Entering its 10th year, independent agency Jaffery Insurance & Financial Services has grown “100 times,” according to brothers, Cyrus and Ahmad Jaffery, in no small part due to its industry-transforming product, Quotamation.
The duo, who serve as CEO and president of operations respectively, rolled out its tech platform in response to challenges associated with becoming an independent agency.
“We were with a captive agency till 2019 and worked and represented one company,” Cyrus Jaffery explained. “We went independent May of 2019. So, now we have access to 20 different companies instead of one.”
He noted the move was a means of working “for the client – not the company.”
“Our fiduciary responsibility is the client now, versus the company,” he stated. “It’s pretty powerful when you tell a client that you truly have their best interests in mind and will find them the best option that the market has to offer — versus pushing them into one bucket.”
The Jafferys also noted how the industry is “headed towards the independent channel.” So, they decided to get ahead of the curve to guide the broader direction. Quotamation represents the firm’s largest accomplishment thus far and is designed to simplify quoting.
“[The] independent agency side is extremely complicated because you now have to understand and work with 20 different companies and learn three to four different tech stacks or management and [customer relationship management] systems to store data and quote,” Ahmad Jaffery said. “Working with 20 different companies is extremely time-consuming and it was taking our team about four hours to quote one client from start to finish.”
The brothers recognized this as a “huge disadvantage” on the independent side. So, two years ago, they partnered with Lincoln’s Vrly and rolled up their sleeves to build a platform, whereby all data points (personal info, vehicles, drivers in the household) are automatically pulled and put in one main application programming interface (API) that generates quotes from multiple carriers. An agent can now get a quote from 20 companies in 60 seconds.
“This gives us a huge advantage,” Ahmad added. “We can now close a client from start to finish within 10 to 20 minutes, versus four hours before.”
Furthermore, this distinct advantage has made a pivotal difference in their recent profitability.
“When you can fix your biggest issue in your field, it’s easy to quantify growth in the last 12 months,” Cyrus Jaffery said.
Notably, the leadership said agents can now work on the “fun side” of insurance: selling. They’re not caught up in the mire of doing the “grunt work.”
“We are giving the power to the agents to go do what you love, make more money and have excellent client experience,” Cyrus Jaffery added. “This, in turn, will make the agency more money, keep our staff happy, and the clients have an experience that they have never received before.”
In fact, Ahmad Jaffery noted that the company is white labeling the product to all personal lines’ agents across the country.
“So, everyone can use this and take advantage of the fast-quoting process,” he explained. “Since our launch of Quotamation [12 months ago], our business has exploded and we can’t wait to see how it helps other agents across the country.”
Getting to the ‘Heart’ of the Firm
While an important driver, Quotamation is still but one of the attributes responsible for the growth of the firm, which also includes brother, Vice President of Sales Bobby Jaffery, and sister on the customer experience side, Suman.
“We attribute the firm’s growth and traction to our 100-people organization, especially the 20 that are W2 employees,” Cyrus Jaffery said. “Our organization is innovative, thinks big and is on a mission to change our industry as a whole.”
Furthermore, Cyrus’s leadership style lends itself to growth; others around the CEO are empowered and this approach can then cultivate more leaders inside of the organization.
“We would say that’s by far our biggest attribute to our growth,” he said. “We have grown from three people in our organization in early 2020 to almost 100 today.”
The essential need to leverage technology through the pandemic has strengthened the agency and industry.
“We have taken the time to build our own technology,” Ahmad Jaffery said. “And I’m not sure we would have if the pandemic didn’t exist.”
Cyrus Jaffery also reinforced that technology is the reason he can take on 60,000 home and auto leads – which is exactly what the firm did in 2023 – all without having to hire 75 new insurance agents to tackle the quoting piece.
“It has saved our organization millions in payroll and taxes,” he said.
The agency has also uniquely tied its business performance to its community involvement; its donates to four different organizations every time it gets a lead.
“We love helping nonprofits and causes that matter to us,” he added. “Insurance gives us an ability to give back to the community and we are so proud of that.”
For instance, Cyrus Jaffery serves on the board for Ava’s Army, which fights pediatric cancer. Last year alone, the company raised $8,000 for the nonprofit.
Additionally, the agency helps Afghans who are new to the area with getting settled into their new lives and supports park clean-ups on a monthly basis as a team.
Going forward, in addition to the white labeling of its tech platform, the company is tackling embedded insurance – a reference to its tech being embedded with mortgage and real estate companies across the country.
“We are super-excited to give back to the industry that has given us so much,” Cyrus Jaffery said. “Other than the tech side, we are working on [credit union service organizations] across the country to help open up insurance agencies for credit unions as well.”
