In business, we all know that it's vital to know your audience. In my case, I know that the lion's share of our readership is agents and brokers; those aren't the only segments that enjoy our content, of course, but those insurance professionals, in particular, are at the heart of what we do.
But I'll let you in on a little secret: I actually receive little feedback from our readers. Doing much of your work "in a bubble" can make you sometimes wonder whether your message as an information provider is really resonating with your audience.
So when I decided last year to create an awards program designed specifically to raise the profiles of independent P&C agencies, I had to wonder what the response would be. Everyone likes to have a win under their belt, sure, but would many agencies take the time to write thoughtful, comprehensive essays, fill out the entry form and take a shot at glory in the pages of NU?
As it turns out, they sure did — and we were floored by the response.
|A ton of great entries
As the deadline approached, I began telling my staff: "Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is, we got a ton of great entries. The bad news is, we got a ton of great entries."
Of course, the problem then becomes, who makes the cut and who doesn't? Many hard decisions were made. For every one of the four winners of our Agency of the Year Award, another handful of entries came very close.
Like Atlantic/Smith, Cropper & Deeley in Willards, Md., which in its own words is "relentless in the pursuit of meeting our commitments." Its investments in technology and current re-branding process, along with its annual departmental and agency-wide strategic plans, have the agency well-positioned to meet its 20/20 Vision for the year 2020: to be at $10.4 million in total revenue.
Or Linnfield, Mass.-based agency Soderberg Insurance Services, which puts its money where its mouth is in attracting smart junior talent to the P&C industry by offering internships for college students. These millennials acquire real-world experience while performing in a growing enterprise, and a team of MBA students from Endicott College launched the agency's digital marketing and social media platforms.
Or Capital Benefits LLC, a Main Street agency in Gaithersburg, Md., that acquired a sizable book of business in 2014 from another agency at which sales were declining rapidly and morale was at an all-time low. After empowering those staffers with a raise and changing their compensation structure to give them a vested interest in seeing the business succeed, the agency was transformed into an award-winning, fast-growing business with a team ranging in age from college students to staffers in their 70s.
Or Post Insurance & Financial Inc., located in the small southeastern town of Port Saint Lucie, Fla. A second-generation family business built on a foundation of relationships, trust and community spirit, the agency carries on the tradition of personal service on which it was founded. It embraced a cloud-based management system in 2006 ("before anyone really used the term 'cloud,'" their entry reads), and has been paperless since 2009. Additionally, the agency devotes approximately 40% of its marketing budget to community causes. "Insurance and volunteerism go hand-in-hand," wrote CEO/Owner Kathy Post. "They're both about serving people."
I couldn't have said it better myself.
Related: NU Agency of the Year Award, Town & Country Insurance: Writing it right
|Valuable lessons
The thing that truly impressed me — and in hindsight, I shouldn't have expected anything less — is the fact that there are so many inspiring stories worth telling about this country's independent agencies and best practices to share that have made them successful that you can apply to your own business. I've long believed that you can learn something valuable from every single person you meet if you're willing to listen, and there are many valuable things indeed to be learned from America's independent agents.
I look forward to sharing more of those stories with you in the year to come.
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Shawn Moynihan
Shawn Moynihan is Editor-in-Chief of National Underwriter Property & Casualty. A St. John’s University alum, Moynihan has earned 11 Jesse H. Neal Awards, the Pulitzers of the business press; seven Azbee Awards, from the American Society of Business Press Editors; two Folio Awards; and a SABEW award, from the Society of American Business Editors & Writers. Prior to joining ALM, he served as Managing Editor/Online Editor of journalism institution Editor & Publisher, the trade bible of the newspaper industry. Moynihan also has held editorial positions with AOL, Metro New York, and Newhouse Newspapers. He can be reached at [email protected].
