Insurance
People power
How J. Powell Brown finds the best talent for Brown & Brown Inc.
By Brian Horn
Smart Business | November 2009
Page 1 of 4
J. Powell Brown never stops looking for talent. It doesn’t matter if the economy is up or down or even if there is a job opening or not.
“We believe that in order to be successful in recruiting and retaining high-quality people, it starts upfront in terms of you always are recruiting,” says the president and CEO of Brown & Brown Inc. “You don’t sort of do it when you need somebody. We’re always looking for people, and we’re investing in new people coming into our business in all cycles of an economy. So, my point is, in each community that we participate in, we are always trying to look for the most talented people.”
Everybody at the insurance company is a salesperson in some way, shape or form. If you can sell, you can succeed. Brown always wants producers, someone at the front end trying to develop new relationships.
That’s why Brown doesn’t limit himself in who he or his employees recruit for the company, which employs 5,400 people and posted more than $977 million in 2008 revenue, up from $959 million the previous year.
Talent can be found at the competition, from a similar industry or from out of nowhere.
“Not unlike many other businesses, it’s about the ability to take action,” he says. “Meaning, pick up the phone and go and see somebody or talk to somebody and set up an appointment to talk to them about their insurance,” he says. “(It’s) the ability you have to break an existing relationship because people are already buying insurance from somebody else.”
