Prairie Wide Group
Hi, I'm Dennis
Alright, about myself
I live in Coaldale and have been in this business since 2011, supporting and building local. I am married and we love spending time together with our three kids and our Frenchie, named Ronnie. Future plans include retiring as Santa and running for Mayor of Coaldale. I have been with the Coaldale Fire Department since 2021, just coming up on 3 years the beginning of 2024 and am the president of the Coaldale Volunteer Fire Fighter Association. I was on the board of directors for the Children’s Link Society and worked in their HR Committee for a period of time.
About my business and why I do it
I began with a focus on providing advice to families starting off with at the time, one of Canada’s largest financial planning firms. I won their 4 years of Pathway to Pillar awards where I was recognized for being among the top of my piers in the first 4 years of business. In 2013 I was awarded top case count for advisors selling individual insurance for BC & for the region I was in. I realized in 2015 while working on my CFP Certified Financial Planner designation that I was not as interested in this as I was my business owner clients. I’ve always prided myself in my role as a “self-employed” advisor and have connected well with business owners. In 2015 I became independent and left the large firm to build a Group Benefits & Individual Insurance focussed practice From 2015 to 2017 my partners and I sculpted & managed GTG Insurance Services which eventually became part of a merger. In 2017 we began Valley-Wide Group Benefits. In 2017 I was travelling back and fourth to Calgary from BC a lot and realized that Alberta had so much more to offer me as a province, and a place to grow and raise my family. My wife and I sold our home and moved here and have never looked back. In 2017 when we moved here I let everyone know I intended to open a store within 2 years. In 2019 we opened Prairie Wide Insurance in Coaldale less than half a kilometer from my front door. We have been focussed on building a company in Coaldale, for the businesses & residents of Coaldale as well as the surrounding area. I love the small town feel and the fact that in Coaldale, you are surrounded by many other successful business owners & other supporters. In 2023, I made the decision to leave the BC side of the business behind for my past partners and focus 100% on Alberta. Some will say, I became a true Albertan right away, but my wife and I believe it was around a year ago when the majority of our extended family moved here, and started visiting more. They knew Coaldale was home and they all comment on the fact if it wasn’t so cold, they’d join us! Secretly, my wife and I hope it stays cold for a while yet.
About Group Benefits Specifically
I pride myself in the time and efforts I’ve spent getting to know all of the insurance carriers and their products. I have great relationships with the representatives and use my ability to build relationships and my understanding of their products to find my clients the best opportunities possible. I believe in using multiple different insurance carriers depending on the needs of your team and your company, this is why having the relationships with many is key. I believe in responsiveness and fast service which is why having relationships with many carriers is key. I believe in reputation marketing & referral business, and pride myself in seeing the amount of excellent google reviews our team has received. I pride myself in explaining benefits. We all see our insurance costs rising but why? I like to explain from day one how much an insurance company is expecting you to pay, and how much they are expecting you to claim. Sometimes the cheapest plan isn’t the right option, but you may not know until the renewal. I like to plan for all the renewals by negotiating a proper premium, a proper target loss ratio (the amount you can claim comfortably) using my relationships with the carriers, my knowledge of the industry, and the option of rate holds, rate caps, etc.
About Health Care Spending & Wellness Spending
There are times where it makes sense to go this route instead of a group benefits plan, but there is also the option of using it in conjunction with your group plan. The industry standard for administration fees on this is 10%, for several years I have been offering clients 7.5% and no cost for set up. You do not need to have multiple products to receive this 7.5% offer. Please let me know if you’d like me to send a proposal explaining how it works and what can be claimed.
Individual insurance needs
Being that I am a family man & a business owner. I 100% believe in having insurance to protect what I’ve worked hard for. I believe the economic value of a stay at home mom is one of the most undervalued topics when discussing your insurance needs. My wife has been home for almost a decade with our children, and this is why we have been able to build our company to the level it is at now and still have a great home & family life. If my wife passed away, got sick, or was permanently disabled, the insurance I have put in place would save our bacon financially, but still be challenging. If I passed away as the main income earner, our business and everything else would halt even during the succession planning taking place. This is why I believe in having the right insurance both personally and corporately to protect my family. Business owners often forget that key person insurance, buy/sell agreements, & insurance to cover overhead costs is readily available and can solve a lot of problems should the untimely death of an important team member, or business partner happen.