and delivering rate increases and telling them it's because their employees aren't healthy, are not always a beacon of health themselves. And talk about you and Jason and what importance your own health and fitness plays in what you guys do.

Yeah. So basically what you said, I mean, that's exactly it. So. So when you. When we look at grade increases year over year over year, the number one question that we get is like, where. Where do we end? Where's the future of this?

You know, and it, it's kind of at the end of the day, until Americans choose to become a little bit healthier, even make just slight modifications in their lifestyle, we can expect rates to continue to increase. I don't have the stat off the top of my head. I was just looking at this a few months ago at the number or the dollar amount that's spent every sing preventable conditions. And it was like, mind blowing. I mean, in the multi. Multibillions. And so just because of that, I guess, you know, being in an industry for 23 years when, you know, we work directly with employees on claims, you know, for mid and large groups, we can see their claims data, we can see what steering their claims cost, and all of that's preventable. It's just always impacted me to know, okay, I'm only one person and you know, my family, there's four of us and my kids, I'm so thankful they have been raised in a family that eats healthy, exercises, and so they're the same way. But I feel like, okay, if it's only four of us, but the four of us are doing what we can be doing to contribute more positively to the overall impact, why would we not? And then also, just like you said, when I'm out talking to employees and benefit meetings or talking to employers that are wanting to launch wellness initiatives, I don't feel like I can encourage that. And I can kind of speak into that if they're looking at me saying, okay, well, clearly you're not practicing what you're preaching. So at least I'm putting my, my actions where my mouth is. And, and, you know, just not even, it's not even being a certain size. It's just taking health. I think people think, oh, you have, you know, if you're looking at someone healthy, they have to be small. It's not even that. It's just making healthy decisions in life are so important, whether it's eating or exercising or going in for your physicals, you know, to try to get ahead of those things that may be going on, just all those little steps. I think if everyone took a more proactive approach in that nationwide, we would see a huge impact when it comes to annual increases on insurance.

So, yeah, I think that's one reason I was really attracted to what you and Jason are doing and the team is doing is because you guys lead by example. And that was something when I was advising that I really preached, you know, I've always exercised, but it Took care of my health, but not to the degree I have in the last seven or eight years. Because I realized like if I'm going to be out trying to help this, these companies control their cost, help their employees get healthier, I better be doing the same myself.

Right?

That's just like if you were to hire a trainer at the gym and they don't look like they're in shape, how, how credible is their advice going to be? Right?

Yeah.

By the way guys, if you haven't seen Heather, Jason, so I got a chance to see the Christmas picture. I am not messing with this family. By the way, Jason's also, he's, he's not only big, he's into Jiu jitsu and so don't get on Jason's bad side. Jason, if you're watching this, I'm not. I, I, you're on my team, man.

I have a built in bodyguard between him and our son that's trained Jiu jitsu forever as well. So we're good Now a little side.

Note fact, I believe your son is also a, a pretty good athlete in his own right on the football field. He is getting recruited right now as a linebacker.

Is that correct?

Yes, he sure is athlete in me. What schools is he looking at?

Well, a little bit of everywhere. So he really likes unc. Were out there about a month ago. Loved, love their program. Ou, Baylor, Boise State has interest in him. The big thing right now has been a lot of the Ivy Leagues are.

Really a smart kid too.

He is a smart kid. So he wouldn't have the huge football name if he goes Ivy League. But to have an Ivy League degree is huge. So we'll see. We, he's just a junior so he's about to finish his junior year. So basically we've got, you know, his spring signing is, you know, next spring. So we're down to the last eight, eight or nine months. So.

And I know these topics are all over the place, but this is why I love this show. Okay, so I gotta ask because this is probably good for other people tuning in. So being the parent of a good athlete who's getting recruited. Today's world of recruiting is completely different than when I was around 25 years ago. What is that like being a parent when you do have a child who is being recruited at a high level, especially football, because I think college football is so much more magnified than any other sport. What advice, what have you learned and what advice would you give other parents who have those athletes living in their house?

