Greg Hatcher

Insurance Executive Stresses Service Above All Else

The president and chief executive officer of The Hatcher Agency is not your ordinary insurance salesman. How many others have written a book?

Greg Hatcher reads books and listens to motivational tapes to improve himself and the business he’s built. He titled his own book “55 Steps to Outrageous Service,” and he considers service the key to his company’s success.

“Most people innately fall into the attitude of, ‘What’s in it for me?’ — focusing on what you want. The secret is to first get a right attitude of putting the customer first, and then everything else will fall into place,” Hatcher says.

It’s a simple philosophy, but it takes discipline, he says. “Your attitude will defeat you faster than your competition,” is emblazoned on the T-shirts he’s passing out this year.

Hatcher began his agency nine years ago when he was 28, leaving Blue Cross after being its top insurance producer for six years running.

“I decided to take the risk. I bet on me,” he says.

And that’s his advice to others: Take risks while you’re young. There’s a good probability that you won’t fail.

Unlike most CEOs who spend much of their time in the office, Hatcher still averages at least two person-to-person sales or service calls each day.

Does his system work?

After just three years, his agency grew from just him and a secretary and no customers to the largest health insurance agency in the state — all without traditional advertising. Almost all of his business comes by referral, with prospective customers calling him.

The agency rang up about $65 million in revenue last year and has average 34 percent growth over each of the past three years, about triple the growth rate of the insurance industry nationwide.

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