Morris Gibson, Business Development Director at 1847Financial – Charlotte, NC and Atlanta, GA, helps financial professionals pinpoint new goals and tackle the barriers holding them back from success. In this Q&A, we’ll explore how he collaborates with financial professionals to create tailored plans that removes those limitations by leveraging the resources available at 1847Financial.

Are you ready to reach the next level in your financial practice? To set a significant growth goal, remove the obstacles and reach it? Let’s get started. We've seen many financial professionals turn into legitimate growth success stories, simply by using the expertise, tools and resources at 1847Financial.

What advice do you have for someone who is considering changing firms?
Be sure to consider 1847Financial, because you don’t know what you’re missing. This is a strong operation with very competitive products, fair underwriting and wide-ranging support for the financial professional and their clients.

What would you say your team does better than the others; what really helps your financial professionals reach new levels in their business?
As a team, it’s definitely our culture. When you’re part of the 1847Financial – Charlotte, NC and Atlanta, GA, let by Tom Parks, you are part of a family, and you really feel that difference.

The leadership team works well together, too. Even though we all have separate units, we always help each other and work with people in another unit if that leader needs some help. Our firm leaders are selfless, they’re not trying to get the glory … they simply want to contribute and help us collectively move in the right direction.

This teamwork increases our impact significantly, and we hear about it all the time. A couple of days ago, I was talking with Ken Erdman, one of our newer teammates. He has been in the industry for years, and said that the feeling he gets from our operation is different than what he’s experienced anywhere else. He said, “I can always reach you. Everyone is extremely responsive, and the support resources are really strong.”

      I treat people the way I want to be treated.

I consider myself a pretty straightforward person. I believe in treating others the way I’d like to be treated, and I enjoy having fun with people. I’m genuine in my conversations—no fluff here—while keeping things low-key.

Take this morning, for example. I received about five referrals from a friend of mine who has been in the industry for years. He consistently ranks at the top of the table for the Million-Dollar Round Table. However, he didn’t realize that Penn Mutual and 1847Financial own Leap Systems.

He really values Leap as a planning tool, and this morning he told me, “I’m going to bring four or five more people to you, knowing they’ll have free access to Leap.” Plus, we have Al Dickens on our team—one of the top Leap trainers in the country—who's ready to help train those new folks.

How would describe your ideal recruit prospect, the person you really want on your team? 
It’s important to be teachable and approachable. We all run into those who have been in the business a while, and they think know everything. I find it challenging to work with those types.

I think the folks who have some experience, but they’re realizing that they have maybe peaked where they are or they are finding limiters where they are for some reason. Many of these folks have found a good fit here.

I place a strong emphasis on persistency. I think you should know your track record on persistency. Because we're a mutual company, I'm kind of picky about who I bring to the company. Persistency matters.

How did you get started in financial services and 1847Financial?
Right out of high school I was planning an exciting baseball career with a college scholarship that would hopefully lead to playing professional ball. We won the Junior College Baseball Championship, and I did get drafted into pro ball; but I failed the physical because of a shoulder injury … this was before the days of arthroscopic rotator-cuff repair. 

Right after I found out I wasn’t going to be playing baseball anymore, Ron Alford came by the house. He was just getting started in the insurance business and wanted me to do it with him. I thought I was too quiet and reserved to do well, but it turns out I am well suited to it. I was even the top producer for several years.

We started out on with a debit life, accident and cancer insurance company, going door-to-door to sell and collect premium. We would go door-to-door collecting 25 cents at one house, 50 cents from another house, $5 at that house. The industry has changed so much.

Then I got into management and did that for several years. I finally left that company to go out on my own and have basically owned my own business since 1985.

I changed my focused to employee benefits: Group life, accident, cancer insurance, health insurance and other lines. I love group benefits because it’s a great way to meet the employees and work with them to help them achieve their goals. The owners of the companies provide certain benefits, and then my team can help the employees with other benefits they may need that their company doesn’t provide.

So, now I manage group plans for 171 companies. It's a stress sometimes, but some of them have been with me since I started in 1985.

Some of those groups are very small with only two employees, then I have some with more than one hundred people. I work with a couple of car dealerships, one with almost 120 employees. We offer some lunch-and-learn workshops and are actually hiring several people to help us increase those offerings.

What do you do for fun?
I play golf some golf when I can, but my 16 year-old daughter is a competitive swimmer. So, my wife and I are both USA Swimming Officials. I’m a deck ref, so I run the swim meets as either the starter or on the deck rails. We’ve been involved with that for more than seven years, and we love that. My daughter has been swimming since she was two, and she’s won several North Carolina State Championships.

How long on have been with Penn Mutual and 1847Financial?
About five years ago, we were in South America for Christmas vacation with my wife's family, but I don't speak Spanish. So, here I am with this New York accent and not much to do, so I was basically using that time to do research since I’d been interested in a change for a while.

That research lead me to see how Penn Mutual really is one of the best kept secrets out there. I had been in this industry for 40 years, but I never really heard of Penn Mutual. I started seeing how their product lineup is ranked very high against competitors in categories like whole life insurance, term life insurance, universal life and annuities.

And the more I interacted with the company, the more I saw the resources and investment they make into the financial professionals’ businesses in areas like marketing, practice development, advanced sales and more. And it’s a smaller company, so everyone knows my name; we don’t need to refer to some randomly assigned agent number all the time.

It took me a while to find 1847Financial, but I couldn’t think of a better place to finish my career. For financial professionals contemplating a move, the value of learning and integrating into new systems to address road blocks is key.

The leadership team at the 1847 Financial Parks Firm works hard to create a supportive environment that encourages professional growth and success. We help you reduce the limitations, see new goals clearly and develop the next stage of your career growth.

Want to learn more? Connect with Morris on LinkedIn.

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