DSP Doubles Down on Independence by Developing From Within

By Ezra Amacher

As president of DSP Insurance Services, Taylor Virgil is proud to say that the Schaumburg, Illinois-based agency has taken the road less traveled.

At a time when many agencies of its size are being bought out by larger firms, DSP has doubled down on its independence and invested its resources into perpetuating the agency internally.

“We’re really focused on the long-term and developing talent from within as well, so I think that’s another thing that is a differentiator,” said Virgil.

The process of perpetuating an independent agency takes a lot of time and energy, Virgil acknowledged, adding that DSP has been able to still maintain steady growth to the top line and hire good people.

“We have a lot of internal promotions for an agency of our size and very clear paths to moving up, which is what we spent a lot of time building out over the last two years since I was fortunate enough to get the nod to lead the agency,” said Virgil.

DSP’s commitment to developing talent from within is paying off.

This year DSP received the Gold Award for Best Agency to Work For in the Midwest region. In nominating the firm for the award, DSP employees said they look forward to coming to work at an agency that prioritizes teamwork, integrity, and employee well-being.

Virgil got a late start to working in insurance after beginning his career as an engineer. As Virgil developed professionally, he paid close attention to what qualities create good leaders and productive workplaces.

“The teams that were the most kind of functional and worked really well and jelled and grew were the ones that had the best communication and everybody really understood what was happening,” said Virgil. “I’ve tried to bring a lot of that to the agency.”

DSP holds biannual, all-agency meetings where they share “way more numbers than we ever shared (before),” said Virgil. DSP also instituted a profit sharing based on the performance of the agency for all the staff.

“We’re a people business and our only asset is our people,” said Virgil. “We have to invest in that, otherwise we can’t do what we say we want to do.”

Employees who wrote in to nominate DSP said they appreciate that the agency has created a culture of open communication, which helps team members serve their mission of providing clients with excellent service.

“In the last few years the agency has worked very hard to set itself up for continued success,” one employee wrote. “This includes rebuilding departments, including job descriptions, titles, and salaries, to allow for continued development of the staff and growth opportunities from within the organization.”

The same employee added that the agency has provided additional financial contributions to the staff in recent years, including a 401(k) match increase, a profit sharing plan addition, and continued contributions to the company’s medical plans.

Another area where DSP excels is encouraging employees to practice a healthy work-life balance. Several employees said they appreciate that DSP allows team members to work remotely and affords them time to attend to personal matters.

“I know employees that have needed time off for personal reasons, even if little notice has been given,” an employee wrote. “It gives me great comfort seeing how the agency has always made an effort to make sure employees are able to meet their personal work-life balance as opposed to enforcing a ‘hardline’ policy.”

Employees who nominated the agency were unanimous in sharing that DSP lives out its mission to be independent.

“DSP Insurance Services is committed to being an independent agency,” one employee wrote. “The people that work here are committed to excellence and serving clients with timely and expert advice. I’m proud to be a part of this organization.”