Our Team

Take A Look at Our Team Members And Their Vast Experience.

EXECUTIVES

Larry Neilson, CEO

With 30 years in the Property/Casualty insurance industry under his belt, Larry Neilson has helped insurance agents, carriers, MGAs/MGUs, wholesalers, and program administrators capitalize on the latest in sales and marketing, data development, Internet marketing, SEO, email marketing, and social media marketing.

As CEO and co-founder of Neilson Marketing Services and ProgramBusiness.com, Larry and his team have set the standard in P/C outbound telemarketing; data analytics for niche marketing; and on-line insurance coverage searches, program accessibility, and specialty insurance placement.

Over the years, Larry expanded Neilson Marketing’s programs to provide digital strategies for both retail and wholesale entities in the industry. Our Insurance Internet Marketing – Agency Tsunami division – provides firms with SEO, monetized websites, SMM that promotes and markets companies and their programs across all social media platforms, email and drip marketing campaigns, and much more.

Larry is a frequent speaker on marketing at many association and insurance company seminars, conferences, and conventions. And, he provides valuable insurance marketing information through his blog at http://www.larryneilson.com/.

Larry received his SEO and Internet Marketing Certification from the University of San Francisco in 2011.

Jeff Neilson, President

Co-founder of Neilson Marketing Services and ProgramBusiness.com, Jeff has more than 25 years of experience in the insurance industry putting his expertise to work for P/C agencies, MGAs/MGUs, wholesalers, S&L brokers, and program administrators nationwide. With Neilson Marketing, he has implemented the gold standard in insurance telemarketing for more than 5,000+ agencies, brokerages, and companies across North America with customized, targeted lists, qualified leads, appointment-setting, relationship marketing programs, response tracking and analysis, and sales center consulting.

Jeff’s responsibilities as president of ProgramBusiness.com include overseeing the optimization of the online portal to enhance the already widely successful virtual wholesaler/MGA/S&L broker Storefronts for maximum lead generation and conversion.

Mike Neilson, Vice President/Operations

As Vice President of Operations of Neilson Marketing Services and ProgramBusiness.com, Mike is responsible for overseeing the insurance telemarketing and email marketing operations, product management and development, as well as database management. He has been instrumental in managing product launches, including Insurance Internet Marketing and E-mail Append.

Mike graduated Cum Laude from the University of San Diego with a BA in Theology & Religious Studies and Philosophy and holds a Certificate from Chapman University in Coaching Skills for Business Leaders.

Paul Neilson, Vice President – Sales

Paul Neilson joined Neilson Marketing Services in 2008 and is responsible for our sales department and its personnel and day-to-day operations. He oversees employee recruitment and training, coordinates sales operations with all other divisions at Neilson Marketing, and works with the Executive staff to develop and execute the company’s marketing strategies.

Paul has had an extensive career in the insurance industry, having worked in sales for a number of companies. Prior to joining Neilson Marketing, he worked at AMS Services Vertafore as the New Business Development Carrier Accounts Manager. He has also worked as National Director of Sales & Marketing for Quadrant Information, a developer of actuarial and point of sale Internet insurance software applications primarily marketed to insurance carriers. And he worked for both Survival Insurance and Arrowhead General Insurance Agency.

Paul holds multi-state licenses both in Property/Casualty and Life and Disability, and has participated in numerous continuing education classes. He is currently seeking certification in SEO and Social Media Marketing.

Annie George, Vice President – Marketing

Annie’s career in insurance spans nearly 30 years, having started out on the retail side, working for a New York-based insurance agency. She then worked for eight years as Vice President of Marketing for an insurance marketing firm based in Los Angeles, and founded her own advertising and marketing company in 1990 where she catered to a variety of industries, including working with Neilson Marketing on several of their key agency services. During this time, she also expanded her marketing expertise into the digital world, including helping to develop and promote some of the largest sports websites at that time.

In 2005, she extended her role with Neilson Marketing, developing and creating marketing materials for the firm’s various services, including telemarketing, ProgramBusiness.com, Peak Performance, Agency Directory and, most recently, Agency Tsunami. Today, Annie serves as Vice President of Marketing for Neilson Marketing and heads the Agency Tsunami division. She also writes the Daily NewsFlash and Insurance Unplugged newsletter.

Annie has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Journalism, and has several certifications in Internet Marketing, SEO, and Social Media. She speaks fluent Spanish and Greek.

Balaji Kumar Galla, Vice President – Systems

Balaji heads Neilson Marketing’s IT team in Bangalore, India. For more than eight years, he has been managing a team of developers, engineers, and designers responsible for overseeing all in-house and client projects, database design and implementation, and our CRM. He has extensive experience in design/architecture and development of web portals and application development, and is well versed in insurance, finance, CRM, and supply chain management.

