Five years ago the southern coast experienced a catastrophic tidal surge that devastated millions of people and businesses: Hurricane Katrina. The horrific winds and flooding reached 10 miles inland from the hurricane's 35-feet tidal wave. Reportedly, more than 1,800 people lost their lives during the storm, which caused more than $81 million in damages.
Related: Read August's Agency Success Story "Doing fine in Fargo."
Based in Bay St. Louis, Miss., Treutel Insurance Agency was directly in the eye of the storm. Katrina destroyed not only the office and community, but 80 percent of its employees' homes. However, technology, creativity and determination enabled the agency to get back on its feet within days. Left without an office, Treutel pitched a tent and began processing claims within a couple of days after the storm. Partnered with efficient carriers, Treutel successfully settled over 8,000 claims.
Three weeks later, Hurricane Rita struck, blowing away the tent and forcing the agency to move into a trailer, equipped with computers and satellite Internet access so the company could return to work and order. Treutel moved into a refurbished building after 5 months, where it's still located today.
"Starting all over again is quite challenging," said Angelyn Treutel, vice president and treasurer of Treutel. "It requires rebuilding, refurnishing, repurchasing office equipment and supplies, tending to staff morale and personnel needs. It means working with thousands of clients who lost everything they ever had, dealing with the extreme emotions of despair and frustration, processing claims, processing cancellations, watching business decline. And then, beginning to rebuild business again, writing new policies, retaining clients and gaining new ones as the community rebuilds."
Treutel overcame the devastation of Katrina and worked diligently to assist clients throughout the claims process, while reconstructing the agency physically, emotionally and financially. The agency's slogans? "No sniveling" and "It's all good."
Background
P.J. Treutel founded Treutel Insurance Agency in 1925, and the company is still family operated in the third generation. Treutel has found steady growth and recognition as one of the leading agencies in the Bay St. Louis area.
With only eight staff members, including husband-and-wife duo David and Angelyn Treutel, who own the company, Treutel is a Trusted Choice Agency, and has received the National Best Practices Award from the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America and Reagan Assocs. for the past 12 years. David Treutel, president, serves as treasurer of the state's wind pool fund, is a member of FEMA's Flood Insurance Producer's National Council, and serves on several carrier agent advisory councils.
In view of its location, the company specializes in coastal exposure coverages such as flooding, oil spills, wind and storm damage. The agency is split between 51 percent of personal lines business and 49 percent of commercial lines business.
"We have a loyal customer base, and an extensive referral network that assists in providing prospects," David said about customer's reactions to the agency's services.
Using technology
Treutel Insurance has advanced profits, which have more than tripled in the past 10 years, despite the losses it endured 5 years ago from Hurricane Katrina, through its technological efficiencies, improved training techniques, and best practices for business development.
Angelyn has impacted technology and workflow efficiency for not only Treutel, but for thousands of agents throughout the nation with presentations based on her agency experience and Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America's Agents Council for Technology (IIABA), which she chairs. Angelyn works within the industry to promote real time technology interfaces between agents and carriers and recommends the adoption of best practices for agency workflows and enhanced productivity.
The agency has aggressively joined the social media and Internet marketing bandwagon to better position Treutel for the future. Networking is something all agents should feel comfortable with because agents are good at building relationships, even if it is through a cyber connection, Angelyn said. It allows the company to connect with more contacts than it would be humanly possible to meet in person.
These social media connections also increase through the use of online referrals. Many modern consumers tend to distrust print media when researching products, and prefer to receive the opinion of a trusted peer group or from their own connections and friends. But when it comes to actually making the purchase, clients would rather purchase insurance from a trusted advisor. With social networking, agents have more opportunity to showcase themselves as a trusted choice and a consumer advocate, according to Angelyn.
However, some older communication techniques are still in use at Treutel, including the traditional telephone. The agency does not use answering machines during business hours; customers speak to a live person and not a machine at Treutel. "Our staff is made up of real people who live in the same community and make daily contributions for the betterment of the area," Angelyn said.
Through social networking, the agency is also engaging young talent, which increases its prospecting clientele and its reach to current contacts. The agency recently hired an intern and has re-engineered workflows to increase productivity using ACORD's Power of Change program. "Our agency is one large connected selling machine with every agency staff person playing an integral part in the sales process," Angelyn said.
Future prospects
Instead of basking in the gloom that Hurricane Katrina created with Treutel and its customers, the agency is focusing on the future.
The company plans to continue growing and meet the increasing customer demands for convenience, choice, expertise and advocacy. "We continue to high grade our workflows to increase productivity," Angelyn said. "We have turned the time savings achieved through our implementation of real time and other technological improvements into more sales, despite the soft market and tough economy."
Angelyn states that the agency uses real time to save steps in its workflow and eliminate backlog--ultimately resulting in more sales. "We have information at our fingertips with fewer keystrokes, which assists in providing faster client service tailored to each customer's needs," she said.
Following IIABA's Agent Council for Technology advice for maintaining a focus on the future, Treutel is capitalizing on the emergence of social marketing, positioning the agency to take advantage of demographic changes, such as providing translated materials in Spanish, and developing methods to utilize more mobile technology, such as the agency's recent development of an iPhone app (see sidebar on page 56).
"We believe that our success is tied to our involvement in local, state and national associations that work together to improve our industry," Angelyn said. Both David and Angelyn have served as president of the Independent Insurance Agents of Mississippi, and they are both active in the Gulf Coast Agent Assn., the Southern Agents Conference, the National Big I and a number of committees on the regional and national level working to promote and improve the insurance industry. The agency finds mutual benefit in working with other agents on building a brand that communicates trust, devising methods and technologies to enhance profitability and help the industry to adapt to consumer needs and demands. On the local level, Treutel Insurance Agency is involved in community and economic development activities.
The future looks bright, and the agency is still going and growing with positive attitudes toward the future.
