MARKETING AGENCY OF THE MONTH
Quebec agency uses proactive approach to revitalize growth
By Dennis H. Pillsbury
Michel Drouin, President and CEO of Charlebois Trepanier, enjoys the chance to "think outside the box" and recharge away from the city at his country home.
The new direction for Charlebois Trepanier Assurance and Risk Management, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada, traces its origins back 29 years when Michel Drouin, C. d'A. Assur. (Courtier d'Assurance Associes-Insurance Broker Associates), bought into a small broker, which was renamed Charlebois Drouin Insurance after his purchase of junior partnership status.
Michel had become interested in insurance three years earlier following his dad's involvement in a serious auto accident. Michel, who had studied criminology, found the work of the claims adjuster handling his dad's case intriguing. "I worked as an adjuster for three years and then decided to go into the agency side," Michel remembers. "Charlebois was writing just small personal lines accounts so I talked with him about writing commercial lines. He seemed to like my ideas and invited me to become a junior partner. The agency had revenues of about $65,000 when I started in 1975."
Today, the agency enjoys total revenues of $4.4 million and has 36 employees. In addition to the Gatineau head office, there is also a branch in Val des Bois. "Nearly all of this was achieved through organic growth, with the exception of the merger with Trepanier Decoeli in 1981, at which time the agency gained its present name," Michel points out. Michel now is the majority stockholder and president and CEO with two-thirds of the shares. Paul Pregent, executive vice president, Michel's brother-in-law, owns the other third.
"Our growth is attributable to our involvement with our customers and our community," Michel explains. "We are known as one of the most proactive brokers in Quebec and our revenue growth reflects that. You have to realize how significant our revenue is here in Quebec. Premiums here are much lower than in the United States. Quebec has a public auto scheme so BI is written by the government. There is no workers comp. Liability rates reflect the fact that there are very few lawsuits, and punitive damages are virtually nonexistent."
Charlebois Trepanier's Management Committee (sans Michel) are (from left): Marcel Laflamme, Vice President-Finance; Marc Guimond, Vice President-Commercial Lines; Caroline Dubreuil, Vice President-Personal Lines; Paul Pregent, Executive Vice President; and Dominique Drouin, Business Development Manager.
Looking south for ideas
The agency continued to grow through the '90s, but began to reach a plateau, so that by the end of the decade, Michel actually was thinking about selling the firm. "Our growth was slowing. We weren't winning all the battles. It just wasn't fun anymore," he recalls. "I had visited the United States frequently earlier in the '90s to talk to agents and companies about ideas that could help us Canadian independent agents stop the banks and direct writers from taking significant chunks of our market share. Independent agents actually controlled 85% of the personal lines business in 1987 and now, we are down to 50%.
"I visited insurance companies like USAA, GEICO, SAFECO and others to learn about their practices. During one of my visits, I ran into George Nordhaus and later, started speaking at George's conventions. I met a lot of other brokers, including Chris McVicker, president of The Flanders Group, Pittsford, New York, (Rough Notes Marketing Agency of the Month in October 1996). Chris introduced me to The Greenwich Group and I picked up a lot of techniques and best practices from the members. In fact, I was so impressed that I asked to become a member and am pleased to report that our agency was accepted for membership in the group. We're the only Canadian member and I currently serve as secretary of the group."
Michel began implementing a lot of the ideas that he had gathered during his visits to the U.S. "The United States insurance market is the most competitive in the world," he notes. "The marketing and servicing techniques that the U.S. uses are the most sophisticated and successful. Our biggest problem was getting the insurance companies to go along with our efforts. They just were not in tune with the innovations.
Giving back to the community has involved raising funds for the Pavillon Desjardins, an addition to the local hospital, which will be used for Nephrology and MRIs. Pictured are (from left) Jean Bernier, Director of Philanthropic Development for La Fondation de Centre Hospitalier Des Vallees-De-L'Outaouais, with Charlebois Trepanier's Dominque Drouin and Andre (Lou) Lemery, Director of Public Relations.
"By 1998, our growth was slowing again and we needed another shot in the arm. Chris had introduced me to Roger Sitkins. After talking with Roger, I was ready to send all my people to his headquarters in Florida for training. But he informed me that Bauman Consulting in Burlington, Ontario, bought the rights to his program in Canada. We were partners with Bauman in a reinsurance company in Bermuda. I went to them and started with the 'Excellence in Management' program and then followed with the 'Vertical Growth' program. Our results took off after we implemented 'Vertical Growth.' In the first year (2001), we grew 6%; the second year, we grew 12% and last year, our growth was 33%. Some of that came from premium increases, but after you factor that out, we still grew by more than 20% last year.
"The information was so good and useful that I decided to buy the concept for Quebec, translate it into French, and offer it to agencies here." More on this later.
Michel says the agency completely segments its business through the 80/20 Rule. "We're out hunting for A and B customers. We used to be reactive, but now we are proactive." That means that producers are strictly involved in sales. They are out on the road three days a week, either visiting the A and B customers or landing new accounts. "We visit all our A customer four times a year and our B customers three times a year," he explains. "We have a business development manager, my daughter Dominique Drouin, who makes certain this happens. She also supports the vice president of sales and is involved in marketing and event coordination.
"All our new business is written on broker of record. We don't do any 'practice quoting'--a Sitkins tenet. Our marketing effort has been so successful that we have gained much notoriety in Quebec. 'No practice quoting' is now a term of art here."
Dedicated members of Charlebois Trepanier's Personal Lines (left) and Commercial Lines (right) teams.
He continues: "We also work hard on relationships. We have special events for our customers. I entertain them at my home or take them golfing, fishing or hunting." Michel was planning to take a group of clients up to the Quebec's Great North for some fly-fishing in July.
