Bob Mancuso, a native of Ohio, works for Advanced Dealer Solutions, an agency that has business in multiple states. Bob has a long history with Portfolio. “I was Kelly Price’s third employee at NAE,” Bob explains.
Bob has seen the industry go through many challenges over the years. “The amount of education and time that companies are dedicating to the development of representatives is what I believe is our greatest challenge. Too often, reps are asked to complete tasks on their own that they have yet to master or even get comfortable with.”
His challenges have, of course, evolved over the many years he’s worked as an agent in this industry. “With each passing year, our industry becomes more and more complex. It will take a greater level of education and time to develop a representative who can handle the complexity of today’s independent agency model. As an industry, I believe we must have a greater level of focus on internal personnel development — as much as or more than how our industry focuses on external personnel development.”
Bob sees dealers facing their own challenges as well. “Inventory shortages — both in new and used, interest rate concerns and supply chain issues still exist, putting a strain on their business,” he says. “Dealers are concerned with how they can continue to keep profitability up in the store. There are many challenges, but these are showstoppers.”
Portfolio products, of course, are designed to help dealers face these issues. Bob’s dealers want an array of reinsurance and participation options. “Dealers like Portfolio because we have an extremely different platform that’s hard for others to compete with. There are few differences in products. They’re all becoming really traditional. But it’s the caliber of our people that support our elite set of products that help to make us so successful.”
Bob enjoys going to industry events throughout the year, but his favorite of all is NADA’s annual conference. “I love how it condenses such a large business into a small area. It allows us to stay in constant contact with the industry and the changes within it. It’s also great to see everyone, get updates on changes, strategize and see what’s coming down the pipeline.” He also added that the speaker lineup each year is always top notch.
In his spare time, Bob enjoys spending time with his family. They are incredibly active, participating in outdoor activities such as skiing and a variety of watersports. They thoroughly enjoy traveling across the globe and have a tradition of taking a family trip at New Year’s each year. They also travel to amusement parks across the country, in search of the nation’s best rollercoasters and thrill rides. Universal Studios in Florida tops the list for his two kids, but they are also eagerly anticipating visiting SoCal one day soon so that they can experience theme parks such as Six Flags Magic Mountain and Universal Studios Hollywood.
Bob clearly has a zest for adventure in his personal life, and it spills into his work life as he continues to successfully navigate the twists and turns of daily life as an agent in our ever-changing industry.
