Although the country was facing an overwhelming recessionat the time, Justin and Jordan Goodman chose to form Goodman Insurance Services(GIS) in 2008, after severing ties with a larger firm, with theintent to be a one-stop shop for contractors in California. Basedin Irvine, Calif., GIS serves only artisan contractors, whichprovides a competitive advantage from a product knowledgestandpoint and a pricing advantage tied with its significantpremium volume with contractor specific carriers.

“We formed Goodman so that we could address contractor needs of60-minute certificate turnaround time, contract reviews, effectiveclaims handling and loss control, along with a comprehensivemarketing approach that would guarantee that even the smallestcontractor would receive numerous competitive quotes on theirinsurance renewal,” said Justin Goodman, CIC, CISC, CRIS, presidentand founder of GIS.

Related: ReadJanuary's Agency Success “Tech-savvy.”

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

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

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

With access to the top construction insurance carriers such asPraetorian, Companion, Golden Eagle, Tower and Seabright and manymore, GIS provides services including contract reviews, semi-annualclaims reviews, unlimited access to their in-house workers'compensation claims analyst, ex-mod projections, payroll andreceipts classification and reviews, weekly safety tailgate meetingtopics, educational seminars and customized IIPP plans.

GIS goes beyond designing coverage to meet insuranceobligations, to structuring an insurance and risk managementprogram for most risk scenarios while decreasing the opportunity ofrisks through proper loss control techniques. GIS leverages aspecialty 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,” Justinsaid.

To adapt to the current market trends and respond to thesuffering contractors have faced for the past several years, GISdeveloped the Contractors' Business Network. Its mission is toprovide information for contractors to build and safeguard theirbusiness in uncertain times. Subscribers receive monthlye-newsletters, access to seminars and other benefits geared towardtheir business. Over the past 18 months, the GIS network has grownto more than 24,000 subscribers in California alone.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Along with founding GIS and being named one of the top 40 insurance brokers in the country under40 by Risk and Insurance Magazine, Justin and two friendsfounded A Way toHelp, a 501c3 non-profit organization, several years ago. GISis a major supporter of A Way to Help, which currently providesclean 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 bookof business for the future. Its goal is to substantially increasemarket share over the next few years while maintainting the highlevel of customers service that their clients have come toexpect.

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