My Professional Insurance Career

About Rob Gion, Jr. CIC,CRM

For more than 29 years, my team and I have been striving to provide truly excellent services for our clients. We are proud to be independent agents working with the Crane Agency in Chesterfield, Missouri. Crane is one of the 50 largest privately owned independent insurance agencies in the country. We do business in all 50 states and globally. For more information about the Gion Insurance Group in addition to what’s on this page, please click here to go to the Gion Insurance Group website. However, you’ll find a lot of good information right here.

What type of insurance?

One thing I love about working at Crane is our size. From an insurance perspective, there is basically nothing we can’t do. At the Gion Insurance Group, we specialize in three different areas of insurance. First, we insure people and the things that people need. So, whether it’s auto insurance, home insurance, boat insurance, motorcycle insurance, or life insurance, I have a team that works for me to provide the needed coverage.

Second, we do a lot of commercial insurance business. With my certifications, most of my business clients see me as a member of their internal business teams. I help businesses evaluate and deal with risk. Obviously, a part of that is the needed insurance, whether property insurance, general liability, commercial auto liability, or workers’ compensation, just to name a few products. Personally, I spend probably 90 percent of my time working with business owners, CFOs, CEOs, and similar executives.

Finally, most of the businesses I work with want me and my team to do everything. They like having one point person they trust to turn to. So, besides the commercial property and casualty needs just mentioned, we often manage group health and other related benefits for many of the businesses we work with.

What’s a CIC or CRM?

Because I wanted to provide the most help possible for the customers I serve, I pursued higher training to become both a Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) and a Certified Risk Manager (CRM.) Only 2 percent of the insurance agents in America are CICs, and very few hold the CRM. Ultimately, a lot of the work I do requires teaching, counseling, and advising. These certifications, and the education and experience behind them, simply enable me to do my job to the very best of my ability. Many of the businesses I work with are not large enough to employ full-time risk managers, so I come alongside the executive team to help.

Areas of Specialization

I am what most in the insurance industry call a “generalist.” This basically means I insure just about every type of business. Whether it’s a manufacturer, school, contractor, or distributor, I insure that type of client. Doing so has enabled me to learn new things every year and has made my career very enjoyable. I love learning, and it’s a real treat for me to work with a new type of client that I’ve never worked with before.

While that is true, my overall career experience has led to three primary commercial niches in which I am regularly referred by my truly wonderful clients. These are:

1. Churches, Schools, Ministries, and Other Nonprofit Organizations (including for-profit organizations that directly support these entities). Did you know I insure more than 130 related nonprofits in the greater St. Louis area alone?
2. Contractors and Similar Businesses that need regular help to manage complex contracts they enter during the regular course of business
3. Property Owners