Page 18 - Best of the Best 2020

18N • BEST OF THE BEST
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2020 • ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
FINALIST: BEST INSURANCE AGENT Blanche Murphy >>
Agent looks to be insurance solution for clients
Customer service has always been the focus and highlight of Blanche Murphy’s career as an insurance agent with
Insurance Center Inc. in Little Rock. “Honestly, our customer service is one of the best,” she said. “I am always available on my cellphone whenever you need me, and I think that is what
helps us stand out.
“I am glad that I pick up the burden
and to treat them exactly how she would want to be treated.
“I don’t want them to pay more than they have to,” she said. “I think I just treat them the way I would hope some- one would treat me.”
Insurance Center Inc. started in 1979 with four partners but has grown every year since then. She said the agency now has nine partners. Mur- phy, 27, is a member of Daughters of
for [my customers]. I really think our availability helps us stand out. At least that’s what I have been told.”
Murphy is a final- ist for Best Insurance Agent in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s 2020 Best of the Best readers’ poll.
“I really enjoy my line of work,” she said. “I just kind of fell into it.”
Her father, Clay Murphy, is an in- surance agent and a partner with the Insurance Center.
Blanche Murphy works in her office at the Insurance Center Inc., 2200 Hidden Valley Drive, Suite 300, in Little Rock.
the American Revo- lution and gives back to Veterans Affairs.
“Our accessibili- ty is a standard that we hold very high,” she said. “We aren’t so big that it has be- come impersonal.”
She said being a finalist in the Best of the Best contest and earning that honor “was pretty fantastic.”
“I suppose that is something I am thinking about con- stantly: ‘Am I doing a good job?’” she said. “There is noth- ing negative coming from our insured
“It was just some-
thing I have been around my whole life,” she said. “It is a big honor [to be a finalist]; it is pretty cool.”
Blanche Murphy specializes in oil and gas insurance. It is an interesting niche that a lot of people don’t have the opportunity to be a part of, and they don’t have access to those mar- kets, she said.
“I help people out because I have access to offer aid or a solution to a problem — it is a reward to me,” she said, “being able to help out my insured with whatever they need, whether it is their home or car.
“It is really nice to be that solution.”
Murphy said it is important to her to treat all of her clients exactly the same
because we make it so easy on them. Everyone is happy.
“Knock on wood. I haven’t really ex- perienced anybody who doesn’t like me.” Murphy said her biggest goal is to help the business continue growing and to eventually take over for her dad, “because he entrusts me with that
responsibility.”
“I want to continue the way we are
operating now, as stable as it is,” she said. “We, thankfully, do have referrals, but honestly, it is a lot of footwork.”
Murphy said she doesn’t like being in the spotlight that much and re- mains off social media, and the com- pany doesn’t have much of a website. She said that while it may be easier
PHOTOS BY JENNIFER ELLIS/ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
Blanche Murphy of Insurance Center Inc. in Little Rock is a finalist for Best Insurance Agent in the 2020 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s readers’ choice awards.
for someone to click through a site and select their coverage, it takes away from that personal connection.
“We get out there and ask those businesses who insures them,” she said. “That is what makes it so much more sociable. ... That person-to-person interaction is really one of the best parts of the job.”
She said one of the reasons the company’s agents are able to keep their clients as long as they do is by maintaining a personal relationship with them and getting to know them and how their business works.
“It has kind of worked out on both ends and is why they stay with us as long as they do,” Murphy said.