Although its doors have been open for more than 50 years,The Starr Group,Greenfield, Wis., is thinking young. After dissolving a 20-yearpartnership 2 years ago, the agency has started fresh by analyzingthe values and beliefs that frame the new Starr Group, leading theagency to push for new ideas, efficiencies and best practices. Theagency has spent immense effort stripping the company to its coreand rebuilding The Starr Group to the risk reduction drivenbusiness it is today.

“We believe that staying true to our values will help us pushfor excellence in our daily interactions and accomplishments, whichwill allow us to stand out from the competition,” said Mary Starr,executive vice president of The Starr Group.

As part of the rebuilding process, all 27 employees went througha 7-week introduction course that pioneered the values of StarrGroup, along with using Starr's core values, called the “I-PREACH”(integrity, passion, respect, excellence, acknowledgement,communication and honesty) program, in its interview process,annual employee reviews and bonus payouts. Maureen Arndt, directorof operations, takes the I-PREACH values to the customer level byconducting value audits of sales and service phone calls, whereteams listen to each other's phone calls and evaluate them on howwell they support the agency's values by recognizing strengths andsuggesting improvements.

Related: ReadOctober's Agency Success, “All in the family.”

I-PREACH represents the core values of The Starr Group, and theagency believes if it builds a team of character, it can accomplishwhat others cannot.

Where it began
Robert Starr founded StarrInsurance Group in 1956 from his home office in Greendale. Robert'sson, Tim Starr, joined the company in 1981 after graduating with adegree in risk management from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.His wife, Mary, joined the agency in 1985. Fifty years later, underthe ownership of Tim and Mary Starr, The Starr Group has grown intoone of the most progressive agencies in Wisconsin.

The Starr Group's targeted specialties includeconstruction/contracting, technology, progressive care, refusehaulers, hospitality and personal lines group sales. The StarrGroup is active in associations affiliated with its niche markets.Risk reduction services include human resources, COBRA, safety,defensive driver training and MODhammer, an analysis of workers'compensation claims.

The agency's business split is 28 percent personal linesbusiness, 54 percent commercial lines business and 18 percent ingroup benefits. The Starr Group represents West Bend, Secura,Frankenmuth, Acuity, Chubb, Indiana, Travelers, United Health Care,Anthem Blue Cross and Humana. In addition, the agency beganoffering captives in 2009 for large accounts.

The Starr Group is committed to protecting its clients bystrategically aligning its resources and expertise with theirneeds. “Our best customers are those whose risk bearing toleranceis aligned with our risk reduction capabilities,” said Tim Starr,president and CEO. “Our vision statement says it best: The StarrGroup vision is to lead in the creation and delivery of insuranceand risk reduction services for our customers producing ameasurable difference.”

“The new Starr Group helps businesses, individuals andfamilies evaluate their insurance coverage needs and identifysolutions tailored to their own unique situations,” Mary Starrsaid. “We consider ourselves insurance counselors rather than justproducers. It is our goal to provide our customers with guidancethat will ensure their business and their families' risks areproperly managed.”

The Starr Group practice includes constant internal coveragereview of existing customer coverages and roundtables with agentsand staff on prospective accounts. Many customers, especially atclaim time, have been the benefactor of that “rolling up of thesleeves” behavior. Personal lines business is treated with the sameeffort and enthusiasm. Replacement cost coverage is available toall customers who purchase new vehicles. In one situation, apersonal lines client was caught in a Nashville flood. The CoastGuard saved her, but her car was totaled. The client had thespecial coverage, and received a brand-new car instead of the BlueBook value of her totaled vehicle.

Through this type of customer care, The Starr Group boasts a 92percent customer retention rate. In addition, the agency wasrecently honored as one of only four in the state to be recognizedas a 2010 Best Practice agency as selected by the IIABA. Inaddition, The Starr Group has been named the 2010 runner-up for theWisconsin Better Business Bureau's Torch Award, which honorscompanies that demonstrate excellence in ethical practices, serviceexcellence, reputation, honest advertising, peer recognition,management practices and employee training in ethical behavior.

Educating employees
Starr's staffincludes 27 highly trained professionals including insurancecounselors, account executives and support personnel. The agencyrequires high education requirements among its staff to providebetter client service.

It is not only necessary to hold a state insurance license forall of Starr Group's sales and service associates, but commercialP&C agents also must become a certified insurance counselor(CIC) and certified risk manager (CRM) within 5 years ofemployment.

