Greg Hatcher

Greg Hatcher, president and CEO of the Hatcher Agency, threw the “slow and steady wins the race” adage out the window. Well, at least the slow part.

The Hatcher Agency nabbed the title of Arkansas’ largest insurance agency for employee benefits after only three years in existence and has held it every year since, Hatcher said. Not to mention that its revenue has increased annually by about 15 percent since its beginning in 1990.

The Hatcher Agency is currently at 25 employees and climbing. Hatcher said the company is building a 15,000- to 20,000-SF office to handle its growth. “We will add more agents to meet demand when the office is completed,” he said.

The agency has about 500 corporate accounts. “We focus on the customers’ needs, wants and desires instead of our own,” Hatcher said, adding, “When you meet the customers’ needs, you get a lot of customers.” Hatcher outlined particular measures the agency takes to ensure impeccable customer service. Employees answer the phone within three rings, give their home and cell phone numbers to clients and carry BlackBerries for instant e-mail correspondence. The company also conducts “goodwill calls,” during which employees call merely to assess the customer’s satisfaction “without trying to sell something,” Hatcher said.

Hatcher’s management philosophy is “to empower every employee to do whatever it takes at the point of service with the customer to make the customer happy without management approval.” And it’s not a surprise that Hatcher said service is the No. 1 factor driving his company’s growth. Hatcher called “managing and motivating a work force” a significant challenge; however, he enjoys the human interaction element of his career.

“It is a business that lets me work in the community with a lot of people,” he said. “I learn a lot from working with business management people at my accounts.”

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