TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR
Formerly known as the Collins Agency, at 1001 E. Main St. in downtown Merrill, in 2017, Roger and Kim Praefke purchased the building and the agency and began the process of re-branding the business as Provident Insurance. For about six months, they answered the phone with both business names to help people make the transition, but by 2018, they were fully operational as their own entity.
The path to a business in Merrill
In 2007, Roger left a corporate job in Chicago and began selling Erie Insurance from his home. He partnered with two other agents to form Provident Insurance Group in West Allis, Wis., in 2009.
Over time, those partners left, Roger explored options for growing his business, and in 2014, he purchased the Wayne Syring Agency in Wausau and converted that to his second Provident Insurance Group location.
The purchase of 1001 E. Main St., Merrill, grew the Provident Insurance Group to three locations.
Provident Insurance Group carries multiple lines and insurance products, including offerings from: Erie Insurance, Progressive, Auto Owners, State Auto, EMC, Badger Mutual, Germantown, Encova, Travelers, Sheboygan Falls, Foremost, and Liberty Mutual. They work with many companies so they can provide the very best rates with the most coverage, business owners say.
They’ve made insurance a family business
As the business has grown, the Praefkes have made it a family affair. While Roger is the company President and head producer or agent; his wife Kim is the Vice President, manages the office, and handles all the Human Resources; daughter Amanda handles all of the marketing and special projects; and daughter Sara is the Customer Services Manager.
“We are a family operated business as of 2018,” Amanda said.
“Insurance has been a family business for us, as my grandfather was also in insurance,” she said, “So it was a natural option.”
“My father [Roger] is an excellent people person and networker and one of the smartest people I know,” Amanda said. “To ME, watching my father and the care and commitment he has for our customers, he chose insurance because of how much he cares about people.”
While Roger didn’t hear Amanda’s comment, his response when asked what he loves most about his business seems to correlate with her response.
“Being able to give our customers the peace of mind that if something bad happens, we will be there to help them rebuild their lives,” Roger said.
“As a family, we have experienced a lot of loss,” Amanda said. Those losses were a lot of the reasons they needed the support from their own personal insurance throughout the years, she said.
“I feel like through these life lessons and critical times, my father got to see even more how important what he does IS,” Amanda said. “I feel like as a family, we all got to experience how much support and relief we can provide to people when they need it most, which is why we all do this as a team!”
“This is a huge reason why my dad walked away from big corporations and created his own company with a slightly different business model, as well,” she said. “My dad likes to build relationships and actually BE the one you call when a loss happens, rather than dealing with a whole bunch of customer service reps that you don’t know or automated messages, etc. Therefore, in our agency, the agents service their own policies, versus most agencies where the agent just sells you a policy and then you never talk to them again.”
“We pride ourselves on our customer service and the relationships we build with our customers,” Amanda said.
Building a team with that same mindset
The family can’t be in all places at all times, and certainly not in three locations, so they’ve grown a solid team in each city, as well.
“Our team in Merrill is led by our incredible Northern Territory Manager, Bill Weston, and an amazing group of local women,” Amanda said. In addition to the Praefke family, Niki Fawley is an Outside Sales Producer, Taryn Rampart is Customer Service, Amanda Bacon is Inside Sales and Customer Service, and two days a week Ben Porter is Inside Sales and Customer Service.
“All of our staff aside from Bill, who manages both northern offices, are Merrill locals and very connected to and passionate about their community,” Amanda said.
“All of our amazing staff have a very similar mindset, in being geared towards truly helping people rather than making a quick buck,” she said.
“Unfortunately, this is an industry where it can be easy to take advantage of people that don’t know much about insurance and what they are buying. We have had many customers walk through our doors that were sold far too expensive of polices for way too little coverage,” Amanda said. “This is another thing that sets us apart as a whole. We not only want to make sure that we get people the best price, but also explain and educate them on what they are paying for and what is all being covered so that our customers can have the peace of mind insurance is supposed to give them.”
“To be honest, I never thought I would work in this industry,” she said. “I started working here over three years ago for what was supposed to be temporary, until I found a job where I could ‘really help people,’ which is my only true passion.”
“I saw this as just a corporate-type-industry job and didn’t have any idea how much I would REALLY be helping people until I watched my dad work.”
“My dad will stay late for our customers, my dad has loaned people premium payments so that they don’t lose their insurance, he fights for our customers when they are getting the short end of the stick, he deals with the headaches from the big companies so they don’t have to, he makes sure that our customers and staff feel supported, heard, and appreciated,” Amanda said. “He’ll give anyone his time and anyone a chance and everyone his best!”
“Because THIS is who our leader IS, it has a ripple effect on our entire staff, which I believe our customers can feel,” she said. “This is why I ended up staying, will continue to stay, and hopefully, one day will be able to carry on this legacy with my sister.”
Building community in Merrill
“We are really looking forward to getting more active in the Merrill community and working with and helping other small businesses and also nonprofits,” Amanda said. “We had some huge transitions since opening the Merrill office in 2017, so we did not have the time or manpower to get involved as we now hope to be! We are looking forward to partnering with local businesses on marketing ideas, we just donated to and want to work on some projects for/with the Merrill Police Association and all of their youth activities they sponsor, as well, and are interested in sponsoring our own community events at some point, especially being right on Main Street!”
“We are hoping to team up with some other small businesses so we can support one another with some different marketing ideas that will get people in both of our doors,” she said. “We are reaching out to some local nonprofits and charities to see if we can get involved in not only volunteering,but being a drop-off center for goods and supplies.”
“We are planning a ‘Virtual Pet Show’ where donations can be made and given to a local animal shelter,” Amanda said. “We are also working on ideas for a social event in partnership with other local business and a candle lit nature walk.”
“These last two are still on the drawing board, but I am hoping we can have them ready by next year at the latest,” she added.
Growing their business
From a business perspective, “We are hoping to focus on growing our commercial insurance lines in the Merrill office currently, so we are working on some marketing campaigns focusing on farms, bars and restaurants, and small businesses,” Amanda said.
“Our business has continued to steadily grow since its inception and has added well over a thousand new customers and counting between our three locations,” she said. The Praefkes want to continue that growth.
“One of the biggest challenges right now, when looking at growth especially, has been finding licensed agents to work,” Amanda said. “We have an AMAZING staff, and they work very hard, but as we grow, we will also need more agents to manage our new customers. Fortunately, we just recently hired two new agents who are kicking butt and a couple of our current Customer Services Reps are now producers, as well!”