Prior to joining Neilson Marketing, Balaji worked with New Horizon Technologies as a project lead. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technologies, and completed a one-year course on computer programming and database skills from NIIT.

Lou DeAnda, Vice President & Sales Executive

Lou has been with Neilson Marketing almost from the beginning, having joined the firm in December of 1989. He moved into the Sales Department, and became Sales Manager in 1997. As Vice President, today Lou is responsible for identifying new clients and providing marketing strategies and solutions that fit the needs of our agencies’ goals. In addition, he provides customer service support to maintain the highest level of satisfaction and offer viable solutions during the course of a campaign for increased ROI.

Lour has a Bachelor of Art degree in Communications from California State University Fullerton (CSUF), and attended Chapman University for Coach Skills for Business Leaders. He speaks fluent Spanish, and is active in his community as an umpire in the Little League, an AYSO Referee, and NJB Coach.

David M. Ratsombath, Account Manager, Customer Support Manager

David has been with Neilson Marketing since 2006 and is responsible for generating new business for ProgramBusiness.com’s Trading Floor platform, the on-line portal that connects retail agencies with MGAs, wholesalers, and carriers to place business.
He keeps his pulse on industry trends and stays abreast of product offerings in the market to support subscribers when marketing surplus lines-type accounts.

David worked for First Health Inc., a TPA in Workers Compensation claims handling, before joining Neilson Marketing. He is currently completing his AA Degree from Orange Coast Community College and plans to obtain his Bachelor’s degree. He has completed 52 hours of a pre-licensing class for the California P&C agent course.

Kristen Watkins, ProgamBusiness.com Account Manager

Kristen began working for Neilson Marketing in 2005 and manages ProgramBusiness.com’s customer email marketing campaigns, and setting up and servicing our Storefronts (MGAs, MGUs, Wholesalers, Program Administrators). She is also responsible for distributing the Daily NewsFlash each day and the production, layout, and distribution of Neilson’s digital bi-weekly Insurance Unplugged newsletter.

Kristen’s prior experience includes telemarketing, quality control, and database management. She is well versed in HTML, Photoshop, and all Microsoft products. She attended Cypress College in Cypress, California.

Wasim Ahmed, Team Lead

Wasim joined Neilson Marketing Services more than four years ago, and is responsible for programming and software development for ProgramBusiness.com and Peak Performance’s annual website. Prior to working with Neilson Marketing, he was employed with Acer EMEA and Signifera Software Solutions.

Wasim holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and is passionate about programming and the latest in technology advances.

Steven Jacobs, Internet Marketing/Agency Tsunami Account Manager

Fairly new to Neilson Marketing, Steve has jumped right into his role as Agency Tsunami Account Manager and SEO strategist for our Internet Marketing agency and MGA clients.
His responsibilities include client reviews, internal SEO, drip marketing, website maintenance, and customer support.

Steve worked for NVISION Laser Eye Centers as their SEO, Social Media, and Web Coordinator prior to joining Neilson Marketing. He studied Business Administration at Concordia University with an emphasis in marketing, management and finance.

Steven Severn, Social Media Marketing Manager

As Neilson Marketing’s Social Media Marketing Manager, Steve manages all social media platforms, blogs, and video content for our clients, building an online presence for each to drive traffic and generate leads. Over his career, he has managed over 20 on-line profiles, generating more than 16,000 Facebook “likes” and 8,000 Twitter followers to date.

Steve received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business with a concentration in Marketing and an emphasis in Business, Tourism & Technology in a global society from San Francisco State University. At college, Steve also held the positions of VP of Communications & VP of Corporate Relations for San Francisco State’s Marketing Association, a chapter of the AMA (American Marketing Association), assisting non-profits and San Francisco Bay start-ups with their marketing efforts. Steve has been featured on numerous industry marketing blogs for his guerrilla marketing efforts. As a pro-bono effort, Steve goes to the Bay area every year to teach a daily course to 200+ students on marketing yourself on-line. Steve is Facebook Studio certified for Facebook advertising, Facebook Pages, & Facebook Technology. You can view his certification profile here- Facebook Studio

Erin Doherty, Social Media Producer

Erin has recently joined the Neilson Marketing team as a Social Media Producer. She is responsible for creating content for clients’ blogs, researching and writing on an extensive variety of insurance topics from law and construction to commercial trucking. She also leads Agency Tsunami’s drip marketing campaigns, creating and implementing email marketing strategies for our clients. Previously she was a Career Peer Advisor and blogger for the UC Santa Barbara Career Services Center.
Erin received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication and English from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Dinu Jose, Web Designer

Dinu is responsible for designing the websites of Neilson Marketing’s Internet Marketing clients in addition to creating the email campaign and banner designs for ProgramBusiness.com’s customers.

