02.09.09 NATIONAL.qxd
2/4/09
12:04 PM
Page 10
J. Smith Lanier & Co., continued from page N9
are much more engaged in the culture of the organization than the pany, as well as giving them control over decisions that affect their financials. Our first meetings are always about the people — we operating success, has created a welcome cost-saver — employee never talk about the money. We look for people who are culturally retention. Employees have a strong presence on steering committees, like us — conservative, honest, of high integrity, similar value sysusually 20 producers and a smattering of management teaming to tem and sales oriented. If they’re willing to grow the business and determine necessary resources and business methods that help be part of a business. There is a difference between someone who increase their success rates. Gaines believes this additional layer of wants to own the business and someone who wants to share ownerinvolvement has created not only the company’s exponential profit ship. I have every desire to be on top of the mountain; I just have no growth, but also has allowed them to hang on to key talent. “We lose very few produc‘One of the traits that Smith Lanier brought was his business savvy to spread the ers. wealth. He brought people into the business and let them have an equity play in it …’ When they get desire to be there alone.” here and after 10 or 15 years they have a half million to a million or His goal is to maintain the cooperative attitude that is pervasive in better in value, they’re not looking to leave if we treat everyone the organization. “If a producer in Atlanta writes a nice account, a right.” producer in Albany celebrates with him — we as an organization The company also has a highly-tuned resource distinction — a are successful. We have a competitive nature with our competition, stable of claims staff, loss control professionals, alternative risk perbut we don’t have to compete with ourselves. It’s part of our strucsonnel, errors and omissions, and directors and officers liability speture that we’re stronger together than we are by ourselves.” cialists, large casualty specialists, and large property specialists. Each J. Smith Lanier & Co. producer has plenty of resources to bring Conservative Business Equals Growth in to the client as needed. “We’ve had a great deal of success over the Another factor Gaines attributes to the company’s success is its last few years in forming captives and alternative risk mechanisms conservatism in both business and personal endeavors. “We’re a confor clients. Our claims advocacy group is, in our minds, where the servative people. We’ve never leveraged the company hard. We make client really sees us create value when he has a very difficult claim. good business decisions. We put money back into the company every We assist instead of standing back and handing it over to the insuryear. It started in 1980 when we really started running the business er.” like a business and not like a family company.” That’s not to say the family ideals have been abandoned. To the Choosing Wisely contrary, in explaining his belief that each employee from manageOne thing J. Smith Lanier & Co. does well is evaluate opportuniment to mail room has the same responsibility to the health of the ties and let the opportunities find them, not the other way around. collective, Gaines speaks of the family atmosphere. “In our world “Opportunities arise, but not on our schedule. We stay in a position there’s a responsibility of the family member to the family. You ask to capitalize on the opportunities.” the family to help when he can, but every member needs to underAs for a perfect fit, Gaines says it’s not what one would think. “We stand he has to bring his value back to the family or he doesn’t stay part of the family. Most people say the family takes care of you, but in our world it works both ways.”
Pictured standing left to right in back: Board members Scott Crawford, executive vice president; Gary Ivey, president and COO; Frank Plan, CFO. Seated left to right in front: Sloan Howard, senior vice president and steering committee representative to the board; Board members D. Gaines Lanier, chairman and CEO, and Robert Culpepper, executive vice president. N10 | INSURANCE JOURNAL-NATIONAL REGION February 9, 2009
Decisions, Decisions Not every decision made in the company has been a good one. Gaines laughs about some of the not-so-successful decisions, of which he says there were more than enough out there. Of the successes, he says, “We’re very fortunate. We’ve made some mistakes — no question about it, and some I would obviously not do again. Fortunately, none have been that big in magnitude that it created a real problem for us. Our real success has been finding those people who culturally fit us.” He cites the recent acquisitions in Lexington and Tallahassee. “These people believed in our culture more than anything else. That’s why they’re here. It’s not necessarily the economics of every transaction — they enjoy working in this environment.” One not-so-successful decision involved a merger attempt with two groups in 1980, one which Gaines is reluctant to talk about. “We realized shortly after that it was a bad merger and we split it back out in 1981.” www.insurancejournal.com