Homeowners Choice Inc. had just taken on a big chunk of business that required mailing 60,000 policyholders. While the initial mailings were handled by another company, the returns, such as undeliverable letters or return correspondences, caused a problem: Nobody’s job description included opening letters.
“But when that challenge arose, people said, ‘Hey, I have time on my hands, I can help out for a couple hours,’” says Paresh Patel, co-founder and chairman of the board.
“All those mailings coming back, all the letters and phone calls and questions that came with that, and this is all with existing staff, so they still had their day jobs to do.”
This was all happening quite fast considering the company did its first dollar of business in July 2007, and by 2008, it posted $109.3 million in gross written premiums.
Taking on that extra work is all part of working in a rapidly growing company. Having a flexible staff and culture that will support the growth and go the extra mile will make the process smoother than if you don’t hire correctly and have a negative culture.
“The growth wasn’t a democratic vote,” he says. “Not amongst employees, anyways. Once we walked down that path, they did all rise to the occasion. The other side of that is, of course, in them rising to the occasion, they are also providing the feedback as to what the necessary tools and infrastructure are to keep doing these things.”
Here’s how Patel found the right people and created a culture that could handle rapid growth.
