Rick Millham Jr. of the Millham Insurance Company has spent the last 30 years working as an Independent Insurance Agent. Rick represents 10 different top insurance companies and hundreds of other carriers through his brokerage relationships. He holds the advanced degree of Certified Insurance Counselor.
A strong believer in giving back to the community, Rick’s agency is located at the south end of in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Investing time in his community is something he is wholly dedicated to. Rick serves on several boards for community organizations such as the Michener Museum, Mercer Museum, Rotary, Doylestown at Dusk Car Show, and Plumstead Christian School to name a few.
Rick is proactively involved in his community. He believes that the best and longest lasting relationships are developed through personal connections. He shares that trust is important, and trust requires a relationship.
He gives credit to his father who demonstrate a commitment to giving back to community through service early in Rick’s career. He also recognizes one of his first customers, Steve Lusen from Thompson Telephone, who mentored him in networking in the community.
Being in a crowded lane, Rick considered early on how he would differentiate himself and his business from the many other insurance agencies in the area. He decided to push into his strengths which are relational in nature. He did not see the benefit of competing on price, instead he focused on building relationships and getting connected with community organizations.
Focusing on connecting within the community organizations he started developing relationships with people who he refers to as “movers and shakers”, these people are the influencers in the community who will refer you to their connections. Rick shares that building these relationships were key to building his network and establishing himself as a trusted professional in his community and with his customers.
Rick shares that trust is a long-term investment. In networking and in community people come and go, they join a committee, write a big check, and they expect things to role downhill to them within a week or two of showing up. That’s not the way it works. It’s a long-term investment to relationships, to giving back to your community, to investing in your community, to establishing yourself as a trusted person and trusted advisor.
In Rick’s experience, there’s nothing magically different from traditionally ways of marketing your business and networking, networking just delivers more return on investment than the time and effort you’d put into mailers, cold calling, and advertising. Networking returns much better as a long-term consistent effort for businesses.
Rick and I met through LeTip International. In the early 1990’s Steve Lusen, invited Rick to visit LeTip of Lower Bucks. He realized that this was the type of networking he was looking for, but it was a little far to travel each week at dawn. When a new chapter, LeTip of Doylestown, launched in 1996, he showed up with check in hand and has been a member since. He considers it a vital part of his business because of the support he receives from the other people in the group, as do I.
Attributing much of his success to the people in the room, Rick realizes the benefit of LeTip and the large number of referrals he has received from the group. He shares a story about one particular client that brought him $100,000 a year of business based on the word of another LeTip member. They came to him saying, “If this guy says you’re good, we want you for all of our insurance.”
Rick often says LeTip is the #1 best business decision he has made in his career. It fit his personality, his philosophy of how he wanted to build his business through relationships, and the way he sells which is on relationship and being a trusted advisor. He is committed to this group because it is a vital part of his business.
Reflecting on his 25 years of experience, Rick educates members about connecting with other members. He shares a tip of the week with insights and information that will help members become better at networking and leveraging their membership to help them grow their businesses.
Sometimes newer members don’t always appreciate the ancillary benefits of membership. As you push into the group, as you invest in the group, and as you work hard for the people in the room your relationships grow and evolve into deep friendships.
The power of your network is an incredible blessing and Rick does an amazing job of sharing that with others. He believes that helping people is the bigger picture. As a successful business owner that has greatly benefited from being part of the Central Bucks community, he believes that he is blessed because of community and that it is part of his responsibility to give back to his community. It’s important for him to know that he has made a difference.
There’s more to business than just earning a dollar, it’s giving back to your community. “When you’re giving back, the community tends to give back to you.”
If you’d like to know more about LeTip, I’d be happy to answer your questions, invite you to visit our chapter, or help you find a chapter that is closer for you.
Connect with Rick Millham
Website: http://millhamco.com
Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/Millham-Insurance-Agency-130318950325171/
