Gary E. Ivey, CPCU, ARM, chief operating officer of J. Smith Lanier & Co. (left) meets with D. Gaines Lanier, president and chief executive officer. Gaines' aunt, Edith Lanier Wickham, who ran the agency from the early '30s through 1957, is shown in the photograph behind them.
J. Smith Lanier & Co. traces its roots back to 1868, when two brothers set up a banking and insurance agency in the back of a general store in West Point, Georgia. Ward Crockett and LaFayette Lanier, veterans of the War Between the States, established the agency and found that many people in the area were looking for protection after their experience with Union troops who had a bad habit of "playing with matches." Their nephew, J. Smith Lanier, a man who established himself as an entrepreneur in the newly emerging telephone industry, bought the agency in 1931. His daughter, Edith Lanier Wickham, took over and ran the agency from the early '30s to the '50s. She retired in 1957 and her nephew, J. Smith Lanier II, took over management of the agency and continues to serve as chairman. His nephew, D. Gaines Lanier, is president and chief executive officer.
In the early '80s, the agency began a reorganization that involved turning what was basically a small-town agency with offices across the state into a regional broker with 14 offices in the major cities in the area, including Atlanta and Birmingham. One of the first indicators of the impending change was the adoption of the current name for the agency. At that point in time, J. Smith Lanier & Co. had revenues of approximately $1.8 million. In 1999, it had revenues of $33 million, making it the 35th largest broker in the nation, according to Business Insurance. Revenues for 2000 were approximately $40 million. "We expect revenues to exceed $50 million this year, following our merger with Schultz Rowson, a strong employee benefits firm," Gaines reports. "Some of this growth has been external, including the latest merger with Schultz Rowson. However, it has never been forgotten that real growth of any company has to come internally." J. Smith Lanier's internal growth has been a minimum of 10% annually for the past five years and it is continuing to add new producers.
"We've done all of this with hard work and a respect for our clients and employees," Gaines continues. "This is a very strong, integrity-based company with a family legacy that has seen five generations of Laniers involved. Our name and reputation is the greatest asset we have and we work very hard to keep that. The motto by which we live comes from Proverbs: 22:1 -- 'A good name is more desirable than great riches.' Every one of our 375 employees understands and respects the importance of maintaining our good name. It is an important part of our agency culture."
The culture is reinforced by the way employees are treated and rewarded. "We understand that the agency is dependent on many generations of people if it is going to be viable into the future. The older generation can't be greedy. We've got to give the next generation an opportunity to succeed. We're very aggressive at getting shares to the younger generation. We recognize that we are very blessed to be successful and want to share that with others. We have 40 shareholders, plus an ESOP that owns one-third of the agency's shares."
Education supports the culture
Education has always been a key part of the J. Smith Lanier culture. Having created scholarship programs in Risk Management and Insurance throughout the area with major colleges and universities, J. Smith Lanier allows students to intern with the agency as part of the student's curriculum. Additionally, they have been very aggressive in hiring interns for full-time positions upon completion of their degrees. A new producer joining the company begins by completing a very formal training program which requires an allotted amount of time in claims, surety, loss control, marketing, commercial lines, and benefits to give the new employee a good overview of the insurance people. "You have to have quality, well-educated people to work with clients," Gaines points out.
This year marks the beginning of a new educational venture that expands the emphasis on education and will involve every one of the agency's employees. Partnering with Michael Jones of the Atlanta-based educational firm Cotter & Jones, the agency established J. Smith Lanier University, which began operations in January. "Mike is very respected in the insurance industry and with his assistance, the University is building associations with strong educational partners nationwide," Gaines states. The University is under the direction of Lorie Yauney, who was appointed training and development officer for the agency. In addition to the insurance curriculum, the University also will offer computer training, developmental courses, mentoring programs, internships and leadership development being coordinated by personal development plans.
"Lorie will meet with every employee and develop an educational track for each one," Gaines says. "We want the education to fit with each person's objectives. If they're looking for advancement, the educational track will provide them with the skills they need for promotion. If they're looking to get better at their job, we'll have courses to help with that as well.
"We fully expect this to have a positive impact on our ability to retain people and have them feel good about their jobs. Our in-depth knowledge and technical expertise are our keys to success," Gaines notes. "We consider this to be one of the most important things we are doing."
The client service team
The agency uses a client service team approach for its large commercial P&C accounts. "The other offices can access the depth and technical expertise in the Atlanta office whenever they are dealing with a large account," Gary Ivey, chief operating officer, says. "Services include producer support, claims litigation management, loss control, marketing and placement. We have a sales center that does telemarketing," Gary adds, "but we utilize this in a rather unique way. We actually require a producer who wants to use the call center to develop a campaign for the niche market in which he or she is interested, have an expertise in the specific industry group, identify benchmark accounts that the agency already has, pre-identify markets and programs that distinguish themselves from everyone else and encourage them to be active in that industry's trade associations. It's been a very successful approach."
Fifty-five percent of J. Smith Lanier & Co.'s income comes from commercial lines, 20% from personal lines and 25% from the benefits side. "Our Benefits Advisory Group has been the strongest sector over the last couple of years," Gaines reports. "We've been intent on expanding that area. That's one of the reasons we purchased Schultz Rowson. Both of these organizations are highly successful and growing rapidly. What's unique here is that unlike most mergers, there's no financial need for combining them. There is, however, a deep desire on both parts to create a stronger, more responsive company than either could do alone. Once we've integrated them into our operation, we plan to utilize their expertise to provide the same client service team approach in the benefits area as we use on the property & casualty side."
Gaines concludes: "We have a dream to continue the agency as a private company. That's why we're so aggressive at transferring shares to younger people. We have no one person who has control. The largest ownership is less than 25% and I'm being diluted each time we do an acquisition or transfer shares to our next generation. J. Smith Lanier & Co. is being run very much like a public company, but we're able to make long-term decisions. We're not tied to the quarter-to-quarter planning of most public companies." *