We talked with Broc about:
- The power of authenticity and trust when cultivating long-lasting relationships
- Digging deeper to ask the right questions when choosing an insurance partner
- How to align values and goals to spark collaboration
About Broc Buckles:
Broc Buckles is the co-founder of BC Brokerage, a company dedicated to serving financial planners across all 50 states. BC Brokerage focuses on providing honest, efficient, and transparent insurance solutions exclusively for financial advisors and their clients. Recognizing the challenges financial planners face with traditional insurance brokers who often push products for commission, Broc and his team offer a trustworthy alternative. BC Brokerage empowers advisors, especially fee-only fiduciaries, to confidently implement insurance plans without concerns about upselling or misaligned incentives.
Featured Resources
- Broc Buckles on LinkedIn
- BC Brokerage on Instagram
- BC-brokerage.com
- Alan Moore on LinkedIn
- Michael Kitces on LinkedIn
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Full Audio Transcript:
00:00 - 20:03
Lauren Hong
All right, let's do this. So excited to hear from you today about business, insurance, online yards. You guys are an indie. Where should we start? I'm gonna throw it over to you to share a little bit about background. Like what you guys got going on over there.
00:20 - 00:46
Broc Buckles
Yeah. For sure. Well, thanks. Thanks for having me on, Lauren. Good to be here with you. My name is Broc Buckles. I'm one of the co-founders of a company called BC Brokerage, and we work all over the country — all 50 states — with specifically and exclusively financial planners to help their clients be able to implement insurance in an honest and efficient and fair way so they don't have to kind of deal with the dark side of the insurance industry.
00:46 - 1:11
Broc Buckles
I know a lot of people come from broker dealers or captive places where they're kind of pushed to do one thing, and it always feels like people are being sold one thing. And so the idea behind creating the company was really just to give advisors, who we believe are the true fiduciary, the true advisors of the world, which is fee-only, the opportunity to be able to implement things for their clients.
1:11- 1:34
Broc Buckles
But when we were talking to them early on, one of the biggest things was, I don't know what's going to happen when I ask my client to get some insurance from these random people, and a lot of times they end up selling them. And so, we really pride ourselves on being the antithesis of that. And whatever they come recommended with is the insurance they get.
1:34 - 1:52
Lauren Hong
Okay. So let’s kind of back up. How did you decide to work specifically with the advisor community? And how did you kind of navigate that path for you guys in the insurance world before? And then you kind of narrowed in here, or was it the other way around? Were you on the advisor side? And then you go, hey, you know, we see a problem.
1:52 - 1:53
Lauren Hong
How did that come about?
1:54 - 2:19
Broc Buckles
Yeah. Good question. So we started our careers — actually Peter and I met the first day of intern training — at a big Fortune 500 company that I eventually became kind of disenfranchised with. I was there for about five and a half years. Peter was there for a couple of years and kind of got on the brokerage side. Basically we met up one day, and I was like, I'm not happy with what I'm doing.
2:19 - 2:45
Broc Buckles
And he said to me, well, it's funny because there's this type of financial planner who's out there. They don't do insurance but obviously good financial planning includes insurance. And so I think there's a good opportunity out here. And it was so funny because he always said to me, you know, get the phone to ring the other way — make good B2B relationships with people and then have them call you when they need help with their clients.
2:45 - 2:50
Broc Buckles
And back then I thought he was crazy because the model we were using is you cold call everybody.
2:50 - 2:51
Lauren Hong
Oh yeah.
2:51 - 3:05
Broc Buckles
No one's going to call you. So he kind of told me about it and I said, hey, you know what? Let's run with it. And we started in January of 2020, which was a great time to start a business, right before a big pandemic hit.
3:05 - 3:06
Lauren Hong
Yeah. Yes.
3:06 - 3:18
Broc Buckles
It was rough but we were very disciplined about it. He took advantage of his operational strengths. And I love talking to people. And so it just kind of worked. And here we are today.
3:18 - 3:43
Lauren Hong
So it's a whole world, right? Like the advisor community. There's a lot of jargon, a lot of inroads to be able to figure out and what have you. How did you guys go about that? Did you or Peter come with a base or a subset of that, or how did you help to navigate this community and kind of learn to speak their language and their needs and their clients’ needs?
3:43 - 4:01
Broc Buckles
Yeah. So I mean, it came with just the very small sample size of the people in the Indianapolis area we had talked about. And then we had conversations with them and just asked them, what are your pain points? What is it you struggle with? What are the experiences, both good and bad, you've had when implementing insurance?
