MARKETING AGENCY OF THE MONTH
Syracuse agency's growth is aided by its
ISO-certified commitment to quality
By Dennis H. Pillsbury
Haylor, Freyer & Coon executives include (from left): James A. Stoddard, Sr., Chairman; C. Bruce Wichmann, President; Richard C. Howland, Chief Operations Officer; Victor A. DiSerio, Chief Executive Officer; and Charles J. LaComb, Vice President and Director of Sales.
When Haylor, Freyer & Coon (HF&C), Syracuse, New York, decided to pursue an ISO (International Organization for Standards*) certification, it did so for marketing reasons. The agency found that many of the manufacturers in Canada and Europe required their outside vendors to be ISO certified. Due to its proximity to the Canadian border and with some international manufacturers as existing clients, "HF&C felt that this requirement would eventually extend into the states," according to Richard C. Howland, chief operating officer for HF&C. "Our research found several carriers had the designation but not many agents. We believed it would give us a competitive advantage, particularly when seeking to attract manufacturing clients."
The agency was certified in December 1999 and recertified as ISO 9001 in November 2002. However, the end result was that getting the certification proved far more efficacious in improving the internal operational procedures of the agency than in providing the agency a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
"We developed a better understanding of our business and its workflows," Dick adds. "Because we've grown through acquisition in addition to sales, we had a number of different ways of doing things. At one time, you could look at Haylor and see 20 different operations. Today, that's no longer true. A support person can go to any branch and know the procedures. It really has been enormously helpful, especially in developing a consistency in our sales support operations. Those operations contribute significantly to our success. We couldn't have achieved the growth we've enjoyed without going through this certification or some other type of internal evaluation."
And that growth has been significant. The agency started out as a family business in 1928. Today, it's enjoying its 75th anniversary year with revenues of more than $25 million and 220 employees in 14 locations throughout New York. HF&C also is licensed in every state and provides insurance services to a number of niche markets.
In these days when niche marketing appears to be a relatively new concept, it's interesting to consider the fact that Haylor, Freyer & Coon started life as a niche marketer. Burnett (Barney) E. Haylor and James McClusky founded HF&C's predecessor, McClusky & Haylor in September of 1928. Barney was a young insurance salesman who had just started his career in the early 1920s when his father died tragically from smoke inhalation. His father was a district chief with the Syracuse Fire Department. The other fire chiefs were eager to assist Barney and allowed him to ride with them to various firehouses to write personal insurance for the firefighters. This niche became the foundation of the new agency and proved extremely propitious when the Great Depression hit in 1929. Firefighters continued to be needed, so they kept their jobs and their ability to pay their bills.
Innovation, as well as niche marketing, also remains a key to HF&C's success and that too was evident from the beginning. In the 1930s, the automobile brought new opportunities to the agency and it seized on those opportunities, not just by writing personal auto, but by developing a single interest collision and "skip" insurance coverage for the Merchants National Banks and Trust Co. This allowed the bank to provide direct loans to auto buyers.
That spirit of innovation lives on today. "We've always allowed people to run with their ideas," Victor DiSerio, chief executive officer, says. "We're very open minded about that. A number of our niche programs have been developed by people in our agency who had a special interest or knowledge of the field. For example, in January of 2002, we formed a partnership with the Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), the largest milk cooperative in the world. The partnership developed a program to provide insurance coverage to large commercial dairies, milk processing plants and milk hauling fleets across the country. It also provides health care and benefit programs to member dairy farmers. The program was the brainchild of one of our people who had been involved with co-ops."
Haylor and the Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) formed a partnership in 2002. Here at a Haylor/DFA meeting are (back row from left): David Wallace, Account Executive (HF&C); and James McMahon, President, DFA/Haylor. Front row from left: Dennis Cleary, Vice President, Group (HF&C); and Albert McMahon, Vice President, DFA/Haylor.
Citing another example, Victor continues, "Back in 1954, a number of our people saw that the manufactured housing market was underserved. They had some experience in that field and proposed a new program for that sector." The program still exists today and has grown from its initial offering of commercial and personal insurance for mobile homeowners and dealers to now include specialized programs for manufacturers, haulers and installers of manufactured homes.
Other niche markets were developed in much the same way. The agency now has a collegiate department that provides health insurance and on-campus personal property insurance for college students. "An individual with a significant amount of experience in the group health area was hired and saw an opportunity in the university market," Victor remembers. (The group benefits line was introduced in the 1950s.)
