"We Sell Doughnuts, Not Crystal Balls"

According to an article published in the Insurance Journal today, "A Dunkin’ Donuts employee mistakenly put sugar rather than artificial sweetener into a diabetic woman’s coffee, triggering a reaction that sent the woman to the hospital, according to a civil lawsuit filed Thursday in Philadelphia.  The woman is seeking unspecified damages due to the fact that the employee added sweetner out of the customers presence."
 

“If they request a medium coffee, they will get a medium coffee,” Dunkin' Donuts legal liason said. “If you fail to request a sugar substitute, we can’t read your mind. We sell doughnuts, not crystal balls.”

Let's be honest, it's not every day, but occasionally clients and customers expect you to read their mind.  And in the insurance industry we're expected to be able to look into a crystal ball and predict what could happen.  Here at Bozzuto, the contractors and developers we insure are always asking about bonds and how the market is looking.  The infamous, "Where do you think the market is headed?" question will always pop up.  This is where I would love to use the "we sell doughnuts, not crystal balls" phrase. 

Bottom line is that the bonding market relies on financing.  You won't have the need for a bond unless financing has been awarded for a particular project.  And we all know how flexible the lending industry is as of late (*insert chuckle here).

In spite of the lending market conditions, our Bonding Manager, Bruce Poitevin, has been seeing an upswing in activity in the bonding market.  2010 was a pretty grim year for a lot of construction companies and subcontractors.  So far, 2011 has been looking up.  But, that's not without an interesting dynamic that Bruce has been up against.  The big issue Bruce has been facing is "When will the big losses hit?" 

In the Surety bond market he's seeing two things.  Since construction activity has decreased, construction companies gross revenues have followed suit.  And due to the market conditions, Surety companies are more accommodating due to necessity and the need for business.  On the other hand, we have bleak loss projections hanging over Surety companies heads.  When will the big losses hit?  Bruce has been seeing another trend with some markets becoming more rigid and careful due to the outlook.  Awwww, the push and pull of the market place.

Moral of the story?  We can't look into a crystal ball and predict where the construction market will be in a year or two years.  But if you do need a bond, make sure you are speaking with an experienced Bond Manager, like Bruce.  He has over 15 years of experience in the bonding market and really understands that dealing with bonds is more of an art versus a process.  Being a certified straight shooter, Bruce actively prepares his clients with exactly what he needs prior to heading into the bonding process.  This prevents a lot of the back and forth hiccups that other brokerage houses tend to do.  The faster Bruce can satisfy our insureds bonding needs, the faster our insureds get on the job site and get to work. 

And in these trying times, Bruce's motto, "You can find a way to get a bond for any project....no matter what the situation" has come in handy as of late.