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Marketing Agency of the Month "I already have my check" Outstanding service turns customers into salespeople for the agency By Dennis H. Pillsbury Chas. Lunsford Sons & Associates, Roanoke, Virginia, has never forgotten the people that it serves in its more than 135 years. Even when it spent 11 years of that history owned by a major broker, it remained committed to the community and its clients. And today, it is independent again, after Roy Bucher, Jr., CIC, and Charles I. Lunsford II negotiated a deal with Aon in 1995 to repurchase the agency. Following completion of the repurchase, an ESOP and officers owned a portion of the agency, with Charles and Roy owning equal shares of the balance. Today, that experience has resulted in a stronger-than-ever commitment to remain independent. Chas. Lunsford Sons & Associates has premium volume of around $70 million, the majority coming from commercial lines, and the balance from personal lines and benefits. “That gives us clout with the insurance companies,” Roy says. “Insurance consultants, both large and small, will come to us with larger account business and we will market the account for them,” Roy continues. “We have the reputation that we will never cut them out of the deal. They respect us and know they can trust us.” The agency’s flirtation and subsequent short-lived marriage with a large broker began 113 years after its founding in 1870. At that time, it was the second oldest company in Roanoke—a funeral home being first. And its original home was just a half block away from its current location. The founder, Charles Isaac Lunsford, delivered policies on horseback, and one of his sons helped adjust fire losses resulting from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Generations of Lunsfords continued to run the agency until Charles I. Lunsford II decided in 1983 that he was ready to retire. He sold the agency to Frank B. Hall, agreeing to stay on for three years to help with the transition. When Charles finished his three years, Roy, whom Charles had brought on board in 1977, became president of Frank B. Hall of Virginia which continued to do business as Chas. Lunsford Sons & Associates. “It just made sense to keep the name,” Roy remembers. “The agency was known and respected throughout the region.” As it turned out, it was an especially propitious decision. In 1995, Roy negotiated to return the agency to independence. As part of that transaction, he persuaded Charles to return for three years to provide additional leadership and continuity. Treating everyone well Chas. Lunsford Sons & Associates basically has a very simple philosophy—treat everyone well—employees, clients, insurance companies, its community, and its industry. The result is a well-respected agency that has a 135-year history of integrity and good will. It starts with the employees, Roy notes. “If you treat the employees well, they treat the customers well, and so on and so on. After all, it is the people here who have worked together to make us successful. That is one of the reasons why I wanted them to have ownership through the ESOP. They always acted like owners. It seemed right that they should be. I also wanted a vehicle that would guarantee that we would remain independent in the future.” Today, the agency employs more than 60 people in four offices—the headquarters in Roanoke, and branches in Blacksburg and Richmond, Virginia, and Raleigh, North Carolina. And its commitment to treating employees well was recognized by the Blue Ridge Business Journal, which named Chas. Lunsford Sons & Associates “The Best Place to Work” for 2006. As Julie Mayhew VerSluis, vice president of small business, noted in the Business Journal article, “The atmosphere at Lunsford is absolutely positive and refreshing. Every day is a bright new day, even when returning from a vacation.” Roy adds that, in addition to providing a good environment in which to work, the agency also offers an excellent benefits package, company cars, club memberships for successful producers, and an excellent health benefits package, including long-term and short-term disability for all employees. “We also pay for continuing education for all our employees,” Roy says. “And that includes hotel and meals if they have to attend a class away from home. We encourage CIC and have 14 employees who have obtained their CIC designations. Our employees also hold the following designations: AAI, ARM, AU, CPIW, CPSR, AIC, ACSR, CISR, CPS. All our employees are licensed agents, so continuing ed is a fact of life for them.” He continues that the agency is committed to helping its people by providing the best tools available. “We have an IT specialist on staff and are constantly updating our system to make certain it continues to help our employees do their jobs more efficiently so they can better serve our clients.” Going the extra mile for clients “We firmly believe in providing value-added services for our clients so that they always have a good experience, even during trying times,” Roy continues. “We have in-house claims and loss control specialists who work with our clients to mitigate or eliminate losses before they happen. If a claim does occur, we monitor the claim to make certain it is paid promptly and fairly.” The result is that clients are committed to the agency and “see us as partners in their success,” Roy says, relating one story that illustrates how important this can be: “One of our clients, a large furniture retailer, had a fire. Public adjusters were swarming, calling the president at home. His answer to every call was, ‘I already have my check. I’m not interested.’ And that check allowed the client to reopen in a new and better location, upgrading to a sprinklered building thanks to the fact that we recommended they purchase building ordinance coverage along with property coverage. A few months later, Virginia Business magazine was doing an article about catastrophic fires and called that client. He told them that ‘Chas. Lunsford Sons & Associates has done a fantastic job protecting our company’s assets.’ “You can’t buy that kind of publicity,” Roy says. “We’re basically a generalist, writing businesses ranging from mom and pop establishments to Norfolk Southern Railroad, which has 8,000 vehicles,” Roy continues. “However, we have developed expertise in some niches. We have established Lunsford Healthcare for hospitals, doctors, and long term care facilities. We attend all the association meetings and have made contributions to charities that are important to them, including a 10-year endowment to The Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine at Virginia Tech. We also host a dinner for all the medical students. Medical malpractice is a very desirable business for us. We have excellent relationships with A rated carriers for that business. “Lunsford Construction handles traditional coverages of bonding, property, and casualty for the construction industry,” Roy explains. “We also have markets for specialty contractors including environmental remediation contractors, as well as errors and omissions for architects and engineers who work with these contractors.” One particular area of growth recently is employee benefits and human resource services. The HR services are provided at no additional cost to the Lunsford Benefit clients and include group benefits, voluntary benefits, retirement planning, individual benefits, cafeteria plan administration and discounted payroll services. “Within that unit we have a dedicated specialist providing face-to-face HR services for our clients such as employee handbook review and COBRA compliance and outsourcing,” Roy says. Training is provided for employees and management in the following areas: ADA, FLMA, OSHA, sexual and unlawful harassment. Symbiotic relationship with companies “We work very hard to provide good business to all of our companies,” Roy says. “We represent more than 50 national and regional carriers. They appreciate our efforts and reciprocate by providing excellent insurance programs and claims service to our clients. We also take advantage of the services that companies provide to their agents. Several of our employees have gone to various company sales schools. This has been very helpful in developing producers who have a strong understanding of the insurance business and particular niche industries.” It is interesting that this year brings things full circle. Roy joined the agency on June 1, 1977. He had been an all lines underwriter for Continental Insurance and then became the western special agent in Roanoke. Lunsford was one of his agencies, and also one of the top five Continental agencies in the country. Roy moved to Roanoke in September of 1976 with his wife, who was expecting their first child, Kate, who joined the agency this year. “When my wife and I first arrived in Roanoke, Charles Lunsford took us around town and was wonderfully hospitable,” Roy remembers. “I got to know the agents in the western part of the state and really liked the area. And then Charles offered me a job. I had such respect for the agency and saw how people liked working there that I never even asked about salary or benefits. I just said ‘yes’ and it was a great decision. I started out as an associate doing marketing where I spent most of my time upgrading policies to packages with umbrellas. I eventually became the agency’s largest producer. I still have a large book, but I’m glad I’m no longer the largest producer. Everyone here is aggressive and hungry for new business. My job is to work to keep that spirit alive.” As part of that effort, the agency has quarterly sales meetings, luncheons with employees, monthly birthday celebrations, and a plethora of other perks that make people want to come to work. “We have zero turnover,” Roy says proudly, “because we treat people the way we would want to be treated.” Lunsford also actively supports many community endeavors, some of which include Center in the Square, Virginia Museum of Transportation, Family Services of Roanoke Valley, Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges, and The Virginia College Fund. “I and many of our employees serve on the boards of several community and state organizations. We contribute about 1% of our total commission income every year.” Rough Notes is proud to recognize Chas. Lunsford Sons & Associates as our Marketing Agency of the Month. * |
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