What is Your Legacy?

by Tom Esselman, President, LeClair Group

I want to share with you a story of one of the agents I’ve worked with for several years. Mark was a successful agent with great knowledge, a fantastic rapport with his customers and did what he thought was everything possible to take care of these people. He knew their names, understood their needs, and had critical conversations with them to make sure they were finding the products and coverage that best suited their needs. He thought he had covered everything to take care of their longterm needs.

Over the years, we became good friends and had an excellent working relationship. A few years ago, I reached out to him because he hadn’t heard from him for much of the latter half of the Medicare Annual Enrollment Period. After exchanging small pleasantries, I asked him how AEP went. Mark’s hesitation caught me off-guard for a moment before he stated, “Not well and I’m going to level with you, I have stage 2 stomach cancer.” This news hit me hard, but I immediately asked him what I could do for him. Mark simply said, “Say a few prayers for my recovery.”

About a week later, I received another call from Mark. Seeing his name on the caller ID, I was hoping to hear a cheerful voice, but that was not to be. Mark shared the bad news that he had now been diagnosed at the stage 4 level and was instructed to get his affairs in order. Mark asked me to help him get his members in a safe place.

Mark was creating a succession plan for his business. A lot of discussions were held on who he wanted his customers transferred to and how his family could be involved. With forms signed, a proper succession plan was created.

Five weeks after that first discussion, I brought the final papers to Mark’s home. I was greeted by Mark’s brother (Mark wasn’t married) and learned that he had passed away just moments before I arrived. I paid my respects and left knowing that Mark and I, in those five weeks, had done all we could for him and his business. I firmly believe Mark passed away knowing this.

So, are you prepared with your succession plan? What is your legacy? If Mark had practiced what he preached to his customers, he could have eliminated much of what he had to do for his succession plan in those final five weeks of his life. Rather than finalizing a plan, he could have been lived out his last few weeks with the peace of mind that his legacy would continue. We were lucky to complete things before it was too late. The lesson I want you to get from this story is that it is never too early to set up your succession plan.

Succession Planning

A succession plan begins with company culture. An organization must have an environment that promotes growth, commitment to customers, an attitude that makes people want to stay and a plan that states what continued on next page