A lot of 'name brands' in the insurance business have disappeared through mergers and acquisitions. It pretty much necessitates being large. The mom and pops are going to have real trouble. Hard work still pays off, but you have to be more creative and willing to consider new ways of doing business. Paul continues that NIA has taken many steps to deal with the changing environment.
Management skills are more important than ever.
You've got to be organized. We don't have autonomous offices. We'rereally one agency with multiple locations. Roger focuses much of his time on making sure that the importantdecisions are made closest to where the knowledge resides. We've centralized human resources, automation, accounting, agency contracts and so on.