Curiosity is key
Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it is what Michel thrives on. He constantly pushes the agency for improvement and is always looking for new ways to market the insurance product and enhance service to clients. On a broader scale, he looks for ways to enhance the independent agency system. "That is really what keeps me going. I have an insatiable curiosity. That's what motivated me to investigate the U.S. insurance industry," Michel says. "It's also what got me interested in the insurance business in the first place. And this business has been perfect for me. It constantly offers new challenges and opportunities."
In addition to using Sitkins' Vertical Growth concept to fuel growth, the agency also has tested all of its employees to determine their strengths so that they spend most of their time working in those areas. "We work with the McQuaig Institute and they helped us establish teams that emphasize complementary use of strengths. We now use McQuaig to test new applicants to make certain we hire people who will fit into the position for which we are seeking candidates. We're most interested in a candidate's attitude and aptitude.
Working on processes for the agency are (seated from left): Alain St-Amour, Account Manager; Serge Renaud, Account Executive; and Monique Gadoua, Account Manager; and (standing from left) Mathieu David, IT Manager; Paul Pregent; and Marc Guimond.
"We bring in young college graduates and train them with an ongoing in-house program. I set this up because I realized from my own experience that training had to be ongoing. When I got into the business, I took a well-known sales course and felt like I knew everything. But when I got back to the agency and started getting hit with the day-to-day concerns, I didn't have the time to put what I learned into practice. What we do now is offer four two-day sessions in the first year and then regular two-day training sessions every six months after that. We also have weekly sales meetings at which we practice our approach to clients and share ideas."
Charlebois Trepanier's reputation also has been enhanced by the agency's strong emphasis on community involvement. "We believe it's important to give back to the community and it also is classic advertising. I was president of the local development corporation and involved in the fund-raising effort. I was recognized as the Chamber of Commerce's Personality of the Year in 2000 and the agency has received recognitions from the Chamber of Commerce for its Customer Service in 2001, Community Involvement in 2002 and was nominated for Personnel Training and Development in 2003. We've committed to give $250,000 over five years to our local hospital."
To make certain community service doesn't "slip through the cracks," the agency hired Andre Lemery, a well-known person in the area, to oversee the community service effort. The agency is involved with a blood donor clinic and with the world's largest tulip festival in Ottawa. "I have been president of the Tulip Ball for the last two years," Michel points out. "I'm also on the board of directors of the foundation of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, one of the top 10 heart hospitals in the world. Our goal is to reach $100 million in the endowment fund."
Part of the company's corporate philosophy includes "Le mirroir des bons coups" (the mirror of good news). Charlebois Trepanier team members may post "job well done" or "thank you" notes for all to see.
Value-added service
"The real difference we offer is our value-added service," Michel says. "This level of service enables us to have a closing ratio of about 90%. Our service sets us apart from our competitors. Our property/casualty accounts all get appraisal service from CGI (a large conglomerate based in Montreal) and we pay for that. We also offer claims accompaniment service--called 255--because of our follow-through approach. We call after 48 hours (2 days) to see if the claim was handled well and then call each week after that (5 business days) to see how the claim is progressing. We also have arrangements with various law firms to provide services to our clients for which we pay. One firm is a human resource specialist and they offer a coaching service for work-related concerns. Another firm will help with contract interpretation."
Groupe InterNotions team members (from left): Pierrette Pregent, Coordinator; Sharon Gouin, Assistant Controller; Marcel Laflamme, Controller; and Michel Drouin, CEO.
He continues: "We're also proactive with our insurance companies. We explain how we work and they're beginning to appreciate how our efforts help theirs. And they certainly appreciate the fact that we now work 90 days in advance on renewals."
Groupe InterNotions
Michel also serves as chief executive officer for Groupe InterNotions, a coaching company he set up to introduce vertical growth marketing to agencies in Quebec. There are 14 agencies in the group, each with an exclusive territory. "Quebec is a very large territory, but we probably cannot add too many more members," Michel says. "I'm getting calls now from agencies that want to join because they're losing accounts to our members. I have to turn them away because of the exclusive nature of the group."
He continues: "One of the advantages I enjoy is the fact that I am bilingual. Most people in Quebec speak only French fluently. This has allowed me to get ideas from the United States and bring them here. I've translated Roger Sitkins' materials into French. I'm really having fun with this and I get to both coach and practice what I preach. The agency is a living laboratory for the ideas we present to Groupe InterNotions."
Michel adds, "Groupe InterNotions has allowed member agencies to be more independent and proactive and that's good for the independent agency system and its clients."
Charlebois Trepanier's mission calls for it to offer a vast variety of insurance products and risk management services to a targeted customer and to guarantee that customer outstanding service. "Our vision focuses on our values of respect, integrity and honesty," Michel explains. "And we back this up with a philosophy that calls for us to act rapidly, courteously and efficiently with quality always in mind. I have an excellent executive committee that makes certain we live up to this every day. It is these people and all our employees who make this work. Each member has responsibility for specific areas.
I am responsible for following up on the vision; Paul Pregent is responsible for unit processing and reengineering; Vice President-Finance Marcel Laflamme, CA, is responsible for all administrative services, financing and purchasing; Sales Vice President-Commercial Lines Marc Guimond and Sales Vice President-Personal Lines Caroline Dubreuil handle all sales-related activities; and Business Development Manager Dominique Drouin supports the sales vice presidents and is also responsible for customer nurturing, marketing and event coordination."
The leadership of Charlebois Trepanier is innovative and goes the extra mile for the employees, the customers and the insurance companies. It clearly deserves recognition as the Rough Notes Marketing Agency of the Month. *