Member Insights - Trust, But Verify

An Interview with NEB Member Curt Knotick

For Curt Knotick, helping clients—and referral sources—check you out is a key reason to belong to the National Ethics Bureau. Affiliated with Senior Estate Advisors, the Butler, Pennsylvania advisor encourages all of his prospects to verify his background before doing business.  “I hand out the NEB member brochure to all my prospective clients,” he says.  “It reassures them, especially in today’s environment.”

Knotick says handing out the brochure accomplishes two things.  First, it explains what NEB is and how to verify a member’s background. Second, it eliminates doubts and motivates action, even if the prospect doesn’t call NEB for verification—or visit the NEB web site.

“With everything going on in the marketplace today, consumers have to verify what they’re told.  NEB allows my prospective clients to do just that.”

Knotick knows a few things about the marketplace, born of diverse experience. He’s been in the financial services business since 1989, starting as a life insurance agent with MetLife. In 1993, he hung out his own shingle, selling insurance in various target markets.  Eight years ago, he decided to focus on the senior market, in part, he says, because Western Pennsylvania has the second largest concentration of seniors in America (Florida is first). 

This past July, Knotick teamed with Senior Estate Advisors of York, Pennsylvania, a national marketing organization serving the senior marketplace.  Through that firm, Curt offers a wide range of senior-focused products, including second-to-die life insurance, fixed annuities, fixed index annuities, survivorship life, Medicare advantage plans, and long-term care. “We provide products that, once you retire, can enhance a senior’s current finances and their legacy to their heirs.”

Knotick, who earned the CSA and CLTC designations, has discovered another benefit of NEB membership. It helps with establishing relationships with attorneys, CPAs, and other referral sources. “Anytime you are trying to form an alliance with an organization to generate referrals, the organization will want to make sure you are legitimate,” says Knotick.  “If it refers clients to someone who isn’t legitimate, it can destroy relationships that took years to build.” Knotick says his NEB membership helped him to form strong, mutually beneficial relationships with an attorney and a CPA in his area.

How are you maximizing your NEB membership to grow your business? Would you like to be featured in our newsletter? The National Ethics Bureau welcomes your input. Send your comments to: hlew@ethicscheck.com