Woodruff-Sawyer & Company can point to many elements thatfactor into the firm's success–including its emphasis on providinga multitude of advisory services and its ability to lower aclient's cost of risk. But a focus on getting customer claims paidis a critical ingredient–”where the rubber meets the road,”according to Chief Executive Officer Charlie Rosson.

Excellence in claims-handling was one of many factors that setsthis firm apart, earning Woodruff-Sawyer the coveted “Champion”designation among a trio of winners in the eighth annualNational Underwriter Commercial Insurance Agency of theYear award program.

Customers at the San Francisco-based firm, Mr. Rosson said, wantto know their agency will stand behind them to negotiate withinsurers on their behalf and work to obtain any claims money theyare due.

“We've made a significant investment in our claims department.We have 17 people. That's bigger than most of our peers,” Mr.Rosson remarked.

The payoff from that and other service-intensive strategies hasbeen a steady rise in annual income, up to $62.2 million lastyear–maintaining its growth trend despite the financial crisis,recession and a $27 million drop in commercial lines premiumvolume.

On the claims side, the agency will do what it has to even whenthat cuts into the bottom line. One vivid example of that wasoutlined by Zac Overbay, the firm's senior vice president forclaims operations.

The claim in question, which eventually totaled $20 million,involved a large office building located near the Bruncefield fueldepot in Hertfordshire, England, owned by a large U.S. publictechnology company.

In 2005, a gigantic fire erupted at Bruncefield–fueled by threemillion gallons of gasoline. Explosions at the site were so loudthey were heard 100 miles away, and 2,000 people living nearby wereevacuated.

The client's building was turned into a shattered shell–stillleft standing but otherwise “a total loss,” Mr. Overbay noted.Within 48 hours, Woodruff-Sawyer executives were on the case,making flights to the client company's Massachusetts headquartersto brief management.

Even before the final loss assessment was completed, they hadsecured several seven-figure advances from carriers. Meanwhile,there were trips to England to set up a team of lossexperts–including a property loss engineer, inventory specialistand forensic accountant as well as information technologyspecialists.

“We contacted our client's insurer and put them on notice andworked frantically to get money into the client's pocket,” recalledMr. Overbay. Within 12 months the claim was fully resolved. “Theinsurer said for a loss of that magnitude they had not seen onethat went so smoothly,” he recounted.

Two partners–the account executive and property claimsconsultant–worked on the claim, in Mr. Overbay's words, “from startto bitter end.”

While that was “not our best profit year on that account, to putit frankly,” according to Mr. Overbay, he added that “you cannotput a price tag on doing the right thing in the client's time ofcrisis.”

That claim is not the only example of the agency's use ofintense individualized service to keep business. Part of its awardessay told the story of a U.S.-based semiconductor client to whichit had provided coverage and consulting services for seven years,but in 2008 the client's new emphasis on cost containment led it toshop its business with a request for proposals.

At that point, Woodruff-Sawyer said it faced a number of hurdlesin keeping the account. Staff in the client's finance group hadturned over almost completely, with the exception of the day-to-daybuyer.

Further, a third-party purchasing group was hired to manage theRFP, leaving the agency removed from its contacts. Additionally,competing brokers were suggesting fees well below those ofWoodruff-Sawyer.

So the agency said it went back to the basics of therelationship, spelling out its values in its response to the RFP,with specific discussions of the company's situation. It also didan internal review that looked at its team members and organizationas well as the program's terms and structure, “to make sure we wereindeed providing the best possible perspectives and solutions” andhad a well-thought-out strategy for its oralpresentation.

Woodruff-Sawyer said it eventually kept the client by showing itprovides added-value that included:

o Reducing the cost of directors and officers liability coverageby 47 percent (price per million overall) despite coverageenhancements, through the agency's ability to leverage the client'srisk profile effectively in the market.

o Improving D&O coverage substantially, throughconsolidation of carriers and numerous contractualenhancements.

o Reducing property and casualty coverage cost of risk by 51percent (premium cost as a factor of revenue) between 2002 and2008.

o Improving P&C coverage in many areas through audits ofacquisitions, rebates and credits, marketing the programyear-over-year, and an international compliance audit.

o Delivering service continuity, as the key members of theclient's team had not changed throughout the life of therelationship.

