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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (March 20, 2019)
8 Wednesday, March 20, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Decades of keeping Sisters covered By Jim Cornelius Editor in Chief It seems ironic 20 years down the road, but when Tammy Taylor first came to Sisters with her husband Jeff in 1996, she wanted no part of working for an indepen- dent insurance agency. <I was scared to death to be an independent agent,= she said. Licensed in 1993, she had worked for Farmers Insurance in California. She was a direct writer 4 she wrote policies for what Farmers offered and that was her comfort zone. The idea of having mul- tiple carriers to choose from and a multiple of options to chase down for a client was intimidating. Her first job in Sisters wasn9t in her field. Bob Grooney hired her on the spot when she went into The Gallimaufry. But the insur- ance field still beckoned. Word got around that Don Fullhart, who owned and operated Fullhart Insurance wanted to talk to her. Talk they did, and on March 19, 1999, Taylor signed on with Fullhart 4 the start of a 20-year run, and still counting. <Once I got over the intim- idation of all the different car- riers, that turned out to be the highlight: having all the dif- ferent choices,= she said. Fullhart insurance was always about finding the right fit of product and price for Sisters clients 4 who are often friends and neighbors. Taylor quickly fit into that culture and the commitment to customer service. But she still had to stretch beyond the comfort zone. <I had never dabbled in commercial (insurance),= she said. <I9d only done home and auto. Don told me, 8if you9re going to be a producer, you have to do all of it.9= Taylor credits Richard Engstrom for mentoring her in the commercial insurance field. Now Taylor is a leading producer/agent with Bisnett Insurance, which took owner- ship of Fullhart Insurance in January of 2018. <That9s opened the door for more carriers that we didn9t have access to before,= she noted. Taylor continues to train and learn to stay abreast of a changing industry. <I9ve seen a lot of change,= she reflected. <I would say that the biggest change is on the technological side of things.= Insurance went from bury- ing agents, clients and pro- viders alike under a blizzard of paper to being conducted almost entirely digitally. <We used to have a lot more walk-in customers, because that9s the way you did business,= she said. <Now it seems that 90 percent of our FOURTH FRIDAY ART STROLL MARCH 22 | 4 TO 7 P.M. SCOTT CORDNER PHOTOGRAPHY PETER ROUSSEL CERAMIC WORK 541-749-1800 ON THE CORNER OF S. PINE ST. & W. HOOD AVE. INF0@HOODAVENUEART.COM PHOTO BY JIM CORNELIUS Tammy Taylor has kept Sisters covered with insurance for 20 years. business is done via email.= Taylor also notes that the industry has seen the rise of big insurers with a big TV marketing presence and an 800 number. She said that one of the challenges 4 and opportunities 4 of her work is <educating people that an agent is looking out for your best interests. We9re NOT an 800 number; we9re not order takers.= An agent who really knows the customer and their needs can help find the cov- erage required at the best available price 4 and they9re there to advise and consult on claims. See TAYLOR on page 23 The e Best est Fence e ce You’ll Never See. ® • Manage via Smart Phone • GentleSteps™ Training with our Professional Trainer • Award-Winning Technology • Best Warranty in Industry • America’s Safest Dog Fence • 100% Made in the U.S.A. SAVE $100 NOW 541-771-2330 phantompetfence.com/save-now/