insurance to a very defined market segment, namely senior business and professional people.

Snyman & Van Der Vyver's doors were officially opened in January 1989. Four years later, one of their key offerings was a scheme called the "Top 500 Scheme", which aimed to supply a personalised service that nobody could match, whereby the rates of the scheme were determined by the experience of the members alone, with no interference from other factors. So successful was this new scheme that the initial ± 500 clients has grown to over 2500. The company has since expanded to offering motor vehicle insurance schemes, commercial insurance and more specialised products like Fidelity- and Professional Indemnity insurance.

By focussing on this niche market, Snyman & Van der Vyver have been able to minimize rate increases. This year is the first time in nine years that they have had to have a 7% increase, due mainly to the increase of reinsurance rates as a result of the terrorist attacks on America in 2001. The company enforces a strict selection process, only allowing clients who fit their criteria into the scheme. The company has focussed on quality and service and have never been driven by turnover.

All was not always plane sailing, however, and things were tough in the start. Their underwriters, Santam, would not at first grant them a separate scheme until they had built up their client base. This meant that the company had to work that much harder to prevent rate increases. Each year, every single client's policy was recalculated individually and the parameters adjusted to prevent rate increases.

Johan Snyman, a director, who joined the company in 1992, attributes the company's success to one main factor: service. He believes that service should be defined by the client. Good service is meeting or exceeding the customer's expectations. Snyman & Van der Vyver's rule is never to deviate from providing good service. Inus Marias, also a director, believes that sticking to their market segment and what they know best, short-term insurance, has helped the company make a name for itself as the experts in the field. An example of this can be seen by the fact that the company still grows by up to 30% every year without advertising, with a large portion of new business coming through client referrals.

Inus believes that their growth strategy is somewhat unconventional: "We don't have targets or measure growth, which is strange, although it works. We strive for service, and the rest comes with it. We stick to the basics." He believes that as soon as you set quantifiable goals you start pushing to reach them, causing quality to suffer in the process: "Our only goal is to keep up the quality of our service. Maybe that is why we have never lost a client due to a bad service experience."

Johan also believes that competent staff is integral to the business: "We do our utmost to keep staff happy, constantly training them, nurturing an environment of community in our offices. Within the two main sectors (personal- and commercial insurance) the principle of multi-skilled staff is utilised. Clients are therefore able to deal with the same person for different queries." Johan attributes to this nurturing environment the fact that in fifteen years they have had only had two resignations.

Inus goes on to say that the company believes that a hands-on approach is critical, with the directors knowing everything that is going on in the business: "We don't take a back seat. We service our clients personally and keep up to date with the market and its products. We never stop learning, and have to make things more effective all the time. We have earned the respect of our peers, suppliers and clients." The company believes in making the client experience as efficient as possible, with little or no inconvenience to the client.

Jannie concludes by explaining that nothing comes easy for someone starting out: "You have to earn your success - if you want something done, then you need to do it yourself, nobody is going to do it for you. Service is our philosophy, and at the end of the day your clients are your livelihood. If you can give a client continuous satisfaction, then they will have a reason not only to promote you to their peers, but to keep coming back."