Andy Thompson with his father, Wayne, always thought his father's job looked "fun." In 1996 Andy purchased his father's agency in Parker City, Indiana.
By Laura Biddle-Bruckman laurab@in.net
Andy Thompson with his father, Wayne, always thought his father's job looked "fun." In 1996 Andy purchased his father's agency in Parker City, Indiana.
"Our youth we have but today. We may always find time to grow old."
--Bishop Berkeley (1684-1753)
"Fathers and sons don't get along; don't go back to work in the family agency. It's the biggest mistake you'll ever make." This is the piece of advice from a university professor that Anson (Andy) Thompson is glad he didn't heed. On January 1, 1996, Andy purchased Thompson Insurance in Parker City, Indiana, from his father and has been hard at work building on the solid foundation ever since.
Wayne Thompson, Andy's father, purchased the agency about 20 years ago and built a strong agency with an impeccable reputation for ethical behavior. Andy grew up attending association activities and thought his dad's job looked "fun."
Nevertheless, Andy started his undergraduate career at nearby Ball State University with no thought of taking over his father's business. As a sophomore, he took an insurance class, thought insurance was interesting, and by the time Andy was a senior in college, he was considering working for the family agency, at least on a part-time basis. However, if he was to consider this as a future career, Andy was determined to start from the ground up.
"I wanted to work my way through all the positions in the agency so that if I did become active in the business, I could relate to the frustrations and rewards of each position." So, during his part-time work, Andy answered telephones, filed, did customer service work and anything else that needed to be done. By gaining this firsthand knowledge, Andy hoped that he would one day be more empathetic and knowledgeable as a manager; and, after all, these were skills that could transfer with ease to any career.
Andy continued his formal education by pursuing a graduate degree in communications while working at the agency one day per week. Upon completion of his degree, he joined the agency full time. His role was initially that of a producer, but he quickly began putting his education to work to benefit the agency. Wayne gave Andy the freedom he needed to blend himself in the agency and put his best skills to work. Andy developed a mission statement and a strategic plan for the agency. He began taking responsibility for hiring, firing and financial management. His father saw that this was working well and offered to structure a mutually beneficial buyout arrangement.
At the same time, Wayne sold his second agency location in nearby Muncie, Indiana, to his longtime employee Jay Oliver. Andy maintains close contact with Jay and the agencies still have cluster agreements with a few companies. Andy's father still acts as a consultant and comes by the agency to open and sort the mail when he is in town, but he is content to let the "second generation" take over.
Through attrition and by circumstance, no employees remain from his father's regime. When interviewing a prospective employee, Andy paints his vision of the agency growing and of the new employee growing with as well. He tells potential employees, "This is where we are today, but this is not where we are going to be in the future."
The "team" Andy has built at Thompson Insurance includes (back row, left to right) Rosetta Bartley, commercial lines CSR; Lisa Stonerock, personal lines CSR; Sherri Logan, accountant; Amy Sparling, personal lines CSR; Ron Shumaker, personal lines producer; Libby Henderson, receptionist; (front row) Cindy Logan, employee benefits CSR and Andy Thompson.
Andy has been rewarded with loyal, energetic employees. This year he instituted a profit sharing program tied to the agency's contingency income, so every employee has a stake in writing profitable business and doing quality work.
Nurturing an agency is important to Andy, but nurturing the next generation of Thompsons takes his time as well.
Left to right: Andy holding daughter, Quincy Jo; wife, Jodi and son, Tanner Ross.
Employee satisfaction is high on Andy's list of priorities. Weekly meetings are key to the communication within the agency. According to Andy, the most important part of the meetings comes at the end when the staff discusses their "questions, comments and concerns." Each employee is encouraged to openly discuss any of the above and they are addressed on a weekly basis so no problem or issue has time to grow over a long period.
Andy believes the opportunity he has been given is without boundaries. Not content with status quo, he is on the lookout for new challenges that take him outside his geographic territory. While his roots will likely remain in Parker City, Andy has his sites set on building a national network of activity. An active member of the Young Agents, Andy says that networking with other young agents is invaluable. He recalls a recent discussion at a meeting where a tenured agent expressed that he had several young agents working for his agency but "could not afford" to send his employees to the state Young Agent Conference. Andy says that, to the contrary, agency owners cannot afford not to send their young agents to young agent and association activities.
"Everyone has slumps and has situations that come up that seem impossible and they feel alone. The opportunity to share your experiences with people similar in age and tenure is invaluable. If I am feeling bad when I go to a young agent activity, I always feel better after sharing my experiences. If I am already feeling good, I am so jazzed up when I get back that they have to peel me off the ceiling. Sometimes all you need to hear is, 'Hey, I've been there.' The important thing is to have the network of allies."
Andy served as the Independent Insurance Agents of Indiana's Young Agent Committee Chairperson and was twice named as "Young Agent of the Year." But, even better testimony to the fact that it is important for young agents to attend association events and get involved is that this month at the Indiana state convention, Andy was named as the Indiana's "Agent of the Year." According to Roger Ronk, Executive Vice President for Indiana, this award is bestowed by a committee based on blind information. "All the awards committee sees are qualifications. The candidates are assigned points based on information given. It is unprecedented for a young agent to receive this award." Andy also received the award for "Director of the Year." Says Roger, "Indiana has a seat on the board for the Young Agent Committee Chairperson. We have really tried to incorporate the Young Agents group into our mindset, which has brought so much energy to our organization as a whole. The really good news for us is that we have an entire young agent organization filled with people like Andy. Their enthusiasm and commitment serves as a catalyst to the entire group."
Andy currently shares business with fellow young agents, splitting commissions. He is working with one contact he made at last year's legislative conference to provide coverage for a multi-million dollar property account. It has Andy thinking about new markets and new opportunities. If you talk to Andy, you will soon learn that he's always thinking and shaping new ideas. He's always communicating...always selling...always building the future for the third generation of Thompsons. *
©COPYRIGHT: The Rough Notes Magazine, 1997