His prior experience includes working at Adsin Media Pvt. Ltd. for six years, responsible for web designing, maintenance, flash presentations, email ad and banner designing. He is well versed in Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Dreamweaver, Adobe Flash, Adobe Illustrator, CorelDraw, and Swish Max3.

Dinu has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Calicut; received certification for KGCE in Fine Arts from Universal Arts Academy, Calicut; and has a diploma in Multimedia from SRI Infotech Bangalore. He is fluent in English, Malayalam, Kannada, and Tamil.

Amanda Neilson, HR Manager/Accounting

Amanda has been with Neilson Marketing full time since early 2011, taking on the role of HR Manager after graduating from college. She worked for Neilson Marketing as a telemarketing representative while attending school. Her responsibilities in HR include office administration and management, human resources, payroll, customer support for Neilson Marketing and ProgramBusiness.com

She graduated from Concordia University, Irvine in 2010 with a degree in Business Management & Marketing.

Katie Neilson, Telemarketing Manager

Katie joined Neilson Marketing in 2010, and manages the telemarketing team, working closely with our telemarketers, sales representatives, and clients. She is responsible for recruitment, creating telemarketing call schedules, goal setting, assisting in campaign reporting, helping with quality control and telemarketing training, among other key functions.

While attending college, Katie managed a café as front house manager that included training new employees. Katie has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Chapman University, Orange, California; and an AA in Psychology from Marymount College, Rancho Palos Verdes, California.

Tiffany Biron, Telemarketing Account Manager

Part of the Neilson Marketing team since 2001, Tiffany has the experience and knowledge of working in several of our departments, including: Telemarketing, the Programbusiness.com Trading Floor, and HR. She currently serves as Telemarketing Account Manager/Customer Service, Quality Control Manager, and Telemarketing Trainer.

Her responsibilities as Account Manager include: setting up new telemarketing campaigns, conference calls with agents and telemarketers, account monitoring, troubleshooting, producing status reports for sales reps and agents, among other key functions. Tiffany also provides quality control to ensure delivery of leads and appointments to agents, cross checks all activity generated, and more.

Tiffany’s education includes getting certified from Saddleback College, California in Business Management and Guide to Human Resources. She has also taken seminar courses with Fred Pryor's Customer Service Excellence Program, and Art Sobczak’s Telesales and Inside Sales Training.

Pranab Singh, Call Center Operation/India

Pranab has been with Neilson Marketing for nearly a decade, and oversees the operation in India. He is responsible for managing the call center, budget allocation, inventory management, people management (including recruitment and organizing/conducting training), team supervision, quality control, and database management.

Prior to working for Neilson Marketing, he co-founded an events management company that specialized in organizing parties, concerts, fashion shows, and corporate parties. He also worked as freelance sales executive for a large garment house in India.

Pranab holds a Bachelors degree in Computer Science, and is currently doing a post-graduate degree in Marketing Management. He speaks fluent English and about six other regional and national languages.

Rene Rioux, Director of IT

Rene joined Neilson Marketing in 2012. As Neilson Marketing’s Director of IT, Rene's role is to ensure that the streamlined operation of the IT Department is in alignment with the business objectives of the organization. He plans, coordinates, and designs the IT-related activities of the organization, as well as provides mission critical technical support for the daily operational activities at Neilson Marketing. Rene has excellent system and network administration skills, and is extremely innovative in developing creative solutions.

His career in Computer Systems spans over 25 years. Prior to joining Neilson Marketing, Rene worked as a Sr. Systems Engineer for Sun Microsystems. At Sun, he developed his skills in hardware, software and networking. He is well versed in Solaris, Linux, Windows, TCP/IP, DNS, Perl, Java, firewalls and routing protocols. Rene holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and Mathematics from San Diego State University.

Saheel Ahmed, .Net Developer

Saheel has been maintaining and developing our Neilson Mareketing site. His prior experience includes working for veriton software solutions in their IT departments. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Technology, specializing in Computer Science Engineering.

Sandeep Reddy, .Net Developer

Since early 2011, Sandeep has been maintaining and developing our Agency Tsunami site. His prior experience includes working for TCS and HayaSoft in their IT departments. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Technology, specializing in Computer Science Engineering, from JNT University in Hyderabad, India.

Umakanth Shivabal, Web Developer

Umakanth has been maintaining and developing our AgencyTsunami Client Word press website. His prior experience includes working for Smallbiz express in their IT department. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Technology, specializing in Computer Science Engineering. He has an additional skills in Python & PHP.