Insurance agent spent a year with his Oldsmobile tracking down 3,000 lost customers
Fresh out of the University of Michigan in the summer of 1983, David Root was living in a small apartment in Shadyside and had landed a job with a life insurance company. His assignment: make contact with 3,000 policyholders throughout southwestern Pennsylvania with whom the company had lost touch.
“They were called orphan policyholders,” Mr. Root said.
“These were very small policyholders. They had agents who had either retired or passed away or somehow had become lost in the shuffle. Many of these people did not even know they had a policy. So, I was letting them know for the first time they actually had something of value.”
Maybe a parent had bought the policy years ago. Maybe it was paid up or had enough cash value that it was sustaining itself. Whatever the case, Mr. Root was either the first contact these customers ever had with the company or at least the first in many years.
“So they were kind of happy to hear from me,” he said.
All he owned at the time was a used Oldsmobile Cutlass with 75,000 miles on it, a map and a suitcase full of clothes.
He could have done it by telephone. But he chose to hit the road to gain the experience that would come from finding each customer and sitting down with them face to face.
It took a full year for Mr. Root to
get through the list. For a young man from Erie who had never lived in a big city, it was a priceless opportunity to lay the groundwork for a long career in helping people make decisions on managing their money.
Never mind the uncomfortable moments like visiting the retired dentist who had cats that sent Mr. Root’s allergies into overdrive.
Today, Mr. Root, 58, is CEO of the Downtown based financial advising firm DB Root & Co.
After 24 years in business, his firm employs 20 people and manages $800 million in assets for clients in Pittsburgh, as well as Toledo, where a branch office is located. He also provides advice for $5.3 billion in assets held by companies and employees in 401(k) retirement plans.
His basic training in customer service and his inclination to set high goals and persevere all started with that first full-time job after college at Guardian Life Insurance Co.
“I was making a salary of $1,200 a month, which came out to about $15,000 a year,” he said. “I remember this very well because there was some pain involved.”
The experience taught him how to sell.
In part, that was driven by need. He was financing all of his expenses out of his income to go out to see these people. That meant buying gas and dealing with wear and tear on his vehicle. Eventually he began putting a lot of charges on a credit card.
“About six months into it, I knew I needed to make more money,” Mr. Root said. “I sat down with my boss and he suggested that while I was meeting with people and I uncover a need they had for insurance, I could sell some insurance and get paid for that.”
After three years with Guardian Life, he left the life insurance business and became a financial adviser. Learning the ropes at the Bill Few & Associates financial advising firm in Pittsburgh, he eventually decided to open his own firm.
Even before that year spent crisscrossing this part of the state to meet policyholders, he’d had a few painful experiences in customer service at other jobs.
There were occasions that could only be described as complete disasters. One took place while he was a sophomore in college working as a waiter at a seafood restaurant.
“It was about 10:30 p.m. when a girls softball team came in,” he said. “There were about 15 women in the party and they all ordered lobster. It was a slow night and some of the workers had already left for the day. The women were drinking and getting more upset at how long the food was taking.”
And then things got even worse.
“I finally came out with three trays of lobster and melted butter with candles underneath,” he said. “One of the girls bumped my elbow and the trays fell everywhere. The tablecloth caught fire, ruining the dinner, and several of the women had hot butter and lobster sauce on them.
“I tried to keep a good attitude, but they were [upset],” Mr. Root said.
“I had to pay for that dinner out of my own pocket. I got no tip. But I didn’t deserve one. Instead, they left an obscene comment for me on a card.”