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October 12, 2004 SENN DUNN U.S. AGENCY OF YEAR Author: Amy Joyner, Staff Writer Its customer-focused business plan, employee-friendly working environment and steady growth in a challenging economy has thrust insurance agency Senn Dunn into the national spotlight. On Sunday during the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America annual convention, Greensboro-based Senn Dunn was honored as the Commercial Insurance Agency of the Year by National Underwriter magazine, a trade publication. The award is a big deal in the industry. "It's like being the Miss America of the independent insurance agency system," said Scott Addis, a judge in the competition, whose Pennsylvania-based insurance agency won the award last year. Senn Dunn faced off against more than 100 other agencies, which provided details about their growth, the way they conduct business and their corporate culture. "We were dumbstruck," said Tim Ward, the company's executive vice president. "We were up against agencies that are five or 10 times our size." But Senn Dunn stood out above its competitors. "Senn Dunn was chosen as the winner because they best exemplify everything a growing and successful agency must offer to excel in this competitive environment," said Sam Friedman, editor-in-chief of National Underwriter and chairman of the awards competition. "They are multitalented - as comfortable handling employee benefits and loss-control surveys as they are in placing property-casualty insurance." Senn Dunn is the state's largest independent insurance agency with 85 employees, 7,000 clients and projected 2004 revenues of $13 million. The company has a long presence in the Triad; it celebrated its 75th anniversary last year. Federal rules once created barriers between banks and other institutions, but they were largely dismantled in 1999 by the Gramm-Leach-Biliey Act. As a result, many independent insurance agencies have disappeared, gobbled up by bigger brokerages or by banks, including BB&T and Wachovia. Senn Dunn has been courted by bigger insurance brokers and by banks. But the company's senior partners have rejected acquisition offers, and they said they will continue to say no to future bids. "Any time we were to consider selling this business would be a failure to keep a commitment," said Senn Dunn Chairman Larry Roland. A year ago, the company's partners offered five standout younger employees the chance to buy stock in the company. The move increased the number of partners and set up a succession plan. "So, we are going to sell the agency," said Gray McCaskill, president. But the buyers will come from within - those young employees who contributed to Senn Dunn's growth. For each of the past four years, Senn Dunn's revenues have grown 22 percent to 29 percent as the company has added staff and expanded the types of insurance products it offers to clients. But Ward believes that Senn Dunn's corporate culture, as much as its business success, made the company the judges' unanimous choice. "It's not the amount of business that we did that won the award, but what we do for our employees," he said. Indeed, Senn Dunn stood out because "they have created an absolutely fabulous place to work," National Underwriter's Friedman said. "They clearly care about their employees, who, as a result, are highly motivated to help the agency excel." Senn Dunn, for example, gives the best offices, those with windows and a good view, to service employees who are at their desks all day. The senior partners and the top salespeople work in windowless offices in the center of the building. When the company runs sales contests, it doesn't just reward those salespeople who bring in the most revenue. Support staff also receive bonuses for helping the company meet its goals. "The better you treat your employees, the better treatment your clients get," said Senn Dunn's Senior Vice President Tim Templeton. Employee training is also a priority for the company, Templeton said. "We don't hire and see how it goes," he said. All new employees are paired with an experienced mentor-trainer. Even senior leaders take a turn at training new hires. Roland is now helping train one of the company's newest salesmen, known as "producers" in insurance-industry vernacular. "He's wearing me out," Roland said. "I'm going with him on sales calls and working with him on a daily basis on sales techniques." Contact Amy Joyner at 373-7075 or ajoyner@news-record.com Copyright (c) 2004 Greensboro News & Record |
