cant substance behind it before we bet the ranch. We have to be
sure we don’t have a bunch of technology that can’t be supported in the future.
A lot of strategic thinking is aimed at attracting
new customers, what do you look for as a way to
retain current customers?
MADoCk: I look at retention as the Holy Grail for any business. You take care of your backyard and everything else will
take care of itself. We are constantly looking for ways to improve
current relationships, whether that is through product innovation, communication or new tools and services. One of the
things I’m constantly looking at is ways to take our customer
base and provide them a reason to stay. We have a tendency in
the insurance industry to provide our customers with a reason
to leave. We either give them poor customer service, we don’t
change features and adapt to the marketplace, we are stringent
in our requirements, or we don’t recognize changes in culture
and behavior of people. I look at the customer base and see how
they have changed since they became a customer—not how we
have changed—and what are we doing to meet their needs going forward. We have to figure ways the market is going within
our customer base and align our products and services to them.
If that works you can see growth will come much more easily.
Do strategic initiatives examine the business
processes within the enterprise or are business
users brought in after the initiatives are pre-
pared?
MADoCk: I come from a customer-centric perspective. I
believe in the importance of employees and being socially
responsible to their careers, but we don’t always get to make
that choice. Customers are going to vote with their feet. If your
business is not providing them ease of doing business, transparency, and a customer centric approach, they are going to
find that somewhere else. There are too many opportunities in
the market. I think business processes need to be aligned with
customer expectations or you have a much bigger problem on
your hands than laying off a few people. The only way to sustain
employment is to be a part of the best possible company in the
marketplace and serve customers beyond their expectations. If
you can do those two things you are probably going to be successful and make opportunities for employees they’ve never had
before. If you don’t constantly reinvent yourself and adapt to the
environment you are going to watch yourself shrivel away.
How different do you see the insurance industry
operating over the course of the next five years?
MADoCk: My feeling is consumers are going to drive product
as opposed to companies developing products. I realize that
sounds convoluted, but historically companies presented an im-
age of themselves and people would identify with those images.
Companies manipulated behavior. The consumer today is too
intelligent. The industry
is not going to be sustain-
able based on actuarial
data insurers came up
with 10 years ago. It is go-
ing to be driven by con-
sumers. They are going to
find real-time products
and services. I envision
insurance of the future to
be in real time. You scan
your smartphone over
the VIN and your auto
insurance is billed in real
time. You might have
some liability coverage
you keep, but that’s it.
You’ll be charged by the
driver, not by the car. I
tell people to look around
at how they conduct busi-
ness with other industries—financial services, travel, whatever
it might be—but the insurance industry still manages itself with
policies, restrictions, and annual billing cycles. Insurance is 15
years behind where people are at. Companies are going to start
hiring anthropologists, behavioral scientists, cultural anthro-
pologists. They are going to understand the human dynamic
is changing at such a rapid rate that the luxury of policies and
legacy systems that last 10 or 15 years is ridiculous and just not
going to happen. ITA
Strategic Planning
“If your business
is not providing
customers
ease of doing
business,
transparency,
and a customer-
centric
approach, they
are going to find
that somewhere
else.”
