Lynne Wallace serves as president of Matsen Insurance Brokers, and Ralph G. Matsen, the firm's founder, is chairman.
If you see a problem, it's probably because you are a part of the solution." That admirable rule of conduct has guided Lynne Wallace both in her personal life and professional career. And, it is apparently a rule to which both her family and colleagues adhere very strongly as well.
The personal side we'll get to later, but on the professional side, Lynne is president and principal of the Santa Rosa, California-based Matsen Insurance Brokers, a firm that has experienced significant growth--$1.1 million in commissions in 1991 to just under $5 million last year. Matsen was founded in 1946 by Ralph Matsen. By 1964, he had expanded operations to include employee benefits, life and estate planning and both personal and commercial divisions, with an emphasis on providing insurance services for larger commercial risks. Among the other principals at Matsen are R. Glenn Matsen, chief executive officer; Wendy David, chief financial officer, and Timothy D. Chanter, president, Matsen Financial Services.
The Matsen agency prides itself, according to Lynne, in providing a broad range of risk management and insurance solutions for just six industries: real estate; construction; technology/telecommunications; hospitality; goods and services; and health care services. Products include commercial property and casualty coverages, directors and officers liability insurance, errors and omissions, intellectual property and various forms of financial services products such as 401 (k)s, mutual funds, annuities, employee services, and more.
But what makes Matsen stand out from other agencies is its self-described mission--"Ask yourself often: What does it look like for the customer?" And, according to Lynne, it is equally important to listen to what they have to say.
"We have grown to be a large regional brokerage firm by providing alternative solutions to client risk management and insurance needs," she says. "Our clients are located throughout the United States and some of the things we offer include alternative risk funding through captives, certificate tracking online, IPO insurance planning and implementation, leading edge workers compensation solutions and full surety bonding, among other products and services.
"At Matsen, we believe that as long as the people on our team are growing, we can achieve vertical growth as a company. On average our producers generate over $400,000 in annual commissions with new producers hitting approximately $250,000 within about three years," says Lynne whose own book exceeds $1.3 million. "Opportunities abound for anyone willing to get out of the box and learn to do new things new ways. Producers who were good are now doubling their income ... just because they now can."
Asked how Matsen Insurance Brokers does all this, Lynne uses the recent controversial television hit "Survivor" to drive home her point. In that show, 16 people were left on an island with nothing to eat but rice. One person was voted off the island in each episode, the one remaining person to garner a million dollars as the prize. The winner was a man named Rich.
--Lynne Wallace
Left to right, Timothy D. Chanter, president of Matsen Financial Services; Wendy David, chief financial officer; and R. Glenn Matsen, chief executive officer, join Lynne Wallace and Ralph G. Matsen to round out the Matsen Insurance Brokers executive force.
"Three key elements made Rich the winner--focus, value, and strategy," says Lynne. "Rich never lost focus ... he was there to win a million dollars. While others became sidetracked by relational issues and soap opera drama, Rich stayed focused. He added value by making a spear to go spear fishing so that there would be more to eat than just rice. The strategy came when he formed an alliance with three other participants and they were the last four survivors."
The key elements that assisted Rich in his quest for the million dollars are the very same ones that Matsen uses, says Lynne, and which other agencies can use to achieve growth. "Focus: Identify your niche, really listen to your customers, and know the competition better than they know themselves," she says. "Value: You must continually invest in yourself and your people, train yourselves in everything that will specifically create niche wisdom. Our strategy is to do everything possible to make a broker of record letter to us the only logical choice."
In terms of strategy, Matsen has broken some serious ground. Inside the agency, she says, Matsen has achieved "a huge victory" by virtually removing tension and encouraging cooperation between producers and account managers. "What we have done at Matsen is to unleash the power of the account manager. Historically, in the insurance brokerage business, we have had producers and customer service representatives (CSRs), whom we prefer to call account managers because that title is more representative of what they do. Often, rifts develop between the two functions because the people we have been calling CSRs have been limited in terms of personal growth. We felt this old model was unfair. While the producer initially brings in clients, the account manager plays a huge role in developing ongoing client relationships, meeting and exceeding client expectations and our commitments on a daily basis. Under our approach, the producer opens up new relationships while the account manager fosters existing ones. We felt there should be more equality between the two functions."
