Bruce Herrick, president and chief executive officer of Michigan Millers Insurance Company, does filing at the Fred Haight Agency in Muir, Michigan. Herrick's visit was part of Michigan Millers' "Servant for a Day" program which dramatizes the company's ongoing service commitments to its agents.
About two years ago, Michigan Millers Mutual Insurance Co., Lansing, Michigan, was having problems. Agents were remaining loyal to a company that had always been loyal to them, but they were beginning to think about moving some of their business. As Larry Eaton of Larry Eaton Insurance Agency, Inc., Clio, Michigan, explains: "The company had always done well for us, particularly in claims service. But there was a little setback when some of the older adjusters retired. There was a deterioration in service and some agents did cut and run. We did everything in our power to stay with Millers because we appreciated what they had done for us over the years."
But today, things have changed. Agents aren't staying with Michigan Millers because of past loyalty, but because the company "bends over backwards to get things done for us," says J.D. Lancaster of Lancaster Insurance, Clinton, Michigan. He continues by pointing out that Lancaster was starting to look for another carrier out of concern that customer service was starting to deteriorate, but then Millers changed and "almost right away, we noticed the change. The customer service people acted as if they were excited about their jobs. They began to behave more like an employee-owned company. That's the attitude I get when I talk to underwriters and claims people."
That change came a little less than two years ago when Bruce Herrick took over the helm at Michigan Millers as president and chief executive officer. Herrick, an experienced insurance executive with 30 years in the business, came to the company from Vik Brothers Insurance Group. He had been with American Reliance when Vik Brothers assumed that company's business in 1992. His insurance career began at ISO in 1966.
"The first step was to fix things internally," Bruce says. "We don't have the resources to compete with the advertising programs of the big companies so we decided that the best place to compete was service. If we provided the best personal service to our agents, then we would be successful. We needed to turn the attitude of our people around. It wasn't that they had a bad attitude; it was almost no attitude. We needed them to have a positive attitude that would radiate out to our agency partners."
It began with a kickoff blowout--the Great Michigan Millers Comeback--at the company headquarters that immediately got the attention of every one of the 180 employees. When they arrived at work that day, there was a blimp flying over the building. When they entered the building, the Michigan State fight song was playing and they were handed pom-poms. Needless to say, it was a different meeting than normally occurs in the insurance business.
"We discussed service and what we meant by it," Bruce says. "We set standards of service that were focused on the needs of our agents rather than our own needs. For example, our standard for commercial lines quotes is when the agent needs it. We don't have a set standard like ten days or five days. We ask the agent when they need the quote and then get it to him or her by that time. If they need the quote immediately and we can't do it, we tell them that. A one-day turnaround just may not be possible."
"Response time is greatly improved," says Janna Kelly of Burr & Co., Grand Rapids. "Turnaround has improved 100%. And morale has improved. The people are very friendly and have an attitude of 'what can we do for you.' It's really nice to know that there's a company around that recognizes and appreciates the value of the independent agent. We're doing very well with Millers and are very pleased that a regional company will give us the products and services we need to compete."
Bruce Herrick continues that the new attitude toward service already has had some "great success stories." One involved an agent who called at the end of the day on Friday and needed a quote by Monday. "Our people worked through the weekend to get it done." Another case involved a claim where a business had ordered goods and services to reopen the store. The stuff was being delivered COD on Saturday. The adjuster got the check to the company so they could get back into business even though the claim wasn't completely closed.
"We discussed service and what we meant by it. We set standards of service that were focused on the needs of agents rather than our own needs."
--Bruce Herrick
Herrick tends the garden outside
The Fred Haight Agency.
"Those are the kinds of little things that are never forgotten," Bruce notes. "We concentrate on walking the extra mile." Another example of this is that "one of the senior underwriting people calls the agent every time we write an account and thanks him or her for the business."
This new attitude has had remarkable results. The Great Michigan Millers Comeback really appears to be occurring. Agents are sending more business to the company. "Things are really heading in the right direction," Bruce says. However, the challenge now is to continue the momentum.
"We have a big board in the
lunch room where we post an acknowledgement every time any employee does something special. It's catchy. Everyone wants to be there. They want to be part of a winning team.
"We also have a monthly meeting with all of our employees. It's the news, weather and sports event. We try to keep it fresh. We talk about how we're doing so everyone knows that their contribution is having a positive effect. We sprinkle it with congratulations and recognize individuals who have gone the extra mile. People really look forward to the meeting. They really get the feeling that they are all part of the company and know what is going on."
And Bruce himself is putting himself out in front with a new "Servant For A Day" program that was recently announced. Every quarter, a senior officer of Michigan Millers rewards an agency that earns the company's Most Valued Agent award by spending an afternoon at the agency doing whatever the agency wants done.
Bruce was the officer who went to the first winner--The Fred Haight Insurance Agency, Muir, Michigan--donned in black tux. And he lived up to his promise. He weeded the agency's flower bed, vacuumed, made an ice cream run and, yes, he even did windows. But more important, "I made the point that we really are serious about service and are willing to get our hands dirty to prove it. And I learned a lot by being there. I got to see first-hand what agencies have to accomplish during the day. And that helps us when we design products and services for them. One surprise for me was the number of customers that came in to the agency and made premium payments in cash. I came from the East Coast and that doesn't happen very often. But out here, it's apparently pretty common. It means a bank run every day. That's only a little thing. But the little things add up to a better understanding."
Equally important, Bruce concludes is that it was "fun for everyone. I'm a big believer in having fun at your job. I want all our people to have a good time, to enjoy coming to work. That's what really builds esprit de corps. And it's working. We've really got a spirited group of people who like working here. I've been talking to a lot of agents and hearing that they want to do business with us because of our people." *
The author
Dennis Pillsbury has more than 20 years' experience in insurance journalism, both as an editor and freelance writer.
©COPYRIGHT: The Rough Notes Magazine, 1999