EXPERT ADVICE

I SELL PET INSURANCE

by Jack L. Stephens, DVM
President, Pets Best

For my first column for the SPCA, I thought I would share with you a little bit of who I am and what I plan to share with you in future columns. First, I want you to know that my passion and joy in life is communicating the many benefits that animals, especially household pets, provide to humans.

As a pet lover all my life, a veterinarian, and a "pet dad" like most of you, I have witnessed positive improvements in the health and well-being of people who have a pet. I have been especially impressed to see the emotional and physical improvement of people who had not considered themselves to be "pet people" when they obtained a pet to help counteract depression. The way pets were able to fill those companionship needs was astounding.

Being logic-driven, I needed to know the reason why we are so attached, or "bonded," to our pets. This drive started me on a quest many years ago to find the answer, and, lo and behold, I found it was biological. We humans have a built-in biological connection to animals, especially pets, that improve our health and well-being.

This is the phenomenon I want to share, and will do so in future columns. I will also share trends, new findings on pet health and occasionally topics of interest on pets. I promise to make this column interesting, provide you with value and enhance your relationship with your pets and animals in general.

Now, who am I? As you can see from the photo, I am a pet dad, first and foremost. I am also a veterinarian and president of a pet insurance company, for starters. I have had pets and critters all my life. I have always had a fascination with nature and the animal world. I graduated from Veterinary School in 1972 and practiced small animal medicine for ten years. Then, not really knowing how I was going to do it -- but determined to provide pet families with the means to always be able to afford care for their pets -- I started a pet health insurance company in 1982.

Although it had never been my intention to leave my small animal practice, my zeal and dedication to make the concept work required me to leave practice and spend all my time implementing pet health insurance in America. Today I am widely known as the Founder of Pet Insurance in the U.S. After 24 years, I left the company I started and re-invented pet insurance to make it better when I founded Pets Best. It has been a long and very difficult journey to establish a new industry, but I am most gratified when I see millions of pet families over the years be able to accept whatever care their pets needed without concern for being able to afford it.

But my life is much different in many respects than it would have been had I remained in practice as a veterinarian. Let me give you an example: I fly often to promote my business, attend veterinary conferences and meet with pet related partners. As you know, when you fly, usually the first question the person sitting next to you asks is, "So, what do you do for a living?"

I found over the course of my life that if I tell people that I am a veterinarian, it opens a litany of questions and lengthy dialogue about pets. They want to tell me about their pet, their relative's pets, or a problem they are having with a pet, and ask for advice. People really open up and converse quite a bit when pets are involved. I also quickly found out, after starting pet insurance, that if I told them "I sell insurance," they never even ask me what kind! It stops all dialogue. So if I want to read or be left alone, that is my response when I fly. Try it! You will be amazed. People simply turn away and never engage you again!

If I really want to rattle them, I tell them I sell pet insurance. They pause (thinking, what a dumb idea). But they think about it, then they begin to glow with excitement and say, "Oh, yes. What a great idea!" And then the questions really come out. Before you know it, we have landed.

As I read various articles and columns in the news today and see shows on television about the "bonded pet owner" or how we are working to overcome "economic euthanasia," I feel a sense of pride and gratitude that I was able to be a part of the ever-increasing trend to treat our pets as family members -- to give the same care and attention to the health needs of our pets that we give to the rest of the family.

As we continue this journey together, I look forward to sharing the joys and benefits of pets with you, and providing you with information you can use.

(Dr. Jack Stephens is the founder of pet insurance in the United States and most recently of Pets Best Insurance. A former practicing veterinarian, Stephens is a pet enthusiast who shares his home with multiple dogs, two cats and several horses. Jack has written and published numerous articles about pet health insurance, was a contributing author for a leading veterinary trade magazine, and is a vocal advocate for the positive effects pets have on our lives.)