Gem of a strategy

Scott Addis saw a jewel of an opportunity to serve middle-market companies with risk management services when he started The Addis Group in 1990.

Addis was right Providing comprehensive audits of potential clients and advising them on ways to cut their risks and insurance costs brought a deluge of business and performance levels for The Addis Group that beat competitors by a mile.

With its insurers enjoying loss ratios with Addis Group clients at a fraction of industry averages, revenue per employee twice that of competitors and reduced insurance costs for clients, Addis built his agency, now at 40 employees, without a sales force or marketing effort.

But the growth challenged Addis, president and CEO, when it came to making sure that relationships with clients, insurance companies and his employees remained warm. So Addis introduced a program he calls "Acres of Diamonds," inspired by a fable that advises the reader to take care of treasures closest to home.

The effort has succeeded in maintaining strong ties with clients and insurers, and in preserving entrepreneurialism in the company, a factor Addis says has been critical to The Addis Group's success.