Risk & Business Magazine JGS Insurance Risk & Business Magazine Summer 2018 | Page 29

PROACTIVELY THINKING
waves to 10-footers. We didn’t have the
ability to run out of the way. It was a
very unpleasant 6 hours of the 15-hour
return trip. We made it home — tired,
aggravated, extremely late, but safe.
The next day back at the dock, I went
over all of our pretrip arrangements and
all of our preparations to see what we
could have done differently. Turned out
we had plenty of supplies, food, water,
and everything else we needed to spend
an extra day out there, so that worked
out. What I hadn’t done was give any
thought to spot-checking or servicing the
transmission. It had never occurred to me.
When the transmission guy came to the
dock to repair the one transmission,
I instructed him to replace it on both
engines. “But why would you do that if
the starboard transmission is working
and hasn’t demonstrated any problems?”
he asked. I explained that I was a firm
believer in proactive measures, and since
both transmissions were installed on the
same day and had an equal amount of
hours on them, it was only a matter of
time before the other one decided to go as
well.
After he replaced the port transmission
and then double-checked that I still
wanted to go ahead with the starboard
one (after showing me the invoice for the
cost of the port one), I still gave the go-
ahead. Once he took it apart, he called me
immediately and said, “It turns out that
was a great thought on your part.” This
transmission had the same wear problem
as the other, and it was a matter of days
or weeks at the most before I would have
found myself in the same situation.
The original repair and aggravation were
BY: KEN HAGER, AAI, CIRMS
PRINCIPAL, JGS INSURANCE
a result of my reactive thinking, but the
second replacement was proactive. By
being pro active, I saved myself and my
crew from being caught offshore and
limping home again, possibly being caught
in God-knows-what conditions. Being
proactive saved me time, aggravation
and possible additional costs by treating
a potential problem before it became an
actual issue.
It’s the same thing with everything we take
on in life, much like a conscious decision
that JGS Insurance made as a company a
few years back. My brother Vinnie and I
sat around a table and reviewed our entire
operations as a company. We realized
that we had been a very reactive entity,
both internally as well as externally to
our customers. As a result, we weren’t
prepared for situations that we could have
or should have been ready for. We were
losing customers and business due to a lack
of forethought and doing business the same
way for over ninety-five years.
We made the decision to completely
change the way we do business and
put into place proactive services for
our customers. We developed time
lines and service plans that extended
from eighteen months to five years in
some circumstances. We retrained our
employees and brought on additional
professionals to help us implement our
vision. We are still early in the change
process, but to date, our customers and
our employees have a greater sense of
satisfaction and accomplishment than
when we just reacted.
If you want to experience the difference
between reactive thinking and proactive
planning, reach out to one of the
professionals here at JGS. We would be
happy to sit down and discuss our services
and how we can help you adjust your
planning and outcomes. +
Ken Hager began his insurance career more than 30 years ago at JGS Insurance. Ken’s current role as Chief
Operating Officer at JGS began in 1997. Since that time he has been a guiding force in the direction and success
of the JGS enterprise. Throughout the years, Ken has remained engaged with his customers and intently focused
on their needs. He intently understands the risks associated with his clients operations and has been uniquely
able to offer them superior solutions to their business needs.
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