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Marketing Agency of the Month

Happy work environment breeds success

Agency offers ping-pong, air hockey, yoga—and continually exceeds growth projections

By Dennis H. Pillsbury

Three years after Neal Gorman graduated from college, he and his best friend, Steve Love, who is also Neal’s brother-in-law, decided to combine their dynamic energies. In 2002, they established Specialized Insurance Services, Inc., a commercial property and casualty insurance agency and consulting firm in Richmond, Virginia, and they have been on a great run since.

Steve, who has been in the insurance business since 1985, explains: “Neal did an internship with us while he was in college and I knew he was a natural producer. We started Specialized Insurance Services and it’s paid off. Specialized now has over $6 million in premium after four years.”

Steve knows that someone young, even straight out of college, can succeed in the agency business because that is exactly what he did. In 1985, he opened Steve Love Insurance Agency, Inc., in Virginia Beach, Virginia, as a commercial insurance agent for Nationwide. “I had an ‘in’ at Nationwide and knew the agency business because my dad worked as a Nationwide personal lines Agency Manager. He visited agencies and I would occasionally go with him. I liked the people I met and was impressed with the business. However, because my dad worked in management, Nationwide wouldn’t bring me on as a personal lines agent, so I went over and talked to the commercial lines people and the rest is history.”

Opportunity knocks; Steve answers

Steve has a history of seeing opportunities and seizing them. The first such was Steve Love Insurance Agency, Inc., which continues to operate in Virginia Beach and now also in Richmond. Steve Love Insurance Agency primarily produces commercial and personal property and casualty insurance, with Nationwide Insurance and a few select carriers to handle non-Nationwide business.

Then, in 1994, Nationwide agents in Virginia were faced with a workers compensation insurance problem. Okay, maybe a little more than a problem—they couldn’t get anyone to write the coverage. So Steve set up Mid Atlantic Insurance Services, Inc., to place workers comp for his agency friends through alternative markets. “It was, and still is, mostly medium- and small-sized accounts,” Steve says, noting that the average account premium is around $6,800 for Mid Atlantic Insurance Services.

“But we do a lot to help insureds improve their losses and produce good loss ratios for our carriers,” he continues. “The thing that really sets our business apart from our competitors is that we do for small accounts what large regional and national brokers do for large accounts. We use experience modification software to make certain that the mods are correct on insureds’ workers compensation policies; we work with insureds to prepare safety manuals or set up driving safety seminars and inform them about seminars and workshops that our carriers provide. Most things we do are very simple, but they pay off big.”

Neal comments that “word of mouth has been the main method of marketing for Mid Atlantic up to this point and we keep outstripping our goals.”

Mid Atlantic Insurance Services started out as a simple workers compensation brokerage in Virginia. Now it sells all lines of commercial property and casualty insurance for all types of risks and is licensed in and services business to more than 200 agencies in Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, Washington, D.C., Delaware, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Florida. This year, Mid Atlantic Insurance Services is on track to write about $12 million in new premium, well ahead of the $10 million goal.

And that brings us to Specialized Insurance Services, which combines the wisdom and expertise of Steve’s 20 years in the business with Neal’s drive and enthusiasm. Neal is president, and Steve, since he has his hands full running his other companies, works more as an overall guide and company coach. Specialized Insurance Services writes commercial lines for contracting, habitation, service and transportation risks, and is licensed to produce in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C.

“We went through the normal growing pains of a scratch agency,” Neal points out. “We spent the first year trying to get carriers to take us seriously. Finally, Iroquois did and we were able to start writing business. That brought other companies to us. The next few years we devoted to finding the right people, office accommodations, additional markets and marketing programs and now, going on our fifth year, our challenge is managing the growth. We have to be careful not to grow past our ability to provide excellent service to our clients. We anticipate that managing the growth will continue be our primary challenge in the future. We certainly hope it is.”

Steve adds, “We also have developed a databank of prospect leads with thousands upon thousands of insurance renewal dates. We use this list and others to do a lot of direct mail to bring in new accounts but, quite honestly, most of our business comes from referrals at this point. We also continue to round out accounts as much as possible. In fact, that has led to our latest venture—the establishment of Specialized Benefit Services, LLC, which we set up with our business partners, Jeff Valentine and Cheryl Bruns. This additional arm provides benefits coverage and consulting, as well as human resources consulting to our clients.” All told, the four agencies write in excess of $40 million in premium and employ 30 people.

