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Marketing Small world—Big opportunities Michigan agency's global outreach includes intern exchange with German broker By Dave Willis New York … London … Bermuda … Adrian, Michigan. The first three of the above named locations are, of course, major international insurance hubs. But Adrian, Michigan? In today’s global economy, Adrian has its place in the international insurance market too. Thanks to Kapnick Insurance Group, Adrian is gaining visibility in the world of global insurance. Kapnick Insurance Group, which brothers Jim and Mike Kapnick bought from their father earlier this year, is based in Adrian, a community of 22,000 residents, located 60 miles southwest of Detroit. Jim serves as president and Mike as COO/CFO of the firm, which has a staff of 100-plus. The agency, with offices in Ann Arbor and Southfield, is a member of Assurex Global, the international broker network with more than 500 offices in 80 countries. From Adrian to around the world Kapnick Insurance Group (KIG) was founded by Elmer Kapnick in 1946. In the 1960s, the agency started to focus on market niches, expanding its reach beyond Adrian by developing a statewide program for import automobile dealers. Over the next two decades, the agency expanded into other markets, many in the auto-related manufacturing segments, and doubled its size every few years. The ’80s saw an economic downturn in Michigan and a departure of businesses from the region, so the agency targeted additional niches and extended its geographic reach to other Midwest states. Then, KIG’s management began extending their marketing vision to the rest of the world. In the 1990s, it became an Assurex Global Partner. Since then, it has tapped this relationship to serve more area businesses being purchased by foreign entities or expanding overseas. To fuel its growth, Kapnick Insurance Group management hit the road. “Over the past two years, we’ve done a fair amount of overseas travel to meet with international partners,” says Steve Peck, Kapnick Benefit Services president. They went to London, Milan, Paris, Budapest, Hong Kong, Toronto, Dortmund (Germany) and throughout Mexico. The goal: Build relationships. “By being in front of these individuals, we’re more inclined to get calls when there’s an opportunity for us to help,” Peck says. Bringing in the business Initial contact often occurs at the executive level. “Jim, Bob (Weiland) or I may field a call,” adds Peck. “We want it to be that way, because we’ve built these relationships and established a comfort level with our partners.” When a foreign broker calls, one of these three KIG executives will direct them to staff members with international expertise. “We have a dedicated service team that knows international business and understands the operating standards we maintain as part of our Assurex commitment,” says Jim Kapnick. “They’re quite familiar with insurance needs of international firms, different summaries of insurance, and communication that must take place with people who manage the overall master program.” To make things easier for foreign brokers, KIG established a gatekeeper or ombudsman role within its organization, something Jim says differentiates his organization from competing agencies and brokers. “We have a central person entrusted with the international business,” Jim says. This streamlines the partnership process. It ensures consistent service, regardless of the account type or size, says Weiland, executive vice president. “We handle some very small accounts—perhaps just a sales office for a foreign-based firm,” he says. Of course, many are larger. “Either way, by having a single person who understands foreign risks, we can help our partner brokers serve their customers quickly and without confusion.” Clients large and small One client is a large German automotive supplier. The firm operates in 150 locations in 34 countries, employing 22,000 people, including 2,000 in the United States. “We place all of their U.S. coverage and coordinate Canadian placements,” Weiland says. “We handle all safety and loss control services, self-funded services, workers comp filings, benchmarking, data reporting—virtually everything for the property/casualty insurance program.” The client is large enough that Kapnick Insurance Group dovetails stateside coverages with a master-controlled global program. “The underwriters in Germany dictate terms worldwide,” says Weiland. In contrast, another client—part of another German manufacturer—has a U.S. headquarters in Michigan and facilities in South Carolina. With just shy of 100 employees, the firm doesn’t have a master-controlled program. “It looks more like a conventional placement,” Weiland says. Kapnick Insurance Group works with local client management to ensure proper U.S. coverages, and communicates through its German broker partner to the group’s home office. Communication has helped fuel international growth at KIG. “For local businesses considering overseas expansion, we deliver a range of information about the business and insurance environment,” Kapnick says. This includes demographic and coverage reports Assurex Global maintains on a proprietary Web site as well as information from Kapnick Insurance Group partners. “If we’re talking with a client who’s entering China, perhaps opening a small operation there, we call our Chinese partner, get information about the local insurance marketplace and share this with our client,” Jim says. The organization also offers informational documents, an online presentation and a series of short videos for partner brokers, clients and prospects. Business and economic development Kapnick Insurance Group works with state and local officials to help drive economic growth in its domestic market. Management