Progressive Insurance Concierge Program

Progressive Insurance Company is considering the rollout of a new level of service in the Maryland area. Students are given the opportunity to understand the new service and assess its fit with Progressive's business. Students must also determine a staffing plan for the new center. Excerpt UVA-OM-1327 PROGRESSIVE INSURANCE CONCIERGE PROGRAM In the early fall of 2005, Matt Marko was busy planning the rollout of the first of Progressive's centers to offer a concierge level of service in Maryland. To date, Progressive had set up 45 such centers in several states, including Ohio, Virginia, and Florida. The concept, the first of its kind in the insurance industry, had been a resounding success so far. As the product manager for Maryland, Marko was excited at the prospect of a center in his state, and he planned to tap into the many benefits that the service had to offer his customers and his business. Setting up a center was a complicated assignment, involving, among other things, territory and site selection, land purchase, facility construction, and marketing campaigns. While the Claims Department was primarily responsible for rolling out the centers countrywide, every state was unique and Marko had been tasked to help the department better understand how to make a center successful in Maryland. As he was still in the preliminary phase of working out the details, he had his work cut out for him. Progressive: A History of Innovation Established in 1937, Progressive Insurance was the third-largest auto insurer in the United States, offering private and commercial auto-insurance products to 12 million customers. Since its inception, Progressive had taken an innovative approach to auto insurance, and this mind-set had been responsible for the company's growth, especially over the past 10 years (Exhibit 1). Between 1996 and 2005, Progressive's net premiums grew at an average annual rate of 17%, from $ 3.4 billion to $ 14 billion. . . .