Please visit our new website for the most current content.

Excerpts from “Tech Tools Help Bollinger Reach Goals –
Broker’s frequent upgrading of systems assures efficiency, productivity”
Business Insurance, October 2, 2000
By Michel Schwartz

High expectations and high technology help make Bollinger, Inc. one of the nation’s most productive agencies.

Chairman and President John A. Windolf credits the Short Hills, NJ-based brokerage’s success to its investment in technology and emphasis on meeting productivity goals.  That approach has not only brought Bollinger more business, but also has landed it on Business Insurance’s list of the 20 most productive agencies and brokerage firms.

Based on 1999 brokerage revenues per employee of $193,008, Bollinger ranks No. 16 in productivity.  The privately held company increased its brokerage revenues last year by more than 16%, to $33.2 million, making it the 36^th largest broker of U.S. business in BI’s annual ranking (BI, July 17).

Overall, Bollinger’s success has come from employees working harder and faster, using the latest available technological tools, Mr. Windolf said.

Bollinger upgrades its software at least once a year and spends a lot of energy training its staff for each upgrade, said Alex Crispo, senior vp and general counsel.  For example, every employee has Internet access and they use it often.

“We use the Internet to research clients and claims as well as aggressively recruit new clients,” Mr. Crispo said.  “The company even has employees dedicated to setting up Web sites on behalf of Bollinger’s clients.”

Automation also has helped employees keep up with Bollinger’s evolving culture, he said.  For instance, some departments now scan documents instead of entering the data by hand, saving time and effort and reducing unnecessary paper and errors.

Despite integrating several acquisitions, Bollinger has been able to maintain its high productivity rates.  When considering an acquisition or merger, Bollinger looks for a “culture that is similar to ours,” Mr. Crispo said.  “We make sure the company has the same expectations as we do and we’re up front about what those expectations are,” he explained.

The culture Bollinger counts on is one of competitiveness.  “Many companies strive to preserve their existing business, but we’re very sales-oriented,” he said.

Bollinger not only looks for companies that share or complement its culture, but also recruits people with similar values, Mr. Windolf said.  Each employee is held accountable as a member of a team.  Even as it grows through acquisitions and mergers, Bollinger strives to align its employee headcount with available jobs, making sure no two people have exactly the same role.  Bollinger uses benchmarks to compare the performance of individual employees, sections of the company and the brokerage itself to competitors, Mr. Crispo said, adding that most of those benchmarks are met.  “There are really no industry benchmarks, so we keep our profit and revenue benchmarks relatively high,” Mr. Windolf said.