‘Insurance coverage is in my blood’ – UIP CEO on taking the reins of the household enterprise

Jenny Bortman (pictured) didn’t initially plan a profession in insurance coverage. After majoring in chemistry, she joined Nestle Purina’s veterinary division in a gross sales position. However quickly, she was heeding the decision of the household enterprise.

“I believe insurance coverage is in my blood,” mentioned Bortman, who grew to become president and CEO of Common Insurance coverage Packages (UIP) in Could, after her mom, Randy Tipton, stepped down. Tipton moved into a brand new position as chairman of the board.

An Arizona-based MGA, UIP supplies specialised insurance coverage applications to area of interest markets, together with the self-storage, tanning, salon, and day spa industries.

Bortman has fond recollections of being in UIP’s workplaces whereas her mom led the small specialty agency by means of years of development.

“All people wants insurance coverage,” Bortman mentioned of her resolution to hitch UIP. “Serving to individuals is what I love to do, whether or not it’s on the workplace or outdoors of it. Once you discover your ardour in a profession, it makes life a lot simpler. And what higher method to assist someone than defending their largest property and their livelihood?”

Steering the household enterprise

Bortman has helped bolster UIP’s development throughout her greater than 15 years on the agency, along with her work spanning from gross sales to progressive advertising methods.

As chief working officer, she was liable for managing customer support, gross sales, enterprise growth, and operations for the corporate’s rising staff.

“All through the previous yr, we’ve been actually centered on imaginative and prescient, technique, and management,” Bortman informed Insurance coverage Enterprise.

“We employed a enterprise coach about 2-3 years in the past to assist us deal with mapping our three- and five-year plans, creating profession paths for our staff, and establishing metrics so that everybody is aware of the place they stand.

“By way of that, we’ve promoted a few of our staff leaders, so now now we have a administration degree staff that’s serving to with the every day operations that Randy and I used to must be concerned in, which goes to provide us time to work on bettering our programs and rising the company.”

Know-how is a major problem

Bortman acknowledged that expertise is among the most important challenges dealing with smaller insurance coverage corporations, together with UIP.

However reasonably than making an attempt to compete on velocity with big tech corporations, she mentioned insurance coverage firms can distinguish themselves by offering specialised care and repair to clients.

“On this world, everyone desires solutions like Amazon,” Bortman mentioned. “What I need is to construct the ‘white glove’ service of insurance coverage, the place even when we are able to’t present one thing fast, at the least we give affordable timelines whereas nonetheless shifting as quick as attainable and wrap our shoppers’ enterprise up with a bow.”

UIP additionally creates added worth by fostering a consultative method with shoppers.

“Not everybody is supposed to be insured by us, however we are able to nonetheless enable you to by means of the method of discovering insurance coverage. It doesn’t should be sophisticated, and we break it down for you and clarify what works and what doesn’t,” she mentioned.

“As a result of we’re a specialty firm, we all know the reply virtually 100% of the time when individuals ask us questions, and I believe that’s an enormous value-add. Being in area of interest markets, we all know what’s occurring within the trade and have relationships with all of the distributors, and our carriers adore it as a result of we get to be the boots on the bottom for them.”

Trying to the longer term

As she ushers UIP into a brand new chapter, Bortman mentioned she desires to create sustainable development whereas sustaining the values that constructed the corporate.

She is aiming to carry a renewed deal with programs and expertise, which is able to streamline processes to create a greater expertise for shoppers, brokers, carriers, and staff members.

“We’re some extra bolt-ons to our present applications and increasing into completely different avenues inside our trade,” Bortman mentioned.

Apart from bolstering its applications, UIP can also be trying into increasing to different “like-kind industries”, such because the medical spa house.

“It’s a distinct segment the place there’s not loads of gamers and there are distinctive exposures that we’re doing analysis on,” Bortman continued. “We additionally need to discover a dealer accomplice that focuses on it, and their expertise may work hand in hand with our strong insurance coverage choices.”

The CEO informed Insurance coverage Enterprise that there are not any plans, for now, to promote the corporate.

“We now have main development plans proper now. We’ve obtained some wonderful rising stars,” she mentioned.

A kind of rising stars might quickly be Bortman’s 10-year-old daughter.

“It’s humorous as a result of she simply began working on the company, which continues to be a bit of antiquated. We have to mail non-renewals as we’re doing the service change, and he or she’s answerable for folding, stuffing, and stamping envelopes,” mentioned Bortman, who additionally has an 11-year-old.

“Seeing my daughter come to the company simply brings a smile to our faces, as a result of that’s how I began.”

Does this CEO see herself passing the baton to her personal youngsters ultimately?

“I may completely see my daughter coming again [to UIP] in 10 or 15 years,” Bortman admitted.

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