Troy Thompson is the owner of Pinnacle Insurance of Minnesota, plus Savvital, a company who helps businesses optimize their systems and processes by integrating VP’s (virtual professionals) into their organization.
A native of Blaine, in high school Thompson excelled at football, so much so that he earned a scholarship to the University of Minnesota-Duluth.
While on the Bulldogs’ campus, Thompson studied marketing, but he admits that he also wasn’t focused on what was important, the extracurriculars of college life pulling him away from reaching his potential.
Fortunately, Thompson persevered and graduated, and from there he leveraged his amiable disposition to become a door-to-door salesman, enduring stints of brokering books and cable TV packages before ultimately joining his father’s insurance company, Pinnacle Insurance of Minnesota.
Upon arriving at Pinnacle Insurance of Minnesota eighteen years ago, Thompson, unlike many insurance agents, continued walking door-to-door, pitching homeowners on how he could save them money on their insurance policies.
“It seemed like a no-brainer, being able to save people money on their insurance policies,” he lists as the reason why he had no qualms about approaching random strangers and asking for their business.
Impressively, Thompson says that in his first hour of prospecting for insurance clients, he landed five leads.
“Again, this all came from me being able to tell homeowners that I could save them money on their insurance,” the Blaine native says.
“And I haven’t looked back since.”
In fact, Thompson built his book of business entirely off door-to-door sales, until eventually he connected with other Twin Cities stalwarts (like respected mortgage loan officer Scott Borschke), who introduced their clients to his industry.
“Focusing on the $500 an hour tasks,” Thompson says when asked how to build an expansive portfolio of contacts.
“Even right now, I could be at my office answering emails, but I’m here trying to build my network and amplify my reach.”
Adds Thompson, in parsing down the intricacies of networking:
“If you want to build your network, you have to build your network, meaning you have to get in front of people, shake hands, and bring value to their lives.”
In Thompson’s case, he is a big believer in assisting others without immediately expecting anything in return.
“Not everything has to be done so transactionally when it comes to building relationships. What that looks like in practice is giving first, and not asking for anything from the other person,” Thompson explains.
“The irony is that by adopting this mentality, that reciprocity you’re hoping for will naturally come, but it likely will come in the unlikeliest of forms.”
At present, Thompson is part of a networking group that contains over 100 local Twin Cities business owners that he can tap in with at any given moment.
Each week, Thompson attends meetings and delivers a short introduction to what he does in front of his contingent of cohorts.
Doing so enables him to land referrals and boost his public speaking acumen, even though there are times when the UMD alum would rather not present himself to a massive audience.
“There are weeks that I don’t want to go, but ironically, when I do go, I usually feel a lot better because I’m interacting with people I know and respect, and whenever I have the chance to help people, that gives me joy,” he says.
For a long time, it appeared that Thompson would hinge his professional legacy on being an insurance savant, but a couple years ago, Pinnacle Insurance of Minnesota needed help in their daily operations, and after meeting a virtual professional (otherwise referred to as a VA or virtual assistant) named Mo, Thompson hired him to help his Twin Cities team with various backend tasks.
That decision proved to be essential for the continued growth of Pinnacle Insurance of Minnesota, to the point that Thompson wondered what other companies could benefit from this level of behind-the-scenes support.
After further discussions with Mo (“I wanted more Mo’s,” Thompson says with a laugh), Savvital was founded, and Thompson was suddenly at the helm of a VP company that could assist other insurance agencies, roofing companies, and virtually any other type of business.
For context, getting Savvital operational and profitable was no easy endeavor.
At the outset, Thompson had to invest heavy amounts of capital, and then Savvital was sued, but the resilient Thompson refused to acquiesce to the pressure, and through sheer willpower, he guided Savvital out of the abyss and into the open market.
Today, Savvital employs 183 virtual professionals, all of whom are located in Pakistan, speak proficient English, and have earned a bachelor’s degree from an accredited university.
“Now it feels like the sky is the limit,” Thompson notes, then commenting on how having access to VP’s can drastically help a business scale and expand.
“Having a solid team of VP’s can make your business substantially more efficient, and, of course, what typically comes with more efficiency is more revenue.”
In a crowded VP space, Savvital is constantly innovating and looking for new ways to bring value to their clients.
As someone who has visited Pakistan, Thompson has seen firsthand the potential Savvital has to revolutionize the way VP’s are used to grow businesses, provided they continue to offer training and open communication to their staff.
“We are constantly on calls with our team abroad, working on developing processes and getting our teams oriented, and that’s because we are serious about the final product that we offer to our end consumer,” Thompson explains.
“Unfortunately, there are currently people out there masquerading as leaders because they don’t properly equip their VP’s to service their customers. They just think that they can hand off work, and that everything will work out seamlessly, but the reality is that it’s a process, and like any business you have to constantly be refining things in order to maximize productivity and efficiency.”
Adds Thompson, in a manner indicative of a consummate professional who genuinely cares about his business:
“I’m always on calls with our management team over in Pakistan, making sure that we’re all in alignment, and that everyone is comfortable with what we’re trying to accomplish because the reality is, if we’re not working in unison on the backend, that’s going to reflect in the work that we do for our clients.”
For Savvital, the future appears promising.
Steady increase in demand has Thompson convinced that one day Savvital will employ over 1,000 VP’s, which will allow for the entity to service even more potential clients.
“I’m of the belief that in business, you’re either growing or you’re dying,” says Thompson, perhaps offering a glimpse into what keeps the 48-year-old hungry at this stage of his career.
“Beyond that, it’s imperative that I emphasize how much business starts and ends with people, and a big component of that is enriching other people’s lives. At Savvital, we want to help other people prosper, and to do that we need those businesses to scale. Having competent and professional VP’s helps expedite that process, and we’re trying to help as many companies reach their potential as we can.” QS
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