This article was produced in partnership with Intact
David Saric, of Insurance Business, sat down with Gord McCool, CEO of the Standard Insurance Brokers Ltd. and Jim Bruni, Intact Insurance, director, commercial lines, Ontario East, to talk about how creating a strong people culture is the best path forward for a brokerage.
With more than a century of experience as a generalist insurer of home, auto and commercial coverage, the Standard Insurance Brokers Ltd. is steadfast in its mission of creating a family culture throughout its nine offices.
With operations in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario — including a newly opened outpost in Fort Frances — The Standard’s guiding principle is to provide support and stability to the communities the company serves.
“Our mission is passionate people, champions for every client,” said Gord McCool (pictured), CEO of The Standard.
McCool and his 134 employees work together to uphold the vision, value and culture of the company, creating a family-like and intimate connection with clients, partners and amongst each other.
For McCool, working in a customer-focused field means being authentic and compassionate with a policyholder while finding creative solutions to their problems.
“It is important to make those business interactions not just productive, but engaging as well,” he said.
Creating a customer-first experience for policyholders can work in tandem with technological advancements that streamline a brokerage’s operations.
The Standard recently introduced a CRM for customers to file claims through, as well as a customer review platform with Quandri, a Vancouver-based company that provides bots to insurance companies looking to alleviate time-consuming manual tasks.
The goal of these technological adjustments, stressed McCool, is efficiency.
“These are tools for our employees to work more efficiently and be able to really strengthen their sales and service capabilities,” he said.
Whether a client prefers in-person interactions or more digital means, being flexible and meeting them half-way is important, McCool stressed.
The key to building a company with strong service values is carefully selecting, training and supporting a group of professionals with shared passions.
McCool said that despite the struggles of attracting and retaining talent industry-wide, especially in a more remote area like Northwestern Ontario, The Standard has been fortunate to tap into an eager talent pool.
Once part of the team, it is imperative to maintain that employee’s mental wellbeing by offering flexibility and maintaining an encouraging work culture.
“We don’t have equipment, we don’t have aircraft, we have people, and we need to take the steps to take optimal care of them,” McCool said.
He emphasized that building an internal community that is robust and prioritizes the needs of its employees creates long-term customer service success.
Intact Insurance and The Standard have a working relationship that goes back several decades.
According to McCool, the relationship with Intact has allowed his company to achieve key milestones, including acquisitions and expanding into different territories.
“They’ve been there to help with transitions of ownership and ownership buyouts, which can become challenging when dealing with the multiples that are currently out there,” he said.
For Jim Bruni, director, commercial lines, Ontario East at Intact, The Standard’s customer service focus drives its success.
“They will walk on water for their clients,” he said.
Bruni has worked with The Standard since 1989. He noted that even as its leadership and personnel changed, and the company has grown and expanded, the brokerage has remained committed to its family culture, customer-first approach and business vision.
“They’ve kind of standardized themselves,” he said.
Intact Insurance is Canada’s largest home, auto and business insurance company, the choice of more than four million consumers coast to coast. Intact Insurance is a member company of Intact Financial Corporation (TSX: IFC) is the largest provider of property and casualty (P&C) insurance in Canada, a leading provider of global specialty insurance, and, with RSA, a leader in the UK and Ireland.
