Hotchkiss Insurance Agency, LLC (HIA) is a privately held
Texas based corporation. Far from the typical insurance agency, HIA is a place
of advanced technology, innovative business insurance products and specialized
programs. With more than 5,000 business and personal insurance customers, HIA
is one of the largest independent insurance agencies in Texas. Founded in 1975,
HIA is a leading provider of custom designed insurance programs and services to
commercial business, associations, affinity groups and individuals. With
expertise in property and casualty insurance, employee benefits, surety
bonding, risk management, personal insurance and professional coverages they
employ over 100 people with main offices in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.
As founder in HIA's surety practice, Ken Hotchkiss has contributed to the growth of the agency over the
span of an eighteen year career. Below are some excerpts from my interview with
Ken:
Tell me a little bit
about how you got started?
My father Doug started the agency as personal lines
insurance agency in 1975. Over time it developed into a full-line agency. Dad
never pressured me to go into the business and instead encouraged me to pursue
an accounting degree as this would give me a broad range of options.
In my
junior year at Texas A&M I knew that my interest lay in business and in particular sales so
I did an internship over the summer at HIA. I enjoyed the business and
saw a natural fit with the accounting degree I was going to graduate with. Once
I graduated and interviewed at several other places I felt that the best fit
for me would be joining my dad in the business and helping build the bond
department as part of my overall sales focus.
A few years later in 1999 my brother Mike joined the agency having practiced public accounting prior to joining HIA. Mike also studied
accounting and is a CPA. Our shared background has been invaluable to our clients and underwriters as we continue to grow our bond department.
What has been your
experience working in a family business?
Family businesses can be tricky but you have the benefit of
a built-in relationship where there’s trust, unity and focus on the overall
strategy. It takes a lot of people rowing in the same direction for it to work.
That includes the many non-family colleagues I have been fortunate enough to work alongside in the business
as well.
What would you
identify as HIA's core values / business philosophy?
One of our highest values is to develop trust between the
client and the bonding agent. That means doing business in an honest, open way
and working hard to represent our client’s best interests in the bonding
market.
Hard work and following through on
commitments is the foundation of our strategy.
Who has had the most
influence on you personally and professionally?
I would have to say my dad. He has been a strong influence
from the parental aspect of providing guidance in my life. I appreciate that he has never told me what
to do but rather been there when I’ve sought out his counsel. He has taught me
a lot about the character and principles of how to run your business.
Do you have a story
from the early days when you first getting started?
One I remember from early on was when we made a typo on a
bid bond for a contractor. They were the low bid but were not awarded the project due to our mistake. Needless to say they were not happy. We
sent them a $1,000 in premium steaks to acknowledge the mistake we made and to
demonstrate the value of their relationship to us. The contractor is still a
client today and we have a strong business relationship.
How does your agency
differentiate itself – what do you think it takes for an agent to be successful
in the bonding arena?
Having a strong financial background certainly helps with our focus on contract bonds. More
importantly being trustworthy, responsive and a strong communicator are
critical because you are dealing with a client’s personal information. Being
able to develop strong long-term relationships goes a long way in building a
successful career.
How have you found
great employees?
Personal referrals have been our best source of great
employees. We ideally look for people who have five to ten years of business
experience. We also look for people who are outgoing and likeable with strong
ethics and who have the skill set to build long-term relationships with our
clients. We have good support from carriers in particular IIC to teach the
fundamentals of the bonding business.
Finally, where do
think the industry is headed?
I think that the future is bright for bonding. The
Texas economy continues to grow and bonding plays a role in that growth whether
that is on the private or government side of jobs.
We have seen that trend reflected in our own agency where
our new accounts have grown over 18% a year over the last three years. We are
constantly investing in new hires and have chosen to be strategically located
in three high growth metro areas.
I think there is also a lot of opportunity for new agents to
build a career. You have an aging agent population creating room for younger
bonding agents to move up.
We have always been an organic growth agency so we always set very
high annual growth goals. We are not happy to just sit and are always looking for new
opportunities to grow. With that in mind I feel excited about our future and
feel we are in the right place, doing the right things at the right time.
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