Ozaukee Press Online News - Port Washington, Saukville, Grafton, Fredonia, Belgium

By MARK JAEGER
Ozaukee Press staff
Posted 7-23-08

Maintaining public visibility can be good for business, but that is not what drives Belgium businessman Tom Vodika in so many directions.

Vodika had a track record of community service long before he started his Farmers Insurance agency in Belgium.

He has been an emergency medical technician for more than 30 years, a volunteer firefighter for two decades and a longtime member of the National Ski Patrol. Vodika even served as an EMS instructor at Lakeshore Technical College in Sheboygan County.

He is a member of the Belgium and Random Lake Chambers of Commerce and was elected to the Belgium Village Board this spring as a write-in candidate.

“There were four vacancies on the board and three candidates. I talked to 10 of my friends, and ended up getting elected with 15 votes,” he said.

“It is a different kind of volunteering, but I hope I can bring a certain level of maturity and intelligence to the decision-making process.”

He is not a stranger to local government, Vodika previously served on the village’s Plan Commission.

With such a busy schedule, you might wonder how he finds time for work.

Vodika said he has found himself through his new career as a registered representative with Farmers Insurance Group.

He had spent 20 years working in human services for various companies, but found his position downsized a half-dozen years ago.

“People said ‘You’ve done a good job with your life, but you don’t have a master’s degree so we can’t promote you,’” Vodika said. “What they were really saying was, ‘We can replace you with someone fresh out of college for a lot less money.’”

Out of work at age 50, he took a serious look at his options.

“I had my insurance with Farmers for 15 years before I started working for them, so I knew their products pretty well. I talked to my agent about my situation, and in about five minutes the regional agent was on the phone talking to me about working for them,” Vodika recalled.

He received extensive training through the California-based company, including obtaining a security license that qualifies him to make IRA investments. Farmers is a wholly owned subsidiary of Zurich Financial Services Group.

Vodika opened his agency in Belgium five years ago, and in that time has met staggering success.

“Farmers sets goals for all of its new agents to continue as an agent in good standing, set at a level the company feels is sustainable for an agency. If you fail to reach their goals, you are asked to leave,” he said.

Vodika said he more than doubled the sales goals set by the parent company. With about 1,000 clients, he was recently inducted into the Farmers “Topper Club” as one of the company’s top sales agents.

“We have the largest customer base, geographically speaking, of any Farmers agency in the state,” Vodika said.

“I have clients from Black River Falls, and we have more customers from Racine than we do from Belgium.”

He said he is able to maintain such a widespread clientele because customers have come to value service at least as much as price.

“With so much business being done on the Internet, people are finding the bottom line is that lowest-priced insurance is not always the best deal,” Vodika.

“I am constantly watching the changing needs of my clients. If their circumstances change, say they get married, I’ll call them and tell them they qualify for a multi-vehicle discount. If you buy your insurance on-line, you are dealing with a licensed agent, but they are also paid on commission and lose track of you once you order your coverage.”

Vodika said he is well aware of the unsavory character often attributed to stereotypical insurance salesman.

“I like to say I don’t sell insurance. I educate a customer and let them make their own informed decision on coverage. I never ask for a sale … and find I sell more because I don’t push,” he said.

“I met a woman who had insurance with seven different companies, and I told her how she was missing out on a lot of discounts by not having coverage with one company.”

Customer service is also the reason Vodika added evening hours to his agency, which takes calls until 7 p.m.

“A lot of people have busy days and they appreciate the chance to take care of their insurance needs in the evening. We are actually very busy at night,” he said.

Vodika said he finds his work a lot more fulfilling than his old career in human resources.

“In HR, I often dealt with a lot of not-so-nice situations, like people getting fired. Now, I feel I am helping people make the best decisions for themselves,” he said.

The agency, which recently relocated to 178 N. Royal St., has been so successful that Nate Mitchell joined as a partner-agent in 2007. There are two other sales representatives, a licensed insurance agent and an office manager.