Atmosphere as a marketing tool

“The key to landing and keeping accounts is the people in the agency who provide the relationships and the service,” Steve says. “We always try to create an environment where people feel comfortable and involved. And we’ve been rewarded with next to no employee turnover.” However, in October 2005, the group went one step further and moved into a brand new office building that was developed specifically with their employees in mind and “our employees could not be happier,” Neal says.

The new building is in the heart of the historic Shockoe Bottom district of downtown Richmond and involved three years of Steve and Neal’s efforts to buy the land, design and build the building. The new office environment is free flowing and has resulted in generating a positive buzz not only from employees but also from clients, carrier reps, prospective employees, neighboring businesses, etc. “Our new building has been an excellent marketing tool for attracting quality people to join our company,” Neal says, pointing out that the company recently hired a seasoned underwriter and how great it was to bring someone very experienced and qualified on board into their new offices. “We interviewed a number of people and everyone commented on how much they wanted to work here.”

The building includes ping-pong and air hockey tables, a huge kitchen, a roof deck and balconies with sweeping views of the city. A personal trainer comes in on Tuesdays and Fridays to conduct yoga classes. “Employees bring in family members and friends to see the place.” But it is not just the building that creates the atmosphere. It’s the attitude as well. Employees are encouraged to mingle, to talk with each other, share ideas, and to laugh and enjoy themselves. There is also a strict mantra that all employees share: satisfy the client, continue to build the company name and reputation, and meet company goals. “And everyone is on board with that goal,” Steve comments.

Neal continues, “The point is that even though we are extremely fortunate to have a great, cohesive staff, our workspace really ties it all together and is helping us take our company to a whole new level.”

Vacation and sick time

“If I have to worry about that, I’ve hired the wrong people,” Steve says in explaining why the agency has no set-in-stone vacation time or sick time. “Our managers for each company, John Jones, Paula Quidgeon, and Tina Owens, encourage people from the first day on the job to take time off when they need it. We trust them to make adult decisions about that and to make certain that they get their jobs done. And, the fact is, that everyone here always exceeds expectations. There’s never a question about whether a person will complete a task, but rather how much more he or she will do. And because of that fact, the company managers are liberal with granting time off.”

The company closes early some Fridays and occasionally will close for a day for a special event. For example, Steve hosted a company-wide fishing tournament on the Cheasapeake Bay on May 26; and both offices closed so the employees could participate, have fun, and enjoy themselves together.

“We do not have multiple layers of management,” Neal notes. “It’s open and laid back, but stimulating. Our people know the priorities and goals of each company and, because we have an open-book policy, know what our progress is at each stage. Employees also know they can come in and talk to Steve, me or their direct manager about anything. We get a lot of new ideas from employees and involve them in much of the decision making.” In addition to keeping doors open, the agency also has weekly meetings where “we are continually provided with ideas to help things run smoothly,” Neal continues.

Steve adds, “When we say that we involve everybody, we really mean it. If we have a brainstorming session on a new marketing campaign, we roll out the idea to everyone before we do anything. And they’re not shy about telling us what they think of the idea.

“Before we hire a new person, they meet everybody before they come to work here. We want them to understand from the very start that this really is a team effort and everyone is an important part of the team.”

The companies also provide education in house so “our people understand what is happening in the insurance industry and can provide better service to our clients,” Neal says. “We also feature an internship program with a local university, Virginia Commonwealth University, so we can expose young people to just how diverse and fascinating this business can be. Most people don’t realize how the insurance business touches every industry in the world on a macro and a micro level, and how it plays a key role in protecting individuals and businesses so they can continue to prosper regardless of potential risks.”

Steve, Neal, and the gang exemplify the enthusiasm and love of the insurance business that has continually produced unique opportunities for people to work and grow in a happy work environment. We are pleased to recognize Steve Love Insurance Agency, Inc., Mid Atlantic Insurance Services, Inc., Specialized Insurance Services, Inc., and Specialized Benefit Services, LLC, as this month’s Marketing Agencies of the Month. *

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