Business Spotlight: Nixon & Lindstrom Insurance

Owner: Luke Nixon

Founded: 1955

Address: 901 E. Battlefield Road, Springfield, MO 65807

Phone: (417) 881-6623

Fax: (417) 881-8269

Web: www.nixonandlindstrom.com

E-mail: contact@nixonandlindstrom.com

Products/Services: Full-service independent insurance agency, specializing in business lines

Employees: 36

2007 Revenues: $36 million

Nixon & Lindstrom Insurance embraces growth.

According to owner Luke Nixon, revenues stood at $8 million just a dozen years ago.

In the years since, sales have grown as much as 20 percent annually to $36 million in 2007. That’s an average clip of more than $2 million a year.

Nixon attributes the company’s success to “the chemistry and employees and way of doing business internally.” He adds, “It’s one thing to increase sales, and I’m not diminishing the difficulty of that, but (it’s) equally important to manage internally.”

Trevor Crist, an employee benefit specialist with the company for six years, explains: “Decisions made on a daily basis usually tend to benefit the person before the company. (Nixon) has the ability to not sweat the small stuff.”

Office Manager Nancy Wagner has been with Nixon & Lindstrom for 10 years. She says clerical staff and customer service representatives meet regularly to talk about procedures that may need changing and how employees are doing generally.

For instance, she says that when two people recently were on maternity leave at the same time in the commercial insurance department, job duties were shared. “We all got together and divided up responsibilities so that it was almost seamless to customers,” she recalls.

The first Nixon

Nixon & Lindstrom was founded in 1955 as Jerry Nixon Insurance Inc. by Nixon’s father, Jerry. The elder Nixon and his assistant were the only employees at the time. With 36 employees now – all but two of which are insurance agents – Luke Nixon hopes to increase staff in the sales and service areas by 15 percent in two years.

The company’s first large growth spurt occurred when Roger Lindstrom, agency principal, came on board in 1985, and the company adopted its current name Nixon & Lindstrom at that time. Previously, the company had been through the names Nixon Ship & Roderick, Nixon & Roderick and Nixon & Co.

Luke Nixon joined the company in 1985 as a service representative, moved into life insurance sales and then business insurance sales.

“I basically joined the business while going to school, almost as a part-time job to get me through,” Nixon remembers. “I ended up liking it.”

Nixon’s brother, Mark, joined the company in 1981, and Jerry Nixon insisted on business continuation planning. The elder’s foresight helped save the company in 1995 when he died suddenly at age 64. Tragedy struck again when Mark Nixon died suddenly in 1999 at age 40.

“I always preach the importance of doing (planning), but I’m still amazed at how many business owners give it a passing glance and say, ‘We’ll take care of that later,’” Luke Nixon says.

Moving in the right direction

With proper planning, Nixon & Lindstrom did more than survive. The company – with 96 percent of its revenues from business insurance and 4 percent from personal insurance – has outgrown four locations since 1985. In April, the company relocated to 901 E. Battlefield Road, a building it bought from Strong Law Firm. The move increased space to 16,000 square feet from 9,000 square feet it had at 1444 E. Sunshine St.

“We were one desk away from putting someone in the elevator,” Nixon jokes.

Now with room to grow, Nixon says he hopes to expand the company’s fastest-growing segment, group health and benefits. The department makes up 23 percent of business insurance sales, and Nixon intends to double that percentage in five years.

Overall, he expects revenues to increase 5 percent compared to last year.

Joe Tucker, owner of Tucker & Co. CPAs PC and Nixon & Lindstrom’s accountant since the late 1980s, thinks Nixon & Lindstrom’s leadership is on the right track.

“Luke is very good at assessing the business environment,” Tucker says. “He’s even somewhat of a mentor to me in that area.”

Nixon is also good at keeping employees. Anniversary celebrations of 15 and 20 years are not uncommon.

“We hire very good people, pay them well, let them do their jobs and appreciate them. It’s very important to me that we have a good atmosphere in the office,” Nixon notes. “At 5 p.m., I want everyone gone and home with their families.”

Plans for the future of the company include younger Nixons. With three children in college, Nixon says two have expressed interest in joining the company. When that happens, he plans to embark on an aggressive training and hiring process of people their age.

“I think one of the happiest moments of my father’s life was when his kids came into the business,” Nixon says. “As a father, I understand that now.”

History of Achievement

• Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce’s 2005 Small Business of the Year finalist

• 2004 Springfield Business Journal Economic Impact Award winner

• No. 3 in Springfield Business Journal’s 2004 Dynamic Dozen

• Marketing Agency of the Month on cover of November 2004 issue of Rough Notes, an insurance industry publication[[In-content Ad]]