Declaration of Independents

James T. Armitage

Vice President
Arroyo Insurance Services
Arcadia, California

“Embrace change,” especially in automation technology and customer service, is Jim Armitage’s motto.

As co-founder of Arroyo, with 13 offices and nearly 160 employees in the Los Angeles area, Armitage speaks with authority. He not only heads Arroyo’s strategic planning committee, but also is former chair of NetVU, Vertafore’s user group. In December, after seven years of service, he retired as chair of the Agents Council for Technology.

SALES APPROACH?

If you look at what is best for the customer, the sales process falls into place. Honing in on the customer experience drove changes in our coverages, services and technology—and ultimately allowed us to set ourselves apart. We offer all the fringe coverages and also what we define as value-added services—legal assistance, appraisals, loss control, OSHA compliance and more.

BUSINESS MODEL?

We have two customer sets: our bread-and-butter folks who pay the bills and buy insurance from us, and our insurance companies. There’s a sale to, and a relationship with, both the client and the underwriter. We go to our companies before they come to us. We interview the key players and put together a business plan. We rate them. They rate us. We nail down goals, and we’re good about meeting them. Consequently, they’re happy; we’re happy.

FAVORITE SALES STORY?

I have had a customer for many, many years. When I first approached them, they were paying an outrageous rate for basically an office building. It didn’t make any sense. I discovered that the way the zoning took effect, several buildings shared the address, including a little seasonal restaurant that closed during winter. My customer did not own the property and was not responsible for the restaurant, but was being charged three or four times the rate because the restaurant occupied the same address.

I convinced the underwriter to manufacture their own loss cost rate, which ignored the restaurant rate and reflected the real risk. For years, the underwriter has stood by that—and my customer has saved millions of dollars. It was a point of competition. No one else asked the right questions.

BUSINESS PHILOSOPHY?

It’s pretty basic: Be a good listener and do your homework. Don’t be satisfied with the status quo. It’s really hard to do, because people hate to change. You have to get out of your comfort zone and deal with it. Otherwise, you’re just going to be left behind. Provide what the customer needs, not just a quote or a market. The whole idea is to be a trusted adviser. You’ve got to become very intimate with a customer in order to do that type of risk analysis.