American National continues to grow its revenue by meeting customers where they are and delivering multiple lines of coverage and innovative products. Like many industries, the insurance field is being driven by the desire to more easily communicate with customers. Key to that, says CEO Gregory Ostergren, is the use of technology to make things simpler. “That’s central to where we want to be in the year 2020,” he says of the company’s five-year plan.
Financial performance
The Springfield-based company is growing its contract agency force, which is important when retaining business.
“In fact, our agency force is growing at a faster pace now than in my 26 years with the company, and that’s intentional,” Ostergren says. “We put together a program and hired individuals to run it a few years ago, and that’s coming to fruition.”
The chief executive says the number of quotes that end up as policies are on the rise, as well as the use of competitive products in the marketplace.
“Overall, we’re hitting on all cylinders for growth,” he says.
Innovation
American National recognizes the average consumer is changing. They expect things to be easier and quicker.
“Part of our whole innovation and client experience approach is to make insurance a lot easier, more understandable, simpler to deal with, because it can be fairly complex for people,” Ostergren says. “It’s not just one insurance line – it’s not just making auto simple – it’s all the various insurances that somebody will need.”
In part, that means making insurance policy language simpler, but it also includes a new billing system and products designed for mobile phones or personal computers.
“Our focus and also challenge is to take all the various product lines that we have – each has their own technology infrastructure, if you will – and making it simple and seamless for the consumer to be able to make changes they want to make, get questions answered they want to have answered and serve their needs in a very nice way,” he says. “That’s the way the world is going.”
American National is shifting from the way things have been done historically. Consumer feedback is always considered.
“Many millennials, they’d better be able to do something within three clicks or they’re over it,” Ostergren says.
Community involvement
Each year, the insurance firm holds its American National Car Show for Kids, where employees volunteer to show off an array of more than 200 collector cars. In 20 years putting on the show, American National has raised over $220,000 for United Way of the Ozarks.
“We have just fabulous employees, and when they get behind something, they literally move mountains,” Ostergren says.
