Although the country was facing an overwhelming recession at the time, Justin and Jordan Goodman chose to form Goodman Insurance Services (GIS) in 2008, after severing ties with a larger firm, with the intent to be a one-stop shop for contractors in California. Based in Irvine, Calif., GIS serves only artisan contractors, which provides a competitive advantage from a product knowledge standpoint and a pricing advantage tied with its significant premium volume with contractor specific carriers.

“We formed Goodman so that we could address contractor needs of 60-minute certificate turnaround time, contract reviews, effective claims handling and loss control, along with a comprehensive marketing approach that would guarantee that even the smallest contractor would receive numerous competitive quotes on their insurance renewal,” said Justin Goodman, CIC, CISC, CRIS, president and founder of GIS.

GIS did feel an impact from the recession. From 2008 to 2009, its revenue dropped 45 percent as a direct result of the California housing market collapse. GIS only lost several accounts during that time, but the client's volume dropped significantly. Clients expected the same great service and pricing even though GIS was making 40 percent less to handle each account.

The agency decided to sell its way out of the recession and double its marketing efforts. GIS is now on pace to grow policy count year over year by 30 percent, and expects that when the construction volume returns to pre-recession levels in 2014-15, GIS can look to quadruple its revenue, Justin said.

Both Justin and Jordan learned the insurance industry by working for large brokerages for the past 8 years, and with their father, Steve Goodman, who is a 30-year insurance veteran. GIS has 6 full-time employees including a workers' compensation analyst.

With access to the top construction insurance carriers such as Praetorian, Companion, Golden Eagle, Tower and Seabright and many more, GIS provides services including contract reviews, semi-annual claims reviews, unlimited access to their in-house workers' compensation claims analyst, ex-mod projections, payroll and receipts classification and reviews, weekly safety tailgate meeting topics, educational seminars and customized IIPP plans.

GIS goes beyond designing coverage to meet insurance obligations, to structuring an insurance and risk management program for most risk scenarios while decreasing the opportunity of risks through proper loss control techniques. GIS leverages a specialty package program for contractors that is “A” rated, admitted, low minimum premium with a monthly reporting option. “Once a contractor gets into our program, they don't leave,” Justin said.

To adapt to the current market trends and respond to the suffering contractors have faced for the past several years, GIS developed the Contractors' Business Network. Its mission is to provide information for contractors to build and safeguard their business in uncertain times. Subscribers receive monthly e-newsletters, access to seminars and other benefits geared toward their business. Over the past 18 months, the GIS network has grown to more than 24,000 subscribers in California alone.

Other services GIS provides its clients include: monthly phone contact for each account from both the account manager and producer; client call-back within the hour; monthly e-newsletter; and proactive initiatives—almost every proposal is sent out 2 weeks before the renewal date so the insured has adequate time to review the options and for the agency to process certificates. Producers also are available to clients at all times via phone, cell phone and e-mail.

These services have resulted in a 99 percent client retention, which has increased from 97.1 percent in 2009. “We continue to do business with Goodman due to the fact that their customer service is what you would expect from a quality professional company,” said GIS client Wayne Copeland, president, CEPA Operations Inc. “We at CEPA are in the service business; we recognize and choose to do business with companies that believe in the same principals of service that we do.”

Employees with construction and insurance industry designations such as CIC, CRIS (IRMI's Construction Risk and Insurance Specialist) and CISC designations, aid GIS customer service skills, especially because it is a niche agency. “Our clients expect us to be experts, and we rely on the National Alliance, Insurance Skills Center and IRMI to help us expand our knowledge base,” Justin said.

Staying innovative with technology helps GIS stay competitive in the industry as well. In 2008, it hired Abell Business Services to develop a back-office outsourcing strategy. Currently, GIS's team in India provides the following services: renewal letter requests, loss run requests, submissions, proposals, policy checking and the processing of certificate renewal lists. The backend processing is monitored by GIS's team through a sophisticated software system created by Abell that allows it to track and manage workflow.

GIS guarantees that every client's renewals will be out to market 90 days from the policy expiration and to every carrier that is competitive for their class of work. In addition, the outsourced backoffice workload has dramatically opened up GIS's account manager's time to better assist with clients.

GIS also uses a blended strategy that includes promotes the company's Facebook fan page, and the Contractor's Business Network. Some contractors, however, have not yet migrated to the Internet with their insurance search, so GIS also uses e-mail marketing, direct mail marketing and referral programs to grow business.

Along with founding GIS and being named one of the top 40 insurance brokers in the country under 40 by Risk and Insurance Magazine, Justin and two friends founded A Way to Help, a 501c3 non-profit organization, several years ago. GIS is a major supporter of A Way to Help, which currently provides clean drinking water to more than 50,000 Ugandans on a daily basis, with a goal to double this number by the end of 2011.

GIS plans to continue to grow a sustainable and profitable book of business for the future. Its goal is to substantially increase market share over the next few years while maintainting the high level of customers service that their clients have come to expect.

“Over the next 5 years, the construction market will slowly return to pre-recession levels, and our clients' revenues will return to normal as well,” Justin said. “The end result will be a healthy construction marketplace and that will have a multiplier effect on our revenue dollars.”

Special Reports /

New Beginning, Bright Future at Goodman

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