Florida’s Condon-Meek is working smarter

The old expression “shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations” would hardly apply to John H. Meek III as he steers his family’s 65-year-old independent insurance agency carefully into the 21st century. His goal is to make it to Clearwater, Fla.-based Condon-Meek Insurance’s 100th anniversary — and beyond.

Meek, known as “Trace” to Condon-Meek’s staff, employs a strategic approach to updating the agency, founded in 1954 by his grandfather. Meek joined the agency in 2009, when his father (who has since passed) was running it. At that time Condon-Meek had 10,000 paper files, and his dad laughed when his son suggested eliminating paper in its processes. Today, the agency is completely paperless — and he’s met his goal of streamlining systems so the producers can focus on selling and not on filling out forms.

“Our efficiency has skyrocketed as a result of eliminating paper,” Meek says. “We even converted our policies and procedure manuals to video format. In less than 120 minutes, we created videos utilizing the Loom program that will be far easier to update moving forward than hardcopy manuals.”

The agency has five producers, three customer service representatives (CSRs), a bookkeeper and a high school student who helps out with administrative tasks. Their ages range from 18 to 65, and most of his firm’s communications with clients and each other is electronic. “No one knows how old you are in an e-mail or text,” he notes. “They only see how well you know your products and how well you provide the service they need.”

Serving niches

Meek believes that the future is in niche markets. “Find what you’re passionate about and create a product to meet that need,” he says. For example, Meek has dabbled in craft brewing, so he created a website and splash pages (craftbeerinsurance.com) designed to educate brewers on insurance solutions specific to their needs. The agency has been successful by expanding this method to such other niche markets as auto haulers, plumbers and early learning centers.

To better serve clients of every stripe, however, Meek says that agencies big and small need to embrace tech tools to accelerate processes where they can. “It can be costly to install and maintain,” he acknowledges, “but the technology pays for itself in the long run.” He uses a cloud-based system with an app that updates in real time and works on the producers’ electronic devices. They can make calls and enter data anywhere, any time, and it’s immediately available to the team.

Having up-to-date information has paid off for Meek in terms of client relations. While at a restaurant, Meek saw one of his clients. He checked the files on his smartphone and quickly confirmed that the insured did have five policies with the agency. He told the waitress that he was buying dinner for the client. “I wanted to show that I appreciate their business,” he says.

The client called later and said, “No one’s ever done that for us.” It was a small gesture, but it meant a lot — and Meek now feels he has a client for life. Had it not been for that cloud-based information, he wouldn’t have been able to verify that client relationship.

Leveraging social media

When it comes to social media, Meek focuses his efforts via the agency’s Facebook page and Instagram account. “One of the ways we deepen the trust our carriers and clients have in us is by promoting agent testimonials on social media with the agent’s photo included on our various social media pages,” he explains. “We get a tremendous positive response from this because the client gets to put a face with the name if they haven’t met in person. This also helps to boost team member confidence and garner trust with our customers.”

Additionally, “We want to educate our clients regarding various insurance-related issues, including boating safety or relevant tips for homeowners and business owners,” he explains. “We also use the social media platforms to show a personal side of the agency, whether that’s family pictures or team bonding outings. We’re a small independent agency, so we can connect in a way that larger agencies can’t.”

For example, when Clearwater was threatened by Hurricane Irma, Meek used Facebook to share information about the storm, preparedness tips, disaster agency phone numbers and Flood insurance information. “Before the storm’s arrival, I wrote 60 Flood policies, resulting in $6,000 in commissions — all from my efforts on Facebook and the reach my posts and videos had in the community,” he adds.

Condon-Meek holds contests on Facebook and Instagram to further connect with its community and clients. The contest winner has to go to the agency’s office to pick up the prize, giving Meek and his team another opportunity to connect with clients or potential clients. When one winner arrived at the office to claim his prize, he brought all of his policies along on his own accord – and the agency gained a new client.

“When you open your mind to the endless possibilities for reaching clients through social media, you’re bound to see results,” he says. “An old friend recently found me on Facebook and sent me a message on my personal page. Condon-Meek ended up writing his policy all via Facebook Messenger.

“We know our efforts are a success when we stop asking clients if we can quote them, and they start coming to us,” adds Meek. “We’ve stopped the ‘hard-sell’ technique, and our business is still growing because of the clients who’ve found us through Google or Facebook. We don’t have to work as hard to earn their business because they were already interested to begin with. Once they are ‘in the door,’ we still offer additional policies, bundles, or riders because we know we have a captive audience.”

Meek adds that running an independent insurance agency in 2018 is all about “being a leader in a new world.” Condon-Meek’s producers don’t wear suits and ties in the office, and he encourages them to take regular breaks, check Facebook, and stay in touch with families and what’s going on in the world. He has lunch with a different team member every week just to talk about what’s going on personally as well as professionally, and the agency closes up shop early one Friday a month for team outings. “We’re a family, and we need to play as well as work together.”

A technology-equipped family, that is.

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