When you join the team at Farm Bureau, you’re joining a family. We celebrate each others’ successes, collaborate together on a daily basis and share similar values, which is how we protect the livelihoods and futures of our clients each day. The dedication Farm Bureau has for our insurance agents and the entire team is unmatched. This leads to agents performing their best and looking forward to working with members of their communities every day.
Some of our agents understand the support Farm Bureau offers better than others because they’re not only experiencing it for themselves, but they have witnessed it through family members throughout their lives as well. That’s exactly the case with Gabe Jorgensen! Learn more about how becoming an insurance agent and joining the Farm Bureau family was an extension of his true family.
Farm Bureau: A Family Tradition
As a third-generation Farm Bureau insurance agent, what made you want to continue the family tradition?
Gabe Jorgensen’s father and his grandfather were agents as well! With this type of background, he was familiar with the impactful work agents do every day in their communities. Many people in the area still tell Gabe stories about how his grandfather or his father made a difference in their lives. It’s these stories that made him realize why he wanted to follow his family and become an insurance agent at Farm Bureau.
”My family isn’t exactly unique. There are a lot of Farm Bureau families out there – a lot of multi-generation family units that have that history of a dad being an agent, a grandpa being an agent or maybe an adjuster somehow affiliated with it. In the insurance business, you start to see the impact of the people that you look up to, and you start to see other people looking up to them. I heard stories over the years about the great things my grandpa did for clients and how my dad was a heck of an agent. Even as a young person, that was important to me.”
If you have a family member who is a Farm Bureau agent, you know firsthand what it takes to be successful in this role. Whether your parent, grandparent or aunt/uncle is a Farm Bureau agent, your experience and family connections are valuable. In addition to the great perks of being a Farm Bureau agent, you could also earn up to $30,000 in bonuses with the Farm Bureau Legacy Bonus when you contract with us and are related up to the third degree to a Farm Bureau agent.1
What did you do before becoming an insurance agent?
I was in ag business with Agronomy. I was going to become a crop consultant so I could still help people, but what turned me off about it was that there wasn’t a deep connection.
I became an agent basically because I did a couple internships in my field of study, realized that that wasn’t what I wanted to do ,and then I looked at my dad and my grandpa before him. I decided to follow in their footsteps, and now my little brother is an agent, too.
Although becoming an insurance agent wasn’t always part of his plan, Jorgensen is definitely proud to be a part of this legacy now. Gabe wanted to be in a profession that had a huge influence on his community and allowed him to build lasting relationships with his clients. For these reasons, he decided to follow in his family’s footsteps and join the Farm Bureau team.
When asked if he would approve if his kids wanted to continue the family legacy at Farm Bureau, Jorgensen said he’d probably have the same talk that his dad had with him; if building relationships and being part of the community was important to them, he would thoroughly encourage their decision.
What does the Farm Bureau Legacy mean to you?
“It’s your future, let’s protect it.”
To Gabe Jorgensen, the Farm Bureau promise is making sure we protect what’s important to our clients.
”Protecting livelihoods and protecting futures means making sure that we understand what’s most important to our clients, and we make sure that they’re going to be able to achieve their goals. It means that their lives aren’t going to be thrown off track by a fire, by a death in the family, by whatever it is; we’re going to be there to support them. I think it just speaks for itself.”
Our agents get the opportunity to become a part of their lives and make sure they’ll be able to achieve their goals. Clients get peace of mind knowing we are by their side when the unexpected strikes.
”What drives me are the relationships that I build with my clients, the people I work with and the way I actually see when life goes off the rails, what an impact that my work has when it comes down to crunch time.”
Jorgensen admits that delivering a claim is a bittersweet experience for agents. It is proof that the work you do pays off and it’s advantageous to the client, but it’s never a good moment. Being there for them during the death of a family member or the destruction of their property is just one way to strengthen the relationship between you. If you’ve done your job right, people will remember your assistance in their time of need.
Nothing Replaces a Face-to-Face Conversation With Your Agent
Farm Bureau believes there is nothing that compares to the personal relationships built by insurance agents. Clients want to know the person that’s protecting their livelihood, and Gabe has seen people try to do it online, but learn the hard way that working with someone you know will help you understand your needs better.
”There’s a lot of trust in our business. If I’m insuring your home, it’s probably one of your biggest assets. I even auto insurance. Auto insurance seems very transactional until you have a claim and you find out that the coverage isn’t there like you wanted. People don’t understand insurance, [and] they generally don’t like insurance. They’re almost invariably back at some point to see me or see another Farm Bureau agent about getting back on track. They realize they need the expertise.”
Meeting With Clients Gives You More Opportunities
Something Gabe’s dad taught him is that when you meet with your clients you can’t be afraid to ask them the tough questions. You’re never going to find what type of opportunities are out there unless you ask the question, not only for yourself but for the client. Listen for the answer they give, but let them decide what is best for them - if they say no, that’s their choice. Of course, each agent has those feelings of missed opportunity after a tragic event. They feel as if they should have done more to protect their client, but that’s why you do the best you can to get down to what is really important during every client meeting. Farm Bureau agents work hard every day to make sure they’re doing everything they can.
Join the Farm Bureau Family
If you’re ready to get involved, work hard and help people you know, consider joining the team at Farm Bureau! Gabe Jorgensen agrees that sometimes starting out can be the toughest part, but the people make it worth it. The relationships and lifelong friendships you form with some clients can’t compare to other advisor jobs. With a strong will and supportive team behind you, we know you’ll succeed. Join the Farm Bureau family for the opportunity to make a difference for the families within your community!
1 Additional criteria applies. The Agency Manager can provide additional information on the criteria that applies including family relationship qualifications.