Agency Success Story: Ahead of the Curve-Spotlight on personal lines equals success for agency

L to R: Jeffrey Brady and Lanette Bauer, Brady, Chapman, Holland & Assocs.; Mickie Comiskey, chief operating officer of Focus; Donald Woodard and Harlan Berger, Insurance Alliance

Though Focus Insurance & Financial Services is a relatively new venture, it already is making significant headway with its modern ideas and philosophy. Launched in 2001, Houston-based Focus--which deals solely with personal lines--has benefited from centering its attention on one line of business, increasing revenue for its parent companies.

The agency has pushed forward by advancing client service to the next level, embracing the latest technology, and taking on a new approach to the workplace--most employees work from home. These pioneering concepts have helped Focus grow, even in the toughest of markets.

The Birth of a New Idea
Focus Insurance & Financial Services was created as a personal lines entity for its parent companies, Brady, Chapman, Holland & Assocs. Inc. and Insurance Alliance. The idea was conceived because many of the parent companies' principals began their careers in personal lines. Personal lines can be profitable, but like many agencies and brokerages, the principals were focused primarily on commercial lines--so building a separate unit to take on personal lines made perfect sense.

"Their producers send 100 percent of their personal lines business and leads to us," said Mickie Comiskey, chief operating officer of Focus. "We handle everything from beginning to end and have our own producers as well."

Comiskey's own background is in commercial lines--she helped run and operate Comiskey & Co. until 2000, when it merged with Brady, Chapman, Holland & Assocs. She planned on retiring from the insurance industry, but the company asked her to head up the Focus operation. Initially, she was hesitant to accept, but the more the idea was discussed, the more interested she became. She wound up agreeing, and Focus opened its doors February 2001 with 15 employees.

Two principals from each parent company sit on the board, offering ideas and input, but Focus runs completely separated, using its own unique ideas and philosophies to succeed.

Satisfying Clients' Needs
Focus specializes in both high net worth and middle-market personal lines. "Many firms have given up their middle-market and smaller business because they feel high net worth will create more profit," Comiskey said. "However, we found that both have opportunities and we have equal shares of each business." The company segregates the two areas into separate departments, allowing Focus to offer various value-added services to each, resulting in profitably agency wide.

Focus borrows a principle from the commercial lines business by offering its larger accounts enhanced services. Focus meets face-to-face with these clients once a year to review a summary of insurance, do a stewardship report, show what has been achieved on the client's account through the year, and discover changes, additions or purchases. The department dealing with middle-market homes, which range from $150,000 to $500,000, also provides its clients with the necessary services.

Focus has an in-house claims personnel with an adjustor's license who stays involved during the claims process. Comiskey said people are surprised that someone is willing to spend that much time on a personal lines claim, something not all personal lines firms are apt to do.
Another testament to Focus's client service is the annual newsletters sent to every customer. Each is based on a current topic; for instance, the April newsletter dealt with hurricane season, reminding customers about flood insurance. The newsletters provide customers with knowledge and a valuable return for the agency. "Each time I send this newsletter, we get 30 to 40 orders for flood insurance," Comiskey said. A portion of the agency's Web site is dedicated to disaster planning, again, the focus varying by season. Currently, it tells customers how to recover from Hurricane Ike.
Innovative Workflows
Focus provides its employees with the same respect and appreciation provided to its customers. "Employees in the insurance business gravitate toward commercial lines, so we want to create an environment at Focus where they want to grow in personal lines," Comiskey said. The agency's work-from-home program plays a major role in creating an employee-friendly atmosphere. All 19 employees, except Comiskey and the receptionist, work from home part of the time.

Although Focus was launched with the goal of having a work-from-home program, it took about 3 years to implement it, after Comiskey learned the employees' work habits. "Each person must have the ability to work unsupervised, manage their desk and time, and be responsive," Comiskey said. "This privilege is not given by seniority. Everyone has to earn it."

Focus began the program with a handful of employees working from home 1 day a week, and who discovered they needed to see all of their data online. To do this, Focus had to transition from transactional filing to document management--setting the target date to coincide with the move into the current office. Focus accomplished this goal; the agency began the scanning process 4 years ago and moved into its current office 3 years ago, becoming completely paperless at that time.

Three Focus employees work from home full time; the rest work 3 or 4 days at home or have floating days if they are salespeople. "They manage themselves and their time," Comiskey said. "They value this, and we get more work done. When they wake up, they are already at their computer, ready to work. They're not fighting traffic or wasting time at the water cooler, and they miss the inevitable interruptions you get in an office. They miss less work time if a child gets sick. They don't have to spend as much money on professional clothes. Our employees made this work. We just gave them the opportunity to do it."

A Big Payoff
To enable the work-at-home program, Focus uses Applied Systems' Vision agency management system and ET File for document management and imaging--but its IT manager has created his own software to work with the employees. He designed an intranet system to give the staff everything they need at their fingertips. The telephone system, TeleVantage, also helps because Comiskey can see when an employee is on the telephone, look at the call log, or listen in to a phone call.

The program provided an unexpected benefit when Hurricane Ike hit, damaging the Focus office. Although Focus employees couldn't enter the building, the agency still had 19 employee locations scattered across the Houston area. The employees could access the backup service as they received power in their homes. The agency uses a 911 call service--also known as CSR 24--that took t calls and directed the calls to the proper staff. Without the work-at-home system, the agency would have been down for 5 days--instead, it was operating the day of the storm, handling more than 1,200 Ike-related claims.

"Both parent companies told us they couldn't have managed the volume of personal claims we had during the storm," Comiskey said. "It's been fun creating something that is unique and out-of-the-box to personal lines. We are now set up and ready to offer these same services to other agencies looking for a way to outsource their personal lines services and still be able to grow their personal lines business."