Patrick McDonald has built his life and career around a natural ability to forge win-win relationships. Consistent with Pat’s emphasis on relationships, he lives near the town in which he grew up, has been happily married to his high school sweetheart for 32 years and was very involved in raising his kids, including coaching just about every sport they played.
After 28 years with MAPFRE Insurance, Pat is proof that nice guys do finish first. Pat was recently promoted to CEO of the Northeast Region for MAPFRE USA. The Northeast Region is the company’s largest region in the U.S. In Massachusetts alone, MAPFRE currently enjoys the leading market position for private passenger automobile, homeowners, and commercial automobile lines of business. Much of the company’s success comes from the hard work of Pat and the people both inside and outside the company with whom he’s built strong relationships.
The Path to the Top
After graduating high school in 1982 Pat attended and graduated from the University of Rhode Island. Following graduation, Pat was presented with a decision of going into the retail side of the pharmaceutical business or P&C insurance. Pat chose the insurance path. After a few years in a variety of roles while being groomed to learn all aspects of the business, Pat decided to try sales. While the agency world was both fun and challenging, Pat learned that he liked the company side of the business. That decision is what landed Pat a job at MAPFRE Insurance, then known as The Commerce Insurance Company.
A former boss recruited Pat to join the company in the role of a commercial lines supervisor. After a few years he moved into the Marketing Department. In marketing, Pat assisted with the development and introduction of the AAA group marketing program. The AAA partnership significantly contributed to the company’s substantial market share growth. Pat, along with many current and former colleagues that he refers to with a smile on his face, worked closely to ensure all parties benefited from this new sales strategy.
Relationships Drove This Great Success
The strategy that led to a doubling of Massachusetts private passenger automobile market share initially met with some hurdles similar to many new initiatives. As a company working with independent agents, the agency plant worried the AAA partnership would be harmful to their business. On the contrary, the venture succeeded because of the close relationships that MAPFRE enjoyed with its agents. The company achieved significant market share growth while agents enjoyed an influx of new customers…a true win/win scenario.
The Lessons Learned
The qualities that come naturally for Pat are the qualities that helped build MAPFRE’s success. As CEO of the Northeast Region, Pat eagerly shares those learnings with employees. In Pat’s words, some of the key items include:
- “Customers don’t want to have issues”
- “It’s all about sweating the small stuff”
- “Always treat people with respect”
Pat brings all of these elements together when he says one of his key objectives is he wants MAPFRE Insurance to be a “great place to work.” Happy employees lead to happy customers. While Pat is focused on leading MAPFRE’s Northeast Region, he keeps a close eye on the customers. Pat answers his own phone, responds to emails from customers, and not surprisingly, is usually one of the first people in the office each morning.
What Comes Next
Pat is excited about helping MAPFRE Insurance tackle current industry challenges. These challenges include introducing new technology, engaging the younger generation that interacts with the world in new and different ways, and driving the strategy for a business that faces significant disruption from both internal and external forces.
You can be certain, Pat will continue to build and rely on his strong personal relationships as a proven way to manage the challenges ahead.
Disclosure
The “Leadership Excellence” blog posts by ValChoice features CEOs of the best auto and home insurance companies. We identify the “best” companies based solely on how well they perform for policyholders. We aim to write profiles of the CEOs for all the best companies. There is no requirement to be a customer of ValChoice in order to be featured in our Leadership Excellence posts.
We’re proud to have MAPFRE Insurance as a customer. We’re honored to have had the opportunity to work with Pat and his team at MAPFRE Insurance.
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