works with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to help drive international investment in the state. They were able to get their name on a list of businesses that serve international companies and help the state understand business and insurance issues faced by firms as they consider investing in Michigan. Jim Kapnick and his staff also work with local chambers of commerce, and are seeking other opportunities, such as business incubators and professional networks, to grow their business. “You get your name in front of groups and get a better understanding of what they do,” Weiland says. Many of the groups—the incubators, in particular, operating largely in the life sciences arena—have foreign ties or ownership. Invitation to learn Earlier this year, the agency’s global reach took a slightly different twist when it welcomed Sabrina Pund as part of a work exchange program with German broker Leue & Nill. Leue & Nill is a 150-year-old firm headquartered in Dortmund, a major city in the heart of Germany’s Ruhr Valley industrial region. The work exchange idea grew from an Assurex Global Partners meeting in Toronto last fall. “I was having dinner with Nicole Schroer, Sabrina’s manager,” Kapnick recalls. “We were talking about doing more international business together.” After Schroer mentioned that some of her international division employees had no immersion in English, Kapnick suggested forming an international internship program. Sabrina, a junior account executive, was chosen for the inaugural exchange. “I started my apprenticeship with Leue & Nill in 2001,” she says, “After my apprenticeship, I’ve been working in the international division, with the incoming and outgoing clients—mostly on the incoming clients.” Incoming clients are those based in other countries with exposures in Germany. Stepping on foreign soil In mid-April, Sabrina arrived for a six-week stay at Kapnick Insurance Group. “Our goal was to introduce her to our organization and what we do here, so she could understand the similarities and differences of a U.S. broker,” Kapnick says. In the first couple of weeks of her visit, Sabrina spent time in the agency’s P-C and benefits operations. She visited the Adrian, Ann Arbor and Southfield offices and met with clients, including some she knows of from back home. On her agenda were meetings with all of KIG’s German clients, plus a handful of prospects with a German connection. Kapnick Insurance Group also worked to include Sabrina in local business development efforts, such as local chamber of commerce and regional economic development meetings. Sabrina managed to squeeze into her schedule a weekend in New York City, a Detroit Tigers baseball game and a trip to Texas. Soaking it all in But the exchange was primarily educational. “We wanted Sabrina to get new ideas she could take back to her firm,” Kapnick says. There’s been no shortage of these. Technology differences caught her attention early on. “Here it seems there is greater access to the carrier through the Internet,” she says. “You can log in and get information about coverage for the client. That’s different. We don’t have that luxury.” A paperless office was foreign to her, as well. Kapnick Insurance Group performs front-end scanning and stores documents digitally. “Here, a lot of stuff is on the computer,” Sabrina says. Pund also observed differences in how agencies and brokers market their products and brand their firms. In the United States, she notes, more mass advertising and formalized branding efforts take place. German brokers tend to rely more on simple word-of-mouth advertising. During her visit, Sabrina also took part in local training on a proprietary Assurex Global application that allows online document and information sharing among partners. She had received initial training on the product in Germany, but was able to sit in on a session with KIG staff. “We had someone from Assurex come in for two days and train us all on the Passport system,” Kapnick says. “It’s a common platform where we can post documents for partners or clients to access.” Weiland says the system is a way to link all Assurex Global partners. “When you’re collaborating on an international account, there’s a central posting location for information,” he explains. “This allows input and collaboration from all partners.” During the training in Michigan, Sabrina and her Kapnick Insurance Group counterparts were able to talk about how they’d use Passport to communicate and serve mutual clients better. Two-way learning Sabrina’s not the only one learning. Kapnick Insurance Group has benefited from her experience and insight. “Leue & Nill has a more established international department than we do,” Peck says. “They’re used to dealing with different languages and different cultures. Sabrina is helping us understand how they do things, and what international partners want from a U.S. service provider.” Jim and Mike expect the international internship program to continue. With planned additions to the agency’s international staff, they expect to hire a new person who will go to Germany for a visit similar to Sabrina’s visit to KIG. “We don’t have anyone right now who is in a position to travel for six weeks,” Jim says. The ability to spend time out of the country is something KIG will look for as they bring on new staff. “As part of a two-year training program, for instance, we’d like a new producer to go spend some time overseas,” he says. “They’ll be able to learn and understand how to do business internationally and have a greater comfort level with the global marketplace.” After that happens, even people in Dortmund will be able to recognize Adrian, Michigan, as an emerging international insurance center. * The author |
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