To attain the Five Star Designation, which Gaudette Insurance accomplished in June of 2005. the agency had to pass a rigorous fitness review. The review required a team of management consultants from the Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents to go into the agency and conduct confidential interviews with all agency personnel. The following points of quality were reviewed :
CUSTOMER FOCUS
Satisfying customers through meeting their requirements and value expectations is the primary task of every employee.
COMMUNICATIONS
Verbal and nonverbal communications throughout all parts of the Agency are two-way, clear, timely, consistent and forceful.
VISION
Management establishes vision for the Agency and leads the initiative to set direction and align everyone in pursuit of the vision.
PLANNING
Planning at all levels of the Agency keeps everyone focused on its vision, goals and strategies and provides a framework for achieving desired results.
ACCOUNTABILITY
Accountability measures and indicators for Agency performance are established, analyzed and effectively used.
SELECTION
Employees are selected using criteria that promotes the needs and expectations of the Agency both in the short term and the long term.
DEVELOPMENT
People are recognized as key strategic resources. Development opportunities are provided to assure that each employee understands, supports and contributes to achieving Agency success.
INVOLVEMENT
All employees are involved in establishing and achieving initiatives for performance and improvement goals.
MOTIVATION
Employees are motivated through trust, respect, recognition and a work environment that is conducive to the well-being and growth of all employees.
INFORMATION
Required information is clear, complete, accurate, timely, useful, accessible and integrated with products, services, processes and procedures.
BUSINESS ASSOCIATES
Business associate or products and services, business associate contributions and business associate processes meet all requirements and contribute value for performance improvements.
INNOVATION
Innovation is planned and effectively utilized in developing, implementing and improving processes.
INTEGRATION
Processes and the products and services created by them are jointly designed as an integrated system.
CARRIERS/MARKETS
Well chosen partnerships with carriers and other markets are key to providing excellent products and services.
BUSINESS RESULTS
Financial and business improvement results meet objectives, show positive trends and substantiate Agency success.
PERFORMANCE
The Agency's products and services are managed to ensure that customer requirements and expectations are met and both quality and operational performance are continuously improved.
RELIABILITY
The Agency's products and services consistently provide superior value throughout the business relationship.
We originally received our Five Star Designation in 2005 and are among only a handful of agencies the State of Massachusetts with such an honor. This designation was evaluated and renewed in 2008. We plan to continuously improve our agency so that we can best meet the needs of our clients and so that we will be prepared for our on going reviews every 3 years.