Yeah, so get ready to hustle. Even as parents, you are non stop engaged with your child, with coaches, on Twitter. Twitter runs the world for college recruiting, for sports. But yeah, it's non stop. It's. I love the season of life we're in, the journey we're in, but it's way more than I thought it would be. I'm very thankful that I have a spouse that works with me that has the flexibility to be able to travel when he needs to with our son to go to different colleges. So. But yeah, just, you can't, you can't sit back. I guess the one that's been the biggest eye opener to me is I will never view, especially with football, an athlete on the field the same again. Because there's a few freaks of nature that they're going to get noticed no matter what. But for the most part, to get them on that field, there was blood, sweat and tears behind the scenes with parents and athletes and coaches and specialized training coaches and all of that that comes into it so well.

And not only that, you're a parent of a child playing high school football in the most competitive state in America, Texas. Yep. Friday Night Lights came straight from, from Texas. Right. So that that competition in DFW's got to be off the charts. Fair.

It's awesome. But, but he's a good kid. He's got good measurables, he's tall and he's super, super fast. So that's good.

Awesome. Well, I wish him the best luck. That'll be fun to watch his recruiting process. Okay, I'm gonna bring it back the to business now before we wrap up because you got me to rethink a little bit. You know, I've, I've been guilty of saying this for quite a while. You can't tell us your differentiator is customer service. That's table states. But you guys have really built one hell of a model to service the clients you have. And quite frankly, it's how you win business often and without going into the details or the secret sauce, you know it thinking employers watching this, like, what should employers be doing to evaluate what is considered good customer service from their benefits advisor? Because I think a lot of companies feel good service as well. They pick up the phone, what is, what should their expectations be?

Yeah. So you know. Yeah. And that is definitely what makes us unique. It's for sure our differentiator. We constantly get validation, you know, from clients, extremely high retention rate, Google reviews, our carrier reps, you know, constantly talk about what we do and it's really just being there day to day on everything. So you know, I was talking to someone not too long ago and she had a great analogy. So I use it now because I think it's exactly how we are, is that so many brokers are the911. Like the employers already had to try to figure out everything on their own. They've already had to call the carrier, they've tried to figure it out and then they go back to the broker. Ultimately like you've got to, you got to jump in at this point we're total opposite of that, that we're the four one, one. We're the day to day everything for our clients. And so we want to make our clients job, you know, administering their insurance programs as little as possible so they can focus on all the, on all the other tasks within their business.

You know, we, we run into that all the time and I know we've talked about that, that every broker is going to say that, oh, you know, we provide service, but kind of the way we look at it, maybe their level or their bar is here, whereas our bar is way up here. And so, you know, that's everything from just the day to day transactional things. If our clients, you know, are small enough that they don't have file feeds. So if it's enrolling employees or terming them, our team are the ones doing that. Updating employee addresses, jumping in if there's any billing questions, if there's any benefit questions. In the last three weeks, speaking of wellness, then probably the most recurring email I'm getting from my clients is, hey, is what covey covered? Because everybody wants to take what Coviers or Ozempic to try to lose weight. And so even things like that, jumping in and talking to them about if their plan covers it, if, if it does, what the steps are they have to take, you know, to get it covered, if it's not covered, you know, sourcing all of the different solutions for them on how they could try to get it cheaper. So I would say, you know, if an employer is looking at what the broker provides, it's just finding out how much is that broker really going to take off an employer. Because at the end of the day most all brokers, we're making the same amount of money.

In our office. We don't nickel and dime. So we net out commissions on products that we can, that all brokers should net commissions out of. So like your cobra, your fsa, hsa, all of those things. But outside of that, for the most Part on medical brokers are making pretty much the same. And so, you know, when I'm talking to groups, it's like, okay, well, what is your broker doing for you? To where they're actually earning that paycheck every single month from the carrier. And that's a huge, huge eye opener for some groups we talk to because they realize that their broker may be great. So it's not bashing brokers, but they're just not holding their clients hands as much as we do.