In addition to its philosophy of service to clients,Woodruff-Sawyer points to many other factors that make it anoutstanding sales and service organization–including the ability toachieve success in troubled times.

The firm is employee-owned with an ESOP trust structure, whichthe company says allows it to put its long-term stability andclients' interests first, rather than shareholder quarterlyexpectations.

That pays off. Commercial lines premium volume fell from $402million in 2007 to $375 million last year, but income was still up,Mr. Rosson explained, because the agency has moved a good number oflarge clients to a set fee “built around the advice we are giving”rather than a premium-based arrangement.

The downside to such a move is that “you don't profit as muchwhen rates are going up,” but it avoids fluctuations, he pointedout.

The firm also reacted quickly to reassure clients about thefinancial stability of their insurance carriers. Indeed, accordingto their award essay, “at the first sign of the extraordinaryfinancial troubles facing the major carriers, our firm formed ahigh-level Market Security Committee that conducts rigorousanalyses of carrier financials and their exposure to credit defaultswaps and mortgaged-backed securities. The resulting information isdelivered to clients through e-mail updates, on our Web site and inperson through our account service teams.”

The agency also benefits from being an Assurex Global partneragency, with the franchise for the San Francisco region. “It hasallowed us to compete for global business. It's a global platformfor clients' non-U.S. needs,” said Mr. Rosson. The firm boastsglobal reach on six continents and relationships with all majorinsurers.

Another factor that strengthens the agency's position, said Mr.Rosson, is its strong independence, which makes for a cautiousattitude toward any merger activity. At this point, he said, theagency has little debt and a strong balance sheet, thanks to a longrecord of organic growth.

Mergers are not ruled out, but it would have to be with a firmthat is complementary and shares Woodruff-Sawyer values, heexplained. “We would not do it just to grow revenue,” he noted.

In addition to its independence, the agency's culture since itsinception is to keep “a very flat organization, where seniorleadership works directly with clients… We're very, very activewith clients. I spend a large part of my time visiting clients andgoing to prospective client meetings,” said Mr. Rosson.

The agency is also geared to provide year-round service. “We'rein virtually constant contact with our clients and, given thecomplex nature of most clients' business, and the dynamic nature oftheir business, we are busy doing analysis, helping with mergersand acquisitions and changes in their business,” Mr. Rosson added.“Our service delivery model is geared around being an advisor tothem.”

Helping provide some of that advice is a partnership with theMilliman actuarial firm. Mr. Rosson outlined how that partnership“brings financial modeling and actuarially certified analysis toour benefits clients,” and helps them comply with the corporateaccounting requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. In addition, hesaid, Milliman enables the agency to negotiate with insurers “usinganalytics that are more sophisticated and credible.”

Boosting the firm's financial strength and expanding its productofferings to clients is its hefty employee benefits practice, whichaccounts for 22.5 percent of Woodruff-Sawyer's commissionincome.

Mr. Rosson said benefits sales is a great source of the firm'sgrowth, and he is optimistic about its future even as Congressworks on health insurance reform, because “the benefits of anemployer-sponsored marketplace will be apparent and our businesswill continue to thrive.”

Woodruff-Sawyer also looks to innovation to keep its businessflourishing, noting that it was the first brokerage among its peersto provide in-house compliance expertise led by a staff attorney.Its newest effort is a practice dedicated to the emergingclean/green technology industry.

Mr. Rosson said the group with that “green” expertiseunderstands what makes that different from a typical technologyclient, and can work with carriers to structure policies andpricing appropriately.

The agency is “most proud of our culture,” he noted. “We takewhat we do seriously, but we don't take ourselves seriously. We'renot hierarchical.”

Mr. Rosson also described a “very flexible workplace,” allowingfor different work styles and schedules. In addition to holdingstaff parties, picnics and sports outings to encourage teamwork anda sense of family, the agency shows compassion when employeesencounter a difficult situation in their home lives.

“We have a lot of long-term employees, and they know we careabout them,” he said.

The policy seems to pay dividends. Revenue-per-employee at thefirm has gone up for the past three years, and last year stood at$222,000.