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IBA: What is Lawley’s approach to partnering with agencies?
Bill Lawley Jr.: We built our organization over the years by attracting established agencies whose owners want to remain in the business and grow. Their biggest challenges are market access and managing the administrative functions that take time away from selling and servicing clients.
Our agency partners continue to have equity in their branches. They contribute their books of business and talent. Lawley provides markets and expertise in a wide range of client services, including loss control, claims management, practice groups, captives, specialty lines and employee benefits. We also relieve our branches of all of the administrative functions, including HR, accounting, IT, operations, facilities, carrier appointments and compliance. Automation enables us to utilize our entire footprint so we can service our clients from any location.
IBA: How crucial is specialization to your agency?
BL: Specialization is a major contributor to our success. Several years ago, we decided to form practice groups in various market segments where we had a critical mass of clients and in-house experts. Clients appreciate working with staff that concentrates exclusively in their organization’s field. We know their everyday challenges, as well as the appropriate insurance coverages and risk management techniques to help them drive down claims and ultimately their cost of risk. Practice groups also give young producers the opportunity to learn one or two specific industries by surrounding themselves with people who already specialize in that class of business. They can learn the coverages, the marketplace, the business climate and more.
IBA: What is the biggest concern across the industry right now?
BL: Our greatest concerns are perpetuation and attracting the next generation to the business. The industry doesn’t really sell itself as well as it could in terms of explaining the many opportunities for success in insurance. It’s a real challenge for carriers to find young people to come into the business, and it is certainly very difficult for agencies. Because of this, it’s becoming more and more expensive to invest in youth. We have seen a lot of carriers remove their brick-and-mortar [locations] to reduce expenses, so a lot of young professionals are now working out of their homes, where they are not getting any mentoring or training. I think that leads to a sizable brain drain in our industry, especially on the P&C side, where we have a lot of people who are very experienced and a lot of people who are novices.
TJ Revelas: In the employee benefits space, technology is a big challenge for both our clients and for us. There are billions of dollars pouring into employee benefits and HR administration from technology companies, and there are competitors that are giving technology away if you become their broker.
IBA: Lawley has been named a top workplace by a number of different organizations. What do you think makes you a top workplace?
BL: First, you have to have good leadership, and you have to have harmony. We don’t think work should define anyone; we believe that it is important to have a good work-life balance. Also, when you have a cohesive and onsistent message with your employees and customers, as well as your partners in the industry, you create a culture that attracts and retains top people. But I think the biggest asset in being a top workplace is trust. When employees trust the owners and know that they have their backs, they will work hard with pride, and that influences how they treat their customers and peers.
IBA: How has being named a top workplace helped the business?
TJR: We don’t make anything. Our assets walk out the door every night. So how people feel about coming to work and how engaged they are makes a big difference. Owners cannot be in front of clients all the time, so it is critically important that our staff members who are closest to clients are treated well by the organization, and they in turn treat our customers well. In terms of recruiting younger people to the industry, our workplace culture has really helped our agency grow. Now we have a concentration of individuals 23 to 35 years of age that didn’t exist at Lawley 10 years ago. Recruiting has been a big challenge, but we’ve made some improvements in that area in terms of attracting the next generation, and our culture has been a big reason why they come and stay.