Yeah, no, that's well said. I think, you know, when you look at what.

What problems we fight in the health insurance industry, most advisors would say, you know, the problem is cost. The problem is the healthcare system, the pro, you know, misaligned incentives. But let's be honest, the one of the biggest problems is employer expectations. Right. It's, you've got to raise the bar on what you should be expecting from your advisor. And you see a lot of, in our, a lot of people in our industry make a lot of money and they don't do a whole lot. But the problem really is that their client isn't expecting a whole lot from them. And I think what's happened is employers feel like no matter where we've gone in the last 20 years, we've gotten a bad result. So let's just pick somebody.

Sure.

And that has lowered the bar of the expectation. And that's something that the people I think who can raise the bar and prove it are going to do really well like you guys have. So. All right, last question. I'm going to, I'm going to rock at you. And this is coming back off the work for a second. You, you and Jason love to travel.

Yeah.

And I know that's part of, part of your, one of the things you guys love to do outside of work. If Heather and Jason Bowers are going anywhere for vacation, where are they heading?

So, I mean, ideally it would be like the Maldives or somewhere like that. But if it's just like our normal vacation spot, you will find us in Exuma in the Bahamas. So hands down, favorite island we've been to. And we've been all over the Caribbean. But yeah, like, ladies, leave your makeup at home, leave your jewelry at home, leave your nice clothes at home, and basically you'll go there and become a beach bum while you're there. And so, yeah, we love it. We're actually headed there twice this in June. So, yeah, we're ready to get away and take a day off.

Well, I, I also asked the question selfishly because I'd love to know, too, because we're always looking for different places to go. So Exuma in the Bahamas.

Exuma. Yes.

What is the island in the Bahamas that has those pigs?

So it's. So when we go to Exuma, we go. We go and do that. There's. There's starting to be more, like, islands that are starting to just put pigs on them.

So for tourists. Yeah. Yeah.

Pig Island. But the main spot. And I don't even know exactly what it's called because, like, we just. When we go to Exuma, we just.

Yeah.

Use the boat charter and they take us out for the day. But it's. It's pretty cool. I mean, you can swim with pigs. You can swim with nurse sharks at Compass Key. So that's super cool. I mean, you're in the water, like sharks all around you, and there's wild sharks.

Yeah. And that water is crystal clear.

Oh, yeah. You can be in up to your shoulders and see your feet just like you're standing outside.

That's awesome. Well, this has been fun, Heather. I want to thank you for taking the time to do this. You guys have built a cool thing up in Frisco, Texas. I should say down in Frisco, Texas. Texas, compared to where I am. If somebody's listening in and they wanted to reach out to you, whether it's an employer saying, hey, we. We are. We want better customer service, what would be the easiest way to get in touch?

Yes. So, I mean, we have, you know, our website, so lsbinc.com you can also hop on my LinkedIn. Just. Heather Bowers, you'll see me on LinkedIn, send me a message through that we have. All the social media channels are out there, so you can either get on to our.

Facebook or again, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube. So, yeah, pretty much any channel.

I am typing this in as we talk.

Perfect.

If you're watching in and you want to reach out to Heather. Right there.

There I am. LSB.

Not an eye. That's an L. That's an L. S b-inc.com reach out. They've built a really powerful model on the back end to service clients above and beyond anything they've ever gotten before. And so, Heather, keep doing what you guys are doing. Starting to see the content come from you guys on social media, which makes my heart sing. But, yeah, just. Just keep being great so everybody else who's listening in, you know what happens when you get clarity, you get confidence, you bring the two together, you become unstoppable and that's what I'm asking you to do. Be good today.

Yeah? Thank you so much for having me.

Andy, hold on.