Author: Dave Willis
“A lifer.” Judy DeLaRosa is among those few in corporate America who can claim that moniker. “I started with Chubb while still in high school as part of a work study program,” she explains, “and upon graduation secured a full-time job.” The company sponsored her programming training at Chubb Institute of Technology. “I won’t say exactly how long ago that was, but the school brought in its first personal computer when my class was graduating,” DeLaRosa explains. “My training was on punch cards.”
Upon graduating from Chubb Institute, DeLaRosa worked for 10 years on policy administration systems in the company’s information technology department. She then moved to the business side of the house as a technology consultant, serving as liaison between IT and the business, still focused on systems development and design for workers comp, auto and umbrella. “I was a translator – helping business and technology people understand each other,” she notes, “and I’ve been doing that ever since.”
Expanded Responsibility
In 2000, she assumed a marketing and technology position in the professional management liability area and added financial institution product marketing to her job responsibilities. “Marketing was new to me,” DeLaRosa recalls. “I really enjoyed it because it let me educate myself on various products and the markets associated with them. I was able to gain an ‘outside-in’ perspective, looking at things as agents and consumers did.”
Growth in e-business led to a new role as professional management liability e-business manager five years later. “My focus shifted from internal policy admin work to management of our Intranet, chubb.com, and portal-based solutions,” she explains. “At the same time, my business partners and I developed and implemented a professional management liability small business platform strategy, with initial focus on an agent online quote and rating solution.” Also at this time, she was introduced to ACT by former co-worker Linda Dodson, now with Travelers.
Over the next few years, DeLaRosa assumed responsibility for Chubb’s commercial digital platforms and solutions – a role she maintains as VP and Online Platforms & Solutions manager. “In this position, I’m responsible for developing and executing our global, online and agency integration strategy and am accountable for our enterprise-wide online platforms and solutions,” she notes. This includes chubb.com, @chubb – the firm’s secure portal, and agency and third-party vendor integration.
ACT Engagement
This role led to a significant increase in her ACT involvement. “My first work group participation was with Keith Savino and the Specialty Lines group, in which we developed standard ACORD applications for several professional management liability lines of business.” Subsequent participation included the Web 2.0 work group and then the Strategic Future Issues group.
In 2013, she became chair of Strategic Future Issues, which she now co-chairs with Rick Morgan. “It was through that – and based in part on work we’ve done at Chubb to advance online and offline customer experience design – that I initiated the new ACT Customer Experience work group,” DeLaRosa explains.
Customer experience is a personal passion of hers. “I am, 100% of the time, interested in customer experience,” she explains. “No matter where I am or what I’m doing, I’m always observing and thinking, ‘How can this be better for me as a consumer?’ or ‘How could I, as a provider, make this better for the consumer?’ My husband would say I’m obsessed. He’d probably like to visit a hotel or restaurant without hearing how it could