A long-term commitment to clients and community

Rough Notes, Jul 2001 by Pillsbury, Dennis

Gregory & Appel stays in downtown Indy, grows with the city

Gregory & Appel was founded in 1884 by John J. Appel and Frederick Gregory in downtown Indianapolis and remains in the heart of the city. "We're committed to being good corporate citizens and grow along with the city," Dan Appel, current president and representative of the fourth generation at this familyrun agency. "We've been around for more than 100 years," Dan continues, "and feel it is our responsibility to give back to the community." The agency gives 10% to 20% of its pre-tax profit to human service and cultural institutions in central Indiana and was recognized for its contribution when it received the National Society of Fund Raising Executives' 2000 Small Business Philanthropy Award. "We also encourage our employees to be active in the community."

This philosophy has brought the agency to reach premium income well in excess of $100 million with 70 employees. Commercial lines contributes the largest percentage of the agency's business. However, Gregory & Appel also has significant personal lines and employee benefits business.

Dan says the agency has evolved to one where "we really are risk managers who take a holistic approach to our clients. We offer engineering and loss control services as a way to reduce the premium for our customers and also to make our business attractive to our insurance company markets. We've always taken risk management seriously, regardless of the market conditions. Today, it's no longer a question of reducing premiums, but rather of reducing the increases and simply keeping a market. But the key point is to provide clients with the tools to keep costs in line.

"We've prepared our clients for this change in the market conditions," Dan continues. "From the very beginning, we advised our clients that the soft market would not last forever and that our emphasis on loss control would pay off over the long term. This really lets us stand out from the crowd. There's a huge client education piece that lets professional agents distance themselves from the competition."

Service is also a key part of the relationship with the client. Gregory & Appel uses a team approach to develop a "multi-- layer relationship" with its commercial clients. Commercial clients have a lead broker, a risk management director and a customer service representative handling their account. And each client also has its own claim representative who "acts as an advocate and liaison with the insurance company adjuster during a claim," Dan explains. "These people meet regularly with insurance company claims personnel and adjusters and have a good relationship that makes them effective advocates for our clients."

A large number of specialty programs

"We have a large number of specialty programs that have helped us during the soft market," Dan says, adding that "they also give us some market clout with our insurers. Our largest specialty is in the health care industry." The agency provides coverage to all types of health care providers, including hospitals, individual physicians, physician groups, multi-specialty clinics, nursing homes, home health care providers, retirement communities, visiting nurse associations, health care networks, managed care organizations and mental health, sports medicine, occupational medicine, rehabilitation and physical therapy facilities.

Other specialty programs include automotive aftermarket services; landscapers, where the agency has the endorsement of the Indiana Nurserymen and Landscapers Association; lumber, where the agency is the preferred provider of employee benefits coverages to members of the Indiana Lumber and Building Supply Association and the Indiana Hardwood Lumbermen's Association; public sector; professional liability; habitational coverages; and social services. The agency also provides specialty programs for two sports areas, one of which is closely identified with Indianapolis-motorsports-and the other which is a little surprising-- ski areas, where Gregory & Appel serves as the Midwest broker for Willis Corroon.

Gregory & Appel also is a founding member of APPEX, an association of regional brokers throughout the United States. "We joined this group of like-minded brokers so that we could better serve those clients who operate in a number of states. We know all the member brokers and know that our clients will be treated with the same care and continuity of service that we insist on at our agency."

Dan continues that the real key to the agency's success has been its "ability to recruit and keep good people. This business depends on human capital. We have to be able to attract and keep good people and we've been able to do that by treating our people well and paying them well. Recently, we had someone retire from the agency after 59 years of service." He adds that this "all ties in to being willing to invest in the future and being client-focused. We support our people's entrepreneurial spirit and let each person on our staff exhibit his or her creative talents."