4:01 - 4:24
Broc Buckles
And so we took that small sample size and just very literally applied it into a national concept and just said, hey, you know what? We're going to start going to these conferences. We're going to start looking at people who are only on LinkedIn. And honestly, it started with me probably calling 10,000+ people just trying to get appointments because that's what I knew how to do.
4:24 - 4:26
Lauren Hong
Yeah. You were used to that.
4:26 - 4:47
Broc Buckles
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so, those days aren't really here anymore. We don't really do those anymore because there's a lot more inbound stuff. But it was that. And then we just kind of started meeting with more and more people. The more we met with people, the more we actually realized it's a small but it's a large world.
4:47 - 5:09
Broc Buckles
It's a lot smaller than other parts of the industry but you definitely have everything from solopreneurs all the way up to firms that have billions and billions and billions of dollars under management. And we work with all of them, solopreneurs all the way up to the firms that have close to 100 advisors.
5:09 - 5:26
Lauren Hong
Wow. Yeah. So you really see the full spread there, what's going on. Definitely challenges of those growth periods. So I know you guys work with a lot of IT firms that are part of the Philly network. They're doing really good work out there. I'm assuming a lot of NAPFA firms.
5:26 - 5:35
Lauren Hong
We were talking right before this but just to give a shoutout to XYPN. I know you said it earlier. You're doing their conference, I believe.
5:35 - 5:57
Broc Buckles
Yeah, we're going to be sponsoring it. Shout out to the XYPN community. Awesome community. And what an opportunity Alan Moore and Michael Kitces have given to people who really want to go out and do their own thing. So it's been so cool to watch that grow. And I mean, it was going five or six years before we even started our company; to see the evolution in the five years we've been around has been huge.
5:57 - 6:07
Broc Buckles
And the people I talk to who have been there since the beginning can't believe it. It was like one roundtable when it first started. And now there's thousands of advisors with them.
6:07 - 6:21
Lauren Hong
Well, they tapped into a need and yeah, shoutout to Alan too. We had him on our podcast here. It must have been several months ago but he gave a really good overview of how they built that up and the communities they're building and all that. So I'll make sure to link it to.
6:21 - 6:38
Lauren Hong
Okay. So just to go back to what you were saying earlier about this subset, right? You're like, okay, like let's talk with people in our local area, figure out what their needs are, apply that at a national level. I'm sure you guys have learned a ton since then. So if you were in an advisor’s seat, right?
6:38 - 6:52
Lauren Hong
What questions should they be asking if they're thinking about working with someone like you? What are the questions, the top questions they should be thinking about asking? Maybe what people start telling them to make sure it's like the right fit for wherever they are.
6:52 - 7:03
Broc Buckles
Yeah. So I mean, there are obviously other firms out there that do what we do. But I think first and foremost, you have to make sure people have honest business practices, right?
7:03 - 7:05
Lauren Hong
So have that alignment.
7:05 - 7:24
Broc Buckles
Yep, exactly. Just mirroring their fiduciary responsibility in our own work is, I think, one of the things we pride ourselves on the most. And we encourage people to grill us and ask us questions, like why are you choosing this carrier for this client? Why are you deciding to do that? Planning this way? Why are you making this recommendation?
7:24 - 7:42
Broc Buckles
And we build a lot of trust through things like offering some free offerings. We'll review policy analysis with people. So I would say the big thing you want to get a feel for very quickly is, is this a person you're just going to send business to and they're going to make money off the clients you're referring to them?
7:42 - 8:06
Broc Buckles
Or does it really feel like an authentic partnership? And one that's going to create reciprocity and make sure you actually feel like you can lean on them not just for implementing business but also asking questions, and understanding things about the insurance world that maybe are a little bit more nuanced, that you're just not spending your day, every single day as a financial planner, focusing on.
8:06 - 8:20
Lauren Hong
Okay, so the first thing is really just basically getting value alignment. Is this a fit? How do they go about picking their carriers and making choices so they can be rolled along the way and that's okay.
8:20 - 8:21
Broc Buckles
So absolutely.
8:21 - 8:28
Lauren Hong
Any other questions that you feel like advisors should be asking when picking the right vendor to work with?
8:28 - 8:54
Broc Buckles
You know, I would say to ask them what their philosophies are on certain types of products is a really good thing to do. Like, I have advisors all the time ask me about the big, bad permanent insurance world where it's like a lot of advisors are recommending term insurance all the time but they want kind of as a test to ask why, when, and where do you recommend permanent insurance?