The Starr Group provides its employees with technology such asdual monitors and desktop faxing to improve efficiency. Ongoingcommunication is important to The Starr Group for its employees tounderstand and share the agency's vision. The agency holdsdepartment and all-agency meetings regularly, and shares theagency's benchmark comparisons with all staff members. As a memberof Marsh Berry's Agency Peak Performance Exchange (APPEX) The StarrGroup chooses to use the comparison statistics of the best agenciesin the US as its primary benchmark.

“We firmly believe that employees who feel appreciated andrespected have greater job satisfaction,” Mary said. “In turn, thispositive outlook shines through to our customers, our co-workersand our companies. By investing in our team, we are investing inour business.”

It is critical that all of its employees uphold The Starr Groupcommitment and core values which include putting customers first,acting with integrity, treating people with respect, being honestand passionate, showing appreciation and gratitude, activelylistening and responding and pursuing excellence to raise standardsof performance.

Dealing with the market
The Starr Group'sfocus is to be different. “When you are different, you do not haveto be just another member of the herd with a low price,” Tim Starrsaid. The agency practices:

• Marketing to niche markets
• Growing outstanding, knowledgeable sales agents
• Supporting accounts with risk reduction services
• Reminding customers why they do business together.

“This formula takes on an energy that does not care what type ofmarketplace we are in and still produces the desired results,” Timsaid. “Insurance premiums represent only 20 percent of the cost ofrisk, so it is our job to focus on the other 80 percent. This iswhere our concentration on risk reduction services aptlyapplies.”

Changes in the marketplace make it a different sellingenvironment. The Starr Group has an increased responsibility toprovide its agents with an environment where selling, notadministration, is their primary function. This focus has allowedthe agency to grow 4.8 percent in 2009, with 2010 being on track tooutperform 2009.

The agency has taken proactive steps to establish its businessas a resource for its prospects and customers, educating them onthe insurance issues that impact them directly. The agency developsand mails quarterly newsletters to its commercial, group andpersonal lines customers and offers seminars and webinars toclients on relevant topics.

Starr has found success despite the soft market in three areas:increasing retention, reducing its servicing costs and increasingthe hit ratio in new business.

“In spite of strained budgets, we feel that marketing isextremely important and critical to the success of our salesefforts,” Tim said. “We built what we call track marketing, whichallows for nine automatic touches by our agents, includingautomatic defaulted phone calls for our agents. We firmly believein a heavily automatic marketing behavior.”

Giving back

The Starr Group believes it is important to give back to thecommunity. The agency voted for The Special Olympics of Wisconsinto be its corporate charity of choice. Over the last 3 years, Starrhas sponsored The Special Olympics' largest fundraiser, the PolarPlunge, raising more than $25,000 for the cause.

The agency has also incorporated giving back into day-to-daybusiness. “In recent years, we have focused our efforts on creatinginsurance programs for associations and groups that we feel canbenefit from specialized programs,” Tim said.

The Starr Group Insurance Program for Milwaukee/NARI, forexample, creates a direct benefit for the Milwaukee/NARI Foundationby membership participation.

The Foundation benefits every time an account is written andrenewed. This financial aid helps related entities withscholarships and educational opportunities; as of today, StarrGroup has donated more than $23,000 to the organization.

The Starr Group also includes charity volunteer efforts throughits Fit4Life wellness program that was created by its Best of TheBest committee. The wellness initiatives include proper nutrition,adequate exercise, minimized stress and a tobacco-freelifestyle.

The Fit4Life program has been recognized by United HealthCare,featured in Fortune Magazine in 2009 and was recognized as aplatinum level fit-friendly company by The American Heart Assn. in2010. It was a second place finalist in the YMCA America on theMove Challenge 2009 and was recognized as a corporate wellnessaward finalist by BizTimes in 2009 and 2010.

The Starr Group holds that successful companies focus theirefforts strategically, and has designed a strategic plan thatoutlines the established steps to reach its defined success.Trustworthiness has the greatest impact on a company's ability towork with and affect their customers and employees on a dailybasis.

“As the level of trust increases, so does the level of associateengagement and satisfaction,” Mary Starr said. “As this level ofassociate engagement and satisfaction increases, so does ourproductivity; thus portraying how trust plays an integral part inthe overall economics of our entire organization.”

Related: ReadOctober's Agency Success, “All in the family.”