We do a real good job on the bonding end of the business and that has helped our reputation which, in turn, helps us to attract more business to the agency. Word spreads so that when you write one account, you eventually write more. Boen belongs to the Association of General Contractors of South Dakota and the Land Improvement Association in order to keep up to date on what is happening in the contracting field. That's our target. The list comes to them on a disk that plugs the list right into the system.
Personalized letters go out to the contact person.
These letters are reviewed by a group of commercial lines agents who may rewrite them to fit a particular business. In addition, information about the agency and biographies of the agents also are included. The agency sends out about 10 letters per producer each week and, of those 10, an average of about six are interested in a review. We did a lot of institutional advertising in the past and these people usually know our name. Growth is only going to come from new business.