8:54 - 9:12
Broc Buckles
And you better have a pretty good answer for that question. There are certain situations where it definitely makes sense; if people are over $10 million net worth, they have special needs planning, if you're looking to do long-term care planning. But ask them questions that are related to not just everyday product lines, right?
9:12 - 9:35
Broc Buckles
Ask them questions about specific products and what situations you would use those products in to see if you align. Because I think you could say, are you going to be honest? Okay, can we trust you or are you going to sell our clients? And that's one thing. But if every single time you recommend something, they're trying to lead you in a different way or it's just a very hard conversation that's never going to work.
9:35 - 9:45
Lauren Hong
So are most of your engagements where you're building the relationship with the advisor, and then they're referring you to their client? Just to make sure I'm following that.
9:45 - 9:45
Broc Buckles
That's how it works.
9:46 - 10:03
Lauren Hong
Okay, cool. That's helpful. Another thing I see sometimes is you can work with a provider and everything looks great on paper with the communications. It's totally want want, like it just falls flat, you know? What do you guys do to make sure that follow-through happens, right?
10:03 - 10:13
Lauren Hong
And making sure people have what they need and the check-ins. Do you have any kind of systemized cadence you've got working with your clients? Because things can get stale, right?
10:13 - 10:34
Broc Buckles
Yeah, things can get stale. So yeah, that's a really good question. And that's more of Peter's department. He's the operation mind. But we have definitely done some things that have truly improved the efficiency and the way things get done. So one of the things was automatic email reminders, right?
10:34 - 10:51
Broc Buckles
So we have a cadence once a week from the time we're introduced. They're going to get a reminder; I would like to say we're pleasantly persistent. And so once a week, we're going to politely remind them to please fill out their intake form if they haven't done that. When we hit a month, we loop the advisor back in.
10:51 - 11:09
Broc Buckles
And then we also created a portal. You know, I think we're a very tech forward firm in the way we want to keep everybody in the loop. So it's a portal that actually talks to our CRM. And then every advisor has an account name, and all of the deals we do underneath their account name with their clients, they can follow along instantaneously.
11:10 - 11:20
Broc Buckles
So the minute we have an update about a case, there's no manual process of email, anything like that; everything happens right away. So that's cut down on processing time, which has been cool.
11:20 - 11:36
Lauren Hong
And communications with the advisor too because they've got that transparency, the same with your system or what have you. Oh that's really neat that you guys have built that in tandem. So it's not just like a referral relationship but you actually have a portal where they can have that hub and have that transparency to develop that trust.
11:36 - 12:02
Broc Buckles
Yeah, exactly. We took a survey in the beginning, asking how are you keeping track of your clients’ insurance policies once they've been completed? And we heard way too many say via Excel spreadsheets and so were like there has to be a better way. So, when they're done and we've completed something, they can literally go into that portal, click on the policy’s tab and see every policy we've ever implemented with them.
12:02 - 12:17
Broc Buckles
They can actually also add policies we haven't even implemented just to have a filing cabinet system for everything insurance related. There's a note section. So it's literally everything you could want from an organizational standpoint.
12:17 - 12:21
Lauren Hong
Super cool. That's really helpful. Like that one-stop shop.
12:21 - 12:22
Broc Buckles
Yeah.
12:22 - 12:45
Lauren Hong
I also really appreciate how you guys are like, I don't know, in a high tower thinking about what people need but you're actually talking to people, like boots on ground, and then creating real solutions to be able to solve those problems. So, it's good to hear that too. Okay. So you've got the advisor side about how to potentially see if you guys would be the right fit.
12:45 - 13:02
Lauren Hong
But let's kind of flip the table. So let's say an advisor is talking with a client. And they're trying to figure out if they need an insurance solution. What questions do you often tip off to advisors to help them kind of guide them down those right questions if their client does need a service like yours?
13:02 - 13:07
Broc Buckles
So I want to make sure I understand your question. Like how are they figuring out if the client needs the insurance?
13:07- 13:09
Lauren Hong
Yep. You got it.
13:09 - 13:24
Broc Buckles
So, I mean, a lot of them, some of them come from the insurance world so they have a pretty good handle on it. Others, kind of the extent of the insurance knowledge they have is what they learned in the CFP® curriculum, which is not a ton. So there's a lot of on-the-job learning.
