At Gordon Companies, insurance is a family affair
2019 Agency of the Year: This New York City-based insurance agency recently celebrated its 50th anniversary but looked much the same as it did during its first year. (Part 3 of 3)
Editor’s Note: Conventional wisdom holds that independent agencies are going to vanish because today’s insureds want self-service. From what we see at NUPC, however, people are still looking to agencies for trusted advisors, especially when they’re making significant changes in their lives, whether it’s starting a new business, buying property or blending families — because nothing happens without insurance.
The most successful agencies look back at what they’ve done before that provides value to their clients and then continue such best practices. They also look ahead and access what must change so they can continue providing value to clients and grow their businesses in the future.
Today we are pleased to announce the third and final winner of the 2019 Agency of the Year Awards. The agency profile below includes insightful stories and strategies.
— Editor-in-Chief Rosalie Donlon
Not many professionals can boast 60 years in one industry.
David Gordon can.
Now 78, Gordon began his insurance career at the age of 18 when he first received his insurance agent license. A few years later, in December 1968, Gordon founded his own firm. Gordon Companies is a family-run, New York City-based agency that serves personal and commercial clients with property and casualty coverage as well as life and health insurance.
Gordon Companies remains family-run after more than 50 years in business. It’s operated by three principals who manage $15 million in premiums.
At the helm, President David Gordon works alongside his wife, Vice President Goldie Gordon, and their son, Aaron Gordon, who also serves as vice president. Aaron began working for the family business in high school and joined full-time one week after his college graduation.
Gordon Companies marked its 50th anniversary by re-signing a client who has been with the agency since the very beginning, and whose five generations of family members also have become Gordon clients.
The key to longevity
Aaron Gordon says great service is the key to keeping the same client for five decades, so it’s the top priority in every interaction and at every stage of the agency-client relationship at Gordon Companies.
“We are old-school blended with new-school,” Aaron Gordon says. “We manage risk in a way agents have for the last 50-60 years… One of us knows every single one of our clients on both the personal lines side and the commercial side, and we are available at all hours of the day.”
The firm uses this personal approach to understand and manage client risk profiles. “We believe in structuring the risk and the profile of our clients strategically to them, not to what benefits us or our market,” Aaron Gordon says.
He credits the agency’s decades of success to this customer-first mindset.
“While many say the independent agency is ‘dying,’ we have seen 15% growth year-over-year, a testament to the success of our personal-touch marketing strategy,” says the youngest of the Gordons. “As other independent agencies take the quick buck and sell to larger firms and rollups, we have specifically marketed to insureds who value the family-feel of a true family-owned and operated agency.”
After 60 years in the insurance business, David Gordon says the key to agency success is simple; it all comes down to being human. “Pick up the phone. Call your clients. Ask them how they are doing,” he says.
Don’t just apply that personal touch to conversations and basic client interactions, he adds.
“When you’re underwriting a policy, sit on your clients’ side of the table,” David Gordon says. “Physically sit next to your clients and show (them) you are with them. Put yourself in your clients’ shoes so you can better understand their needs, which in turn, will empower you to better serve them.
Digital age, personal touch
Gordon Companies has largely rejected the rapid digitization trends that have infiltrated independent agencies recently. Until five years ago, the agency didn’t even use voicemail. “The last person who left the office everyday would forward the messages to my parents’ house and to my cell phone,” Gordon recalls.
It’s not that Gordon Companies doesn’t believe in the power of technology. It’s simply that at this agency, customer service demands a personal touch, and the owners believe the efficiency of digital services can’t measure up to the value of real, human interaction with clients.
Should a client have an after-hours claim emergency, their call goes right to Aaron’s cell phone.
“We fundamentally don’t believe in self-service,” he says. “When a client needs a service, we look at that as an opportunity for a touch point. We don’t shy away from any chance (to) speak to our clients directly. We take that upon ourselves as an opportunity to further build and deepen our relationship.”
Close client relationships are essential at Gordon Companies.
“That means every renewal, every policy change, we reach out to the clients,” Gordon says. “We try to figure out the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ behind their service needs so we can serve them in the best possible way.”
But, the only inevitability is change. So Gordon Companies has made a few technology adaptions recently, all in the name of making clients’ lives easier. To that end, clients now benefit from e-signature technology and online payment methods. The agency also redesigned its website and added an instant-messaging chat tool that directly connects clients and prospects with a human agent.
Saving clients time, money
Gordon Companies’ client base is largely located in the New York tri-state area but includes insureds in all 50 states along with some international clients. The bulk of the agency’s clients are on the P&C side and are in the commercial space. Many are high-net worth individuals.
In the last six months, Gordon Companies was able to successfully save several commercial clients upwards of six-figures in premiums. How was the agency able to achieve such significant savings? Gordon explains that it happened by focusing on each individual client and catering to their needs in order to place them with the right carrier — even if it is at his expense.
“If our clients’ needs and best interests mean we lose commission, which means we lose premium, that’s what we do,” Gordon says. He added that the firm’s deep-rooted relationships with carriers allows them to leverage those relationships and partners.
“We’re motivated by long-term relationships,” Gordon says. “That’s the value of the independent P&C agent.”
Aaron Gordon also knows he represents the future of Gordon Companies.
“My parents raised me to be there for our clients,” he says. “When one of our personal clients in the New York-area has a loss, I’m there with a carrier adjuster. I’m there as their advocate, and I’m there to hold their hand through the process, whether it’s to find them a new place to live, or lift their company off the ground.”
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