Running an Insurance Biz, the 'Old School' Way

The mention of “life insurance” used to scatter people from a conversation with Lee Satanoff. But now, it engages people, says the owner of a Nationwide Agency in downtown Wayne.

In fact, business is booming for Satanoff’s agency, one of the top producing Nationwide agencies across the country. “Old-school” person-to-person conversation and community activity is how he does business, the Radnor Township resident told Radnor Patch.

A Center City native, Satanoff grew up watching how his father ran his own business. He knew everybody, and it wasn’t about money, but relationships, Satanoff said. That’s how he does business.

His agency is a sponsor of the upcoming Wayne Business Association’s Radnor Fall Festival and Radnor Library’s For the Books, and is past sponsor of the Main Line Jazz Festival, Radnor High School After Prom Party, Radnor Library’s One for the Books at Ardrossan and the Wheels of Wayne.

Satanoff opened his business in Devon in 2005. In 2010 he moved into 105 East Lancaster Avenue in downtown Wayne. It’s as close to city living as he can get out here, he said. He lives in Villanova with his wife Allison and their 10-month-old daughter Stella.

Satanoff has been working since he was a teenager. He started with Staples for ten years, and then joined an insurance agency for 6 years. He said he loved the work so much that he opened his own insurance agency. He said he works mostly with Nationwide policies but is able to write policies with other carriers, one of the reasons he chose to go with Nationwide.

“It’s been a long haul, but a fun challenge,” he said. They do everything from providing car insurance to doing estate planning, he said. He also has a lot of business clients. As previously mentioned, life insurance has been on the minds of many for the last few years. “The economy scared a lot of people,” Satanoff said. 

Twice a year they reach out to personal clients and review their policies to see if a better one can be found. “We sell all the same stuff as everyone else,” he said. So why his success? “I think it’s because of our values. I believe in the local community and a reinvestment into it. We try to make it so that people can come in and sit down in the office.”

You can email or call (his extension goes directly to his cell phone), but Satanoff said that anyone is welcome to walk in the office any time.

“Come to downtown Wayne” he said. “We’ll give you quarters for your meter. And coffee.”