13:24 - 13:49
Broc Buckles
But as a general rule of thumb, most people need life insurance. It's just a matter of figuring out how much. For disability income, that's one of those things to where you probably have some through work. Most of the time it's taxed. And so we tell them, if your clients can't live on 40 to 45% of what they're making right now if something were to happen, we probably need to be having a disability conversation.
13:49- 14:07
Broc Buckles
Annuities and permanent insurance, that's getting into the weeds a little bit. So that's a lot different. But then we also recently started within the last about six months offering property and casualty, both commercial and personal, across the United States so that more or less just has to do with, hey, let's check your current coverage, make sure everything's adequate.
14:07 - 14:24
Broc Buckles
Your limits are where they should be, if you wreck into the back of a Lamborghini, you're not going to have to pay out of pocket for it. And that's a little bit more black and white but that's kind of the way we just put the things into their ears and say, here's what you should be looking at.
14:24 - 14:30
Broc Buckles
And like I said, a lot of people already know how to do it. But for the people who are kind of new in this space, those are kinds of the tips we try to give them.
14:30 - 14:36
Lauren Hong
Yeah. So here's a spread of options. Here's the key things to be thinking about when talking with clients. So they have an idea.
14:36 - 14:37
Broc Buckles
Exactly. Yeah.
14:37 - 14:52
Lauren Hong
Okay. Do you mind putting this into reality too? Can you share a case study, maybe an advisor you worked with and kind of like how that engagement went, maybe like a timeline and how things are built over time. And working with them and their clients.
14:52 - 15:10
Broc Buckles
Yeah. It's like a sample case of how we have moved forward with relationships with advisors, as I was talking about.
15:15 - 15:01
Lauren Hong
Yeah, yeah.
15:01 - 15:18
Broc Buckles
Yeah, absolutely. And it's funny how this happens, actually, we have an advisor we've worked with basically since the beginning. And in the beginning it was very much like, here's what the client needs, this is what we want. A lot of the dialog was not rigid but very specific about what the client needed.
15:18 - 15:34
Broc Buckles
And then, as they continue to work with us and we work with case after case and they knew our planning philosophy, when it came to certain product lines, was about the same as theirs was, it's been really cool because now the emails consist of, this person needs this product, take it away.
15:34 - 15:53
Broc Buckles
I trust you guys. And so it was really cool over the last several years to be able to build that relationship to a point where they just know we're going to do the right thing. And when the relationships get to those points that feels really good because that means we're all doing a really good job of making sure we're on the same page.
15:53 - 16:10
Lauren Hong
Yeah, I hear you. It's that trust component too. I think that goes back to your earlier initial question of make sure the value base is there. I mean, that's a good question for vendors in general, make sure there's a good value for it. But I think in this space in particular, like you said, there can sometimes be a bad rap that's associated with it.
16:10 - 16:15
Lauren Hong
And being able to make sure there's that alignment, that philosophy alignment and fiduciary alignment.
16:15 - 16:29
Broc Buckles
So yeah, and you have to stay on your stuff because one thing is for sure, you got to keep people happy. Because, like I said, it can be kind of a big community but it can also be a small community. So you need to make sure you're doing a good job for people.
16:29 - 16:39
Lauren Hong
That's right. That's so true. Okay. So any other final thoughts, shoutouts you want to give anything to?
16:39 - 17:03
Broc Buckles
Yeah. The thing I would say is if you have any questions about what we do, feel free to reach out to me. It's Broc at bc hyphen brokerage.com. Check out our website, BC hyphen brokerage.com. And if anybody's listening who’s thinking about starting an RIA and wants me to put you in touch with someone who's been doing it, I know a lot of people who are very generous with their time, so I'm happy to do that.
17:03 - 17:07
Broc Buckles
And if you want to bounce ideas off me, please don't hesitate to reach out.
17:07 - 17:13
Lauren Hong
Broc, thanks so much. I also want to give you a plug for your podcast as well. So is it fee-only? Is that right?
17:14 - 17:23
Broc Buckles
Only fee-only podcast. You can find us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Those are the two main hubs.
17:23 - 17:38
Lauren Hong
Okay. Sweet. So we'll make sure to include that link below also to your website, BC Brokerage, as well. So thank you. Appreciate your time and the work you do for this community. Paying it forward. Thank you for sharing your time and insights today.
17:38 - 17:40
Broc Buckles
Yeah. Thanks a lot. Was great to talk to you, Lauren.
17:40 - 17:44
Lauren Hong
Thanks.
