As I sat and watched the land under me quickly disappear and turn into a gray, early morning sky on a flight to Lubbock, Texas, I noticed the tiny trails of water that float across the window as the plane pushed quickly up. They are a common occurrence, ever so slight, floating across your vision, likely not getting noticed while the bigger, bolder things catch your attention.
This particular flight was taking me to Texas to spend a little time catching up and listening to our AgriSompo team. AgriSompo became the crop insurance company we are today with the merger of two existing U.S. based crop insurance companies. One of those companies and the majority of its employees were based in Lubbock. While the structure of the company has changed, our offices and teams in the Lubbock area remain as important and impactful to our business as ever.
Today the Lubbock office is one of our six regional offices, serving the states of Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. Ryan Johnston is the Regional Vice President managing all business in the region, and Rebecca Haney is the Regional Operations Manager focused on leading a team of underwriters who service the area. Between them, Ryan and Rebecca have decades of experience in the crop insurance industry and bring a wealth of knowledge and leadership to the business. This particular week was a busy week at the office with Underwriting and Marketing teams both in for meetings.
In addition to serving the regional business, the Lubbock office is also home to Accounting and IT service centers, with the teams there working on many essentials aspects of our business from financial oversight, to printing and mailing policy documents and claims checks, to IT AgriNet development. Additionally, leaders of other teams such as Communications, Policy Services, and AgriNet Training and Support are based in our Lubbock office.
Meet the team based in Lubbock!
Service in the US crop insurance system is a driving factor in how the program is structured:
- The Federal Government is responsible for oversight, rating and structuring the program.
- Approved Insurance Providers (AIPs), such as AgriSompo, are responsible for servicing the business as well as bearing and managing risk associated with the business.
- Agents are on the front lines, selling and servicing customers: farmers and ranchers.
Service is at the heart of the program and at the heart of AgriSompo. Our commitment to service is the reason and goal for the regionalization of our business in the US, with offices like the one in Lubbock and leaders like Ryan and Rebecca who have the experience and ability to make the right decisions that affect their region. Service is who we are and what we do.
Just like the plane taking off that morning, we are always moving forward, pushing up. Much of what we deal with are the big, bold, bright things that are easily visible to everyone. A challenge that we are meeting head on in the coming months and years is to perfect our ability to see those small streams that pass quickly in front of us. To focus on not just the big, but the small. To make sure we are giving our time and attention to the smaller streams, because that is where we have the ability to make a difference. One way we are doing that is by defining clear service standards in all of our departments and regions. These standards will be what our team holds ourselves to and what our customers can come to expect.
In your work today, take note of some of the items that don’t immediately jump out at you. How can you give those some special attention and deliver supreme service to your fellow employees, agents, and all of our customers?
