Meet Andy Lockridge of Lockridge and Associates

Today we’d like to introduce you to Andy Lockridge.

Andy, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
In 1986, I resigned from the church I was pastoring because I felt God was calling me to go into business on my own. I knew that I wanted to be able to set my own schedule and make decent money so that I could travel and do ministry whenever I wanted. I had an idea of what I might do for work, so for two years, I tried all of my ideas and got nowhere. At the end of two years, I was deeply in debt and out of ideas.

About that time, I got a call from someone who asked me to come to work for them. They had heard about me and wanted me to meet with them. I asked them what they did and they replied that they were in the life and health insurance business. I responded that I did not like insurance companies or insurance agents and hung up. The person called me back a couple of weeks later and again I hung up.

About a month later, they called again, but this time took a different approach. They said that they understood that I did not like insurance companies or insurance agents, but wanted to make me an offer. They invited me and my wife to an all-expense paid weekend so I could meet them and the executives of an insurance company. All they asked from me was that I give them my feedback on whether or not I liked the executives of the insurance company.

I accepted the offer and met with the executives of the insurance company. At the end of the weekend, I left convinced that if I ever did work for an insurance company, I could work for that company with a clear conscience.

After that meeting, I began to make phone calls and set appointments for an agent that I was assigned to work with. We were marketing long-term care insurance almost exclusively at that time. In the insurance industry, agents can win trips if they reach certain sales incentives and this man, who was in his late 50’s, had never won a trip. I was assigned to set appointments for him so he could win a trip to Spain.

He qualified for the trip to Spain and I was assigned to another agent who was trying to win a trip to Mexico. I set appointments for him and he qualified for the Mexico trip. I was then assigned to set appointments for a financial planner who wanted to market long-term care to her clients, However, when I set the appointments, she was reluctant to meet with the clients so I started to meet with them and began making sales.

At that point, I decided that I could sell on my own rather than simply setting appointments for someone else. Prior to that time, I had never sold anything successfully. However, I found that my approach, which is to educate and help people make an intelligent decision, worked very well For the next ten years, I was near the top of the company in terms of long-term care sales.

Then my average client age started to drop into the mid-sixties and I started getting a lot of questions about Medicare which I knew nothing about. I started reading everything I could on Medicare and tried to answer people’s questions. The feedback I received was interesting. People told me that I was giving them information about Medicare which no one else was giving them and they suggested that I figure out a way to make that information available to the general public. I decided to do two things: (1) Teach a four-hour class called “Making Sense of Medicare” at various community colleges throughout Arizona. (2) Set up a Medicare website that had much of my class information on it.

After teaching the Medicare class for several years, the community colleges got back to me and requested that I put together a class on social security. I knew little about social security, but started reading everything I could on it and put together a class that I felt would be suitable. Around that time, I saw an ad to attend some training in Cincinnati to become a National Social Security Advisor. I decided to attend the training and was the first person in Arizona who went through that training and became certified as a National Social Security Advisor. That class taught me how to help people maximize their social security benefits.

Over time, my business has shifted from the major emphasis being on long-term care to the major emphasis being on Medicare and social security. I have discovered that many insurance agents do not want to deal with Medicare and it has been a niche that I enjoy helping people with.

Has it been a smooth road?
There have been several challenges along the way. Initially, in my business, I would do direct mail marketing. I followed up on the responses that were mailed back to me and then made phone calls to those who did not respond. About one-third of my business came from the cards that were mailed back and two-thirds came from the phone calls I made to those who did not respond by mail. Then the “do not call” legislation was passed by the federal government and I lost two-thirds of my business so I needed to find a different approach.

I adapted and then a few years later, the main company that I was using for long-term care decided to change their product. At the time, I felt that their long-term care product was the best on the market in terms of coverage and price. After the product was revised, it was no longer the best in coverage nor the best in price. So, once again, I had to adapt. It was at that time that I decided to begin focusing on Medicare since there are 10,000 people a day turning 65 in the United States.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Lockridge and Associates – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
My tagline is “Taking the Mystery out of Medicare and Maximizing Social Security Benefits.” I help educate people regarding the insurance issues of retirement but specialize in Medicare. My goal is to try to educate each person I meet so they can make an intelligent decision regarding their health care needs.

In addition to Medicare, the major products I offer are social security planning, long-term care insurance, dental/vision/hearing insurance, foreign travel insurance, and life insurance. As a company, I try to focus on niche markets that other insurance agents overlook or are not interested in getting into. Recently, with the passage of the Affordable Care Act, I have been asked to help many people under age 65 with their health insurance needs.

Common responses that I receive from those who attend my Medicare class include:
-This class should be required attendance for anyone going on Medicare.
-For the first time in my life, I finally understand Medicare and what my options are.

One of the more common areas I help with involves the following scenario: I meet with a husband and wife. They are both covered under the husband’s health care plan at work but he is going on Medicare in the near future. When the husband goes on Medicare, the wife will lose her health care coverage that she had through his work. I can help the husband with Medicare coverage options and I can help the wife find health care coverage until she also is able to go on Medicare herself.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
The Phoenix metropolitan area is a great area to live and work. I am originally from Minnesota so I appreciate the warm weather, palm trees, and the opportunity to plan outdoor events and activities most of the year without having to worry about the weather. I have lived and worked here long enough (30+ years) so that even though I am in a large city, I can often go to an event or activity and see someone that I know. The hot summer temperatures are one of the things I like least, but being from Minnesota, I would rather have heat than cold.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lockridgeinsurance.com
• Phone: 602-228-6992
• Email: andy@lockridgeinsurance.com

Image Credit:
Nancy Lockridge

Getting in touch: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.