Learn from Sarah Dunn as she shares her experiences and what led her to specialize her skills in insurance in government contracting.
BACKGROUND
Sarah Dunn is an Employee Benefits & Insurance Specialist for The Capital Group/GovTech Insurance and the founder of Women in GovCon. She started her career in the insurance industry by chance.
She complimented a woman’s shoes at a recruiting expo, and the next thing she knew, she was single-handedly revitalizing the sales of Aetna health insurance plans.
Her hard work was not unnoticed, as she had over ten job offers to join brokerage companies, including The Capital Group, the premier GovCon- specialized insurance brokerage company.
Currently, Sarah is continuously making efforts to help small and mid-sized government contractors. She offers free consultations to ensure that these contractors are fitted with the proper care, especially knowing that insurance and employee benefits are the second largest expense for most companies.
WHAT IT MEANS TO HAVE A TRUSTED ADVISOR
It’s great to do business with the government because it’s safe, to an extent, and you get paid well, but the struggle is that you also have the government coming after you when things go wrong.
So, having insurance consultants can help you protect your business and your assets. Sarah believes in the importance of having a trusted advisor that knows your industry so that you, as a business owner, won’t need to deal with things that you are not an expert at.
“We have way too much to worry about, especially from an employer’s standpoint,” “Let someone else take care of it for you. Why are you wasting your time on it? Let me deal with it for you. I’m going to high level tell you that this is the stuff you should be having, but tell me, who’s completing that work for you right now? Who’s handling your open enrollment? Who’s handling your benefits?”
When Sarah was working as a national Aetna consultant, she sold to people in the position that she is now.
Most of her clients were small and middle-market companies, many of which were government contractors, and she noticed something about them, which led to her focus more on insurance in government contracting.
She saw so many firms that didn’t have a specialization in insurance in government contracting. As a result, many companies did not know what they were talking about when they were trying to address the needs of the clients.
An owner of a company that does facial recognition came to one of Sarah’s GovCon events, and they built a strong connection. Sarah then got her in the right room with the right people to help her grow her business.
When it comes to Sarah’s perspective on Insurance and benefits, she emphasized that it’s not just about money or savings. These aspects not only protect the business but help them attract top talent as well.
“If you have something that you’re offering that is outstanding, and you know your options because you have that trusted advisor, throw them on your offset because it will help you attract the right clients.”
WOMEN IN GOVCON
Sarah describes Women in GovCon as a networking group of powerhouse females, coming together with the intent of winning more contracts.
She has witnessed so many different networking groups in the government contracting industry and noticed that most, if not all, are male-dominated. Although there is nothing wrong with that, she feels that something is missing.
“What was missing was some of the added love that I truly feel women in govcon has been successful in enhancing.”
Small businesses are often looking for mentorship opportunities, and Women in GovCon provides that for their members. They would invite key players in the industry to speak on educational aspects like how to create balance being an executive leader and who to pass the ball to in various fields so you can increase your ROI.
Being a part of this organization, however, is not easy. Every group member was referred in from either a client of the Capital Group, a partner of the Capital Group or someone they have researched that they felt would be a perfect fit.
They are focused on bringing in members with a minimum of around $15 to $20 million in revenue. As of now, there are 70 members in Women in GovCon and growing.
“I say I planted the seed, but the seeds were already there. They were scattered around the earth, and now, we are starting to prosper and see those seeds spread out.”
ADVICE TO SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS
“We want to take on the world, and we think we can handle it, but you have to take small bites, and you have to pass the plate.”
In business, there’s too much to worry about that you can’t possibly know everything. So, It’s better to hand over things that you have little knowledge of to experts that can actually save you money and directly address your needs.
RESOURCES
If you want to learn more about Sarah Dunn’s experiences and insights learned along the way, then be sure to click the resources below. You can also visit the GovCon Giant website or the new GovCon Edu, where you learn everything about government contracting!
93: Sarah Dunn – Manage Service Provider teaches you how to WIN BIG!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uifL2JyOoUw&t=973s