So Matsen instituted a policy whereby account managers are paid 10% of the initial commission for account rounding and referral generation, the money coming right out of the producer's pocket. In addition, they are given more frontline responsibility for smaller accounts so producers can focus on bigger accounts. "The results have been tremendous," says Lynne. "Our clients benefit greatly, and our producers and account managers are happy with the approach."
Lynne openly admits that professionally she did come across a tremendously unfair advantage (secret weapon if you will) in 1999. His name is Roger Sitkins, a performance coach to the insurance industry, located in Florida. "I traveled to Florida eight times in the last year. We also sent five of our producers and three of our firm's partners to learn the Sitkins approach. What a gift Roger is to our industry ... and I don't really worry about the competition finding out about Roger because as Roger says, only 2% of people are willing to implement meaningful, long-lasting change. We're proud to be 2%ers."
Deanne (Wallace) Farias acts as the marketing specialist at her mother's firm.
When Lynne talks about the insurance agency business, she does so, not surprisingly, with enthusiasm. In fact, she grew up in the business. While still in high school, Lynne took a part-time job with a firm that provided automated accounting services for insurance brokerages. To be honest, Lynne admits that this particular job was not her first choice. There was another job offer from the local emporium that Lynne felt would be "more fun." But, her high school counselor strongly advised her to take the first job and try it for at least six months. Well, that six months turned into a lifetime career for Lynne.
While working for that firm, Lynne met several insurance brokers. One large regional broker offered her a job. She took it and remained with that brokerage firm for 17 years, learning her craft and honing her skills. During those years, she also attended and graduated from college, married and began a family. She has four daughters: Deanne (25) who also works with the Matsen agency; Lauren (21); Randall (13); and Shelby (11). She also has a grandson, Cesar (3).
"For eight years of my tenure with the large regional broker, I was commuting 60 miles each way from Santa Rosa to San Franciso. It was difficult, but I did it because I worked with an excellent firm and didn't see any insurance agencies in Santa Rosa at the time that might be of benefit to the clients with whom I had established strong relationships. Then I met Ralph and Glenn Matsen, who had decided to open up an office in Santa Rosa, leasing space from one of my clients. My client spoke to the Matsens about me. For me, it was an opportunity to save myself that long commute and, at the same time, to become a partner in a brokerage firm. I had all of these ideas that I wanted to implement and the Matsens were open to the possibilities and gave me the chance. And we were in total agreement with the approach to doing business--listening to the client."
As it happens, while Lynne listens to the needs of clients professionally, she is also known for listening to others' needs as well. She has lent her own money to people to assist them in their educational endeavors, and she and her family have taken guest residents into their home for periods of time when those people were in difficulty, young people who were having problems with life or with their own families. She is reluctant to talk in detail about these activities because, as she puts it: "My husband and I believe that when you help people, the deed is its own reward. We don't want to boast about what we've done and we certainly don't think it would be fair to those who we have the opportunity to help to have their problems made public."
But there is one future prospect that Lynne is willing to talk about. Her own family may increase in the near future. "We were on vacation in Hawaii, recently, and in a pensive moment I began to think to myself, 'Well, I'm 45 and the children are all grown or nearly grown.' And I said to my husband, 'Is this it, or is there more for us to do?' Then a friend told us about the hundreds of thousands of orphans in Romania. My husband actually made a trip to Romania to deliver 9,000 pairs of shoes to different orphanages. So now, we're in the process of adopting one, or maybe even two babies--boys this time because we already have four daughters. My daughters think the idea is terrific and they are very supportive."
Lynne's personal perspective on life is probably why she has been so successful as an insurance broker and undoubtedly why she has been such an asset to the Matsen agency. Apparently, she is capable of listening with equal intensity to clients, colleagues and the cries of overseas orphans.
As stated before, she is guided by the principle: "If you see a problem, it's probably because you are a part of the solution." *