The women of Moorhead’s all-female agency, Robin Swanson Insurance — (seated, from left) Erin Huber, Mari Berggren and Jenna Crabtree, and (standing) Robin Swanson. (Photo/Nancy Hanson.)

moorhead business news 

Nancy Edmonds Hanson

Walking into Robin Swanson Insurance is a lot like coming into a friend’s living room. Decked out in pink and grey, the four cheerful offices of its quartet of female professionals seem to offer an antidote to the complicated nuts and bolts of buying insurance.

It’s a first impression built with care by Robin and her two associates, Jenna Crabtree and Erin Huber, as well as fellow independent agent Mari Berggren, all of whom are agents with Farmers Union Minnesota. Swanson established her agency in June 2020. She focuses on property and casualty policies, employing two other specialists, Jenna in home and auto, and Erin with businesses and agriculture.

Mari, specializes in health and life insurance, established her independent agency last September, colocating in the Swanson facility at 1130 28th Ave. S. just east of the Courtyard by Marriott in south Moorhead.

While theirs are agencies of Farmers Union Minnesota, Robin and Mari work with a long list of other companies that specialize in their fields. Both women have a dozen years in the business and clear ideas about the kind of relationships they build with clients – relationships based on selflessness, character, grit and excellence.

Mari has worked with health insurance since 2010. It’s been a time of dramatic change for the industry, with the Affordable Care Act and evolving regulations in the market. Along with health policies for business groups, families and individuals, she works with Medicare, including supplemental policies and prescription drug plans.

“Farmers Union was looking for a health specialist in this area,” she says of her move to becoming an independent agent. She set up her office and operation at the busiest possible moment, the annual open enrollment period in the final months of the year. “It was a bit of a frenzy,” she concedes.

Mari aims to create a comfortable atmosphere where clients can work through the intricacies of insurance. “Not a lot of people look forward to dealing with it,” she points out. “There’s so much information out there to sort through. I enjoy the challenges and working through the tricky situations. I intend to be available year round to help with those claim issues and billing issues so you don’t have to stress out.”

Robin, who spent the first part of her career as a registered nurse, shares that goal. “Our team’s goal is to build relationships with each of our clients so that they feel comfortable calling us. We’ve created an environment and a culture that welcomes people of all ages. When people walk in for the first time, they often tell us, ‘It just feels so good in here.’”

In a business that is built on referrals from lenders, realtors and present clients, that welcoming atmosphere can be a key to forming relationships. Robin and her agents interview their clients to help uncover their needs … including some they may have overlooked.

In a changing world, those can creep up. She points to some areas that barely existed a few years ago. “Uber drivers have different auto insurance situations. So do those who make deliveries through Grub Hub and the like, even pizza drivers,” she points out. “Drones are new. There’s talk of self-driving vehicles just around the corner. There’s a lot to keep up with.”

But the ins and outs of policies and premiums aren’t what she considers her business to be about.

“It’s not about insurance,” she says emphatically. “This is all about people.”