Another important niche for the agency is transportation, which emerged in the 1970s. "We took the expertise we had developed in auto and manufactured housing and developed specialty programs for long-haul trucking firms, bus, taxi and limousine operations," Victor says. "We have the endorsement of the New York State Motor Truck Association. In addition to our in-house transportation department, we also have started the HF&C Transportation Division, with nine sales representatives across the United States. Technology has been extremely important in allowing us to operate this division. These employees work out of their homes, they require access to all of our systems remotely. We have implemented technology that allows them to do most of their work right through the Internet."
Other niches served by HF&C include the construction industry for which the agency has a bonding department in addition to four sales people dedicated to construction; municipalities; fast food restaurants; and farm equipment dealers.
Helping to keep the innovative spirit alive was one of the reasons HF&C brought in a full-time sales manager. Charles J. LaComb, is now a member of the board of directors. "Chuck came to us from Liberty Mutual Insurance Company," Victor points out. "He's brought a dedicated focus on the larger sized accounts. While small business risks are still a major part of our commercial business, building the revenue size of our accounts was a strategic goal of the agency. One of his primary responsibilities is to encourage our producers to take advantage of opportunities that arise in the large account arena."
Chuck adds, "When I became director of sales five years ago, I inherited a very good core group of sales people. My job is to bring them together in teams so we can display our expertise and breadth of coverage to clients and potential clients. I strictly work on encouraging, training and hiring the sales force."
(Photo left) Syracuse University's Hall of Languages.
(Photo below) Thomas Palmer, Vice President, Collegiate Student Department (standing center) leads a meeting for the SUNY International Student Health Insurance Advisory Committee. Standing with Tom are Catherine Horton, Customer Service Representative; and Jeffrey Chapman, Account Executive, both of the Collegiate Student Department.
He continues, "We've found a real opportunity when we bring in people from other industries who have no insurance experience, or talented young people with no sales or insurance experience and train them. For example, Robert Rayo, one of our vice presidents and construction unit manager, hired a chief financial officer from a large construction company who was looking for a career change. He had no insurance experience, but we were able to give him that. He's been a strong addition to the staff and, since he knows construction inside and out, he's made it possible for us to approach any size account in the field."
HF&C also brings in people from inside the industry--from companies as well as competitors. "Our sales people are our eyes and ears," Chuck notes. "When they run into good people competing for an account, they let us know and, often, if we feel they'd fit into our organization, we'll contact them to see if they might be interested in joining our team. Our sales staff also helps us identify good people on the company side."
Victor sums it up, "We're not flamboyant. We're methodical and hard working and that's really the key to our success. We have good people who like being part of our team. The ISO certification process and our ESOP have helped to keep all our people feeling like they're an important part of the overall effort."
Dick Howland adds, "The ISO quality program is a living system that was created with significant input from our employees. We had to put all of the procedures we were already following into writing, which forced us to implement our best practices agency wide. ISO provided the structure and continues to audit our procedures to ensure compliance. But the employees continue to have input and make constant suggestions on how we can change processes and procedures to become more efficient or improve customer service. If something doesn't work, we can change it and will.
The agency's Technology Department includes (standing from left): Cynthia Kellar; Donna Comi; and (seated from left): Karen Gates and Cynthia Smith, Vice President, Technology.
"When we received our certification," he continues, "we had a celebration. We brought in champagne and toasted everyone. This was a project in which the entire staff was involved and a real achievement for the whole organization. Morale, which was always good, really improved. Now the key is keeping it that way. We're dealing with a lot of independent personalities who all have ideas of how to get the job done the best way. Our internal ISO management committee looks at all of the suggestions and replies to each one. If it's not implemented, the employee who made the suggestion is advised why the change was not made. We truly want this to continue to be a system where everyone is involved."
Dick concludes, "There's one thing about HF&C that I've seen demonstrated several times in my 20 plus years here: we have a hard working group of people who work extremely well together. They've met every challenge the board of directors has presented to them, including the ISO certification. That's really our secret."
Chuck adds, "The agency is built on a high level of integrity and that helps to attract the right people to come here and to stay here. It's a well-run organization that lives up to its promises."
This high level of integrity spills over to the community, where HF&C people are involved in the Metropolitan Development Association, the YMCA, the United Way, the Red Cross, the Community Foundation and various Little Leagues.
And, of course, it spills over to the customers who are cared for and nurtured. As Bud Haylor, one of the founders' sons, put it: "At the end of the day, the best sales person is a satisfied customer."
It is HF&C's ability to serve its client base and produce a plethora of satisfied customers that has led to its well-deserved recognition as our Marketing Agency of the Month. *
* The abbreviation ISO is used internationally and came about because "International Organization for Standardization" would have different abbreviations in different languages. ISO was derived from the Greek isos, meaning equal.