"Service is the thing we all do," Mary Ellen Rozzell, the new president of the National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices, said during a recent interview. She was responding to a question about the way people are hired at the wholesale brokerage firm she runs, describing how it was possible for a retail broker to fill an important vacancy there some years back.

"He worked out perfectly. He knew the importance of getting back to people immediately," said Ms. Rozzell, president of Continental/Marmorstein and Malone, out of Paramus, N.J. "He knew that when somebody gets to the surplus lines market, it's usually the last minute–and we don't have two weeks to get an answer. We have to answer them today."

"We all do the same thing," she said, referring to brokers generally. "Service is the issue. Our business is about service and relationships."

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