member profile
Chuck Olson and OCI Services, Inc.
Omaha, Nebraska
Where do you see your
agency in the next 10 years?
Left to right: Nate Olson, Chuck Olson, and Charles Olson II
Based in Omaha, Nebraska, OCI became a NAILBA member in 2018.
Chuck Olson, CEO, provided input for this article.
About the Agency
Founded in 2002, OCI is a fami-
ly-owned general agency focused on
helping brokers navigate the com-
plex and ever-changing world of in-
surance and employee benefits. OCI
was founded by Chuck Olson, who
was soon joined by his two sons,
Nate and Charles. Since its inception
more than 15 years ago, the agency
has continued to grow and thrive. To-
day, OCI has more than 50 employees
and works with 3,000 agents across
43 states—from California to Florida
and everywhere in between.
OCI’s knowledgeable staff goes above
and beyond to educate brokers, en-
suring their clients receive the best
possible products and service. Be-
cause customer service is a top pri-
ority for OCI, the agency provides
unparalleled support, guidance, and
attention to detail. OCI’s mission is
to help each professional broker be-
come more efficient and successful
than they could be on their own.
24 perspectives SUMMER 2018
What makes your agency
unique? How is it different
from others offering the
same services?
We rely heavily on technology—but
we try to use that technology along
with customer service, which is kind
of a forgotten art these days. Our
agents are looking for the service and
the ease of doing business. Technol-
ogy can help make the business eas-
ier, but they still need the personal
touch. I think that’s what we bring.
What type of customer are
you trying to attract?
Our customer is the independent
agent who is possibly doing very
well with their business but needs
backroom support—not only in Life,
but also in Health, Disability, Long
Term Care, and all product lines. As
a personal producer myself, I found
the most difficult thing was to find
all the experts in one place and not
have to go look all over for them.
We see the company continuing to
grow. We’ve been experiencing a very
significant growth pattern over the
last six to seven years, and that’s
going to continue. It’s a simple con-
cept: you tell people what you’re go-
ing to do, and then you do it. You do
it with transparency, and you don’t
try to hide things from people. So,
I continue to see our business grow-
ing. We are in the process of building
a new facility because we’ve run out
of room for staff. We just hired sev-
en new people this week. You can’t
grow if you don’t have space; you
can’t take on space unless you have
people; and you can’t take on people
unless you have business. It’s a cycle
we have to continually monitor. We
feel we’re bringing something unique
to the market that is apparently be-
ing very well received.
How will being a NAILBA
member benefit you and
your business?
I’ve been involved in the industry
with National Association of Insur-
ance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA),
and I sit on their Board of Trustees. I
had some discussions with our lead-
ership at NAIFA about how we want
to build a better relationship with
NAILBA. After learning a little bit
about NAILBA, I understood that it
fits our profile extremely well. NAIL-
BA offers a lot of tools and support,
and I’m excited to get involved with
the association.
What attracted you the life
insurance industry?
I was looking for somewhere to go
where I could choose what hours I
wanted to work, choose how much
money I wanted to make and where
I could change the world. Life in-
surance allows me to do all three of
those things. I’ve changed the lives
of many of my clients and the people
who depend on my clients. That to me
is more important than anything else
I’ve done. It’s protecting people that
makes all the difference. I tell agents
who work with me, “I can’t make you
rich, but I can make sure you’ll never
be poor.” I tell people to get back to
the basics of protecting people, and
the other things will come.
What are you the most
optimistic about the future
of our industry?
I’m optimistic about young people
coming in and realizing it’s a career
where they can make a difference.
I’ve been excited about this indus-
try from the day I came into it, and
I’m still excited about it today. I love
this business.
What inspires you?
Family. Making sure that we contin-
ue to do the things we’ve promised
to do. I’m also inspired by our com-
pany and our people. They constant-
ly impress me with what they do and
how they treat each other. It’s really
cool to know there are 50+ people
who can make a living and enjoy life
because of what we’ve created here.
What is the best advice you
would offer someone new to
this industry?
Work hard and stick with it. Success
doesn’t come overnight. This isn’t a
sprint, it’s a marathon. But you will
change the world if you stay in the
business.