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Special Section Sponsored by Target Markets Program Administrators Association State of the Association By Bob Bloss Target Markets Program Administrators Association (TMPAA) Founder Glenn Clark and the Association’s current President Greg Thompson recently reflected on TMPAA’s past 7 years, its present growth and the upcoming annual summit scheduled for October 15-17 in Tempe, Arizona. If the organization’s May, 2007, meeting in Atlanta is any indication, it’s likely that the upcoming Tempe summit will establish attendance records again. Program business is the only major focus of TMPAA and more than 450 program administrators, carriers, and vendors of products and services directly related to program business attended the Atlanta sessions. That was an increase of 40% over the previous spring and was clearly an indication of the importance the insurance industry now places on the “program-specific experts.” From the 125 persons who attended that first meeting in 2001, the Target Markets Association now has a membership of 180 paid agency members, roughly 40 carrier partners—including nearly every major carrier company—and approximately 50 vendors. That critical membership mass is the outgrowth of a well-articulated vision and recruiting persuasiveness, along with the management acumen of Ray Scotto, who has been on board since early 2002 as the Association’s executive director. “It’s important to understand why the association was formed in the first place,” emphasized Greg Thompson. “We [agencies] were often looked upon as brokerage operations, intermediaries, with little or no underwriting authority. We’d negotiate contracts and usually knew where to find a carrier. Other MGAs would help others find a partner. But as time went on, specialization continued to increase, and a new type of specialist emerged—the program expert. Today we are much more the proactive partner than the MGA operations of the past. So while many of us program administrators felt there was a real need for people like ourselves within the industry, it was Glenn who let it clearly be known—through mailings and announcements in insurance trade publications—that it was time to get a committed, active association like TMPAA off the ground. The overall feeling was that we were right on the cusp of an exciting, good idea. Many of us, with business that specializes as we do, felt an enormous need for a new organization like this. We give all the credit in the world to Glenn and his team for being the initiators to get TMPAA off the ground.” For his part, Clark modestly claims to be merely a catalyst. “As Greg Thompson says, it was a concept whose time had come. Many people took hold of our urging and made it go. Yes, we might have been a catalyst, but that’s only because, as salesmen, we never hear the word ‘no.’ All we hear is that we haven’t made ourselves sufficiently understood yet! Seriously, that’s an attitude that has helped make Target Markets as successful as it is today.” Although it was scheduled just a month after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, many insurance professionals responded enthusiastically for the concept with their attendance at the very first meeting. “As we expected,” recalls Glenn Clark, “those program administrators and the carriers who attended that inaugural summit immediately recognized the value presented to them via the opportunity to network, share ideas, and learn of ways to partner effectively. They saw how our meetings are formatted, and how carrier partners can meet many agents in a more efficient forum. Over these half dozen years now they’ve found that we have built an association with business in mind. “Come early, stay late if you wish, but know you are guaranteed that for the two to three days we will work you hard. By creating a mindset that we’re clearly open for business, we’ve found that people are encouraged to come. We give decision makers quality time with each other and everyone benefits.” With few exceptions, most major players within the program business have joined the TMPAA. Carrier members, now nearly four dozen of them, are challenged to bring on board those program managers whom they engage as professional partners. Once on the rolls, then attending one or both of the annual meetings, and participating in committees, etc., members extract myriad benefits. In-depth conversations with peer groups, industry expert panels, skill building workshops, trade shows with vendor partners who specialize in programs, and mingling with prominent, nationally known business figures all contribute to the attendee’s growth. What’s in the Target Markets Program Administrators Association’s future? Both Clark and Thompson first point to some recently established innovations. One is the TMPAA Best Practice Designation program. The program consists of a process where members can apply for a review of their current operations, with the hope of getting greater efficiencies in the way they currently do business, and ultimately get recognized by program business professionals as a best-in-class operation. The association is also proud of its new TMPAA Charities, an endeavor sponsored by vendor member, Brooke Credit. Association members can share their financial success with others needing assistance. This year, the TMPAA Charities Board chose to support a New Orleans-based group dedicated to assisting selected entrepreneurs who have the potential to provide jobs and revenue that can help fuel New Orleans’ recovery. Creation of an errors & omissions strategy specific to TMPAA would provide association members with an advantage that reflects their uniqueness. At the October summit, leadership hopes to introduce concepts such as front end risk management, a TMPAA “defense team” that would be the actual defense counsel if a member was threatened with a claim, and pooling the combined expertise and loss experience of the association to help identify and address potential sources of loss. “In effect, we are a multi-dimensional group of insurance distributors with unique expertise and challenges,” notes Clark. “We can surely develop internal expertise for our E&O; banding together, we make each other stronger.” Thompson observes that the risk assumed for writing an E&O policy for the association is greatly reduced from a typical E&O policy. “What sets us apart,” he said, “is that for the most part, our member companies have very good controls on their own. And collectively, chances for an error are greatly reduced because we’d be dealing with guidelines that we, ourselves, wrote.” Both Greg Thompson, whose two-year term as president will continue through October, 2008, and Glenn Clark express great satisfaction with the maturing of TMPAA during its formative six years, and with the prospects for its stability and strength within the program business in the foreseeable future. “We expect our membership to contribute to the association. Dues are low, but the expectation of active participation is high. Our board, committee members, carrier partners, and vendor partners all realize the more you put into the group, the more you will extract in benefits. Program administration is still evolving as a distribution model and is relatively on the cutting edge.” From the vision of its founder, past presidents, executive director, through to its current president, TMPAA is positioned to continue to be a positive development in the insurance industry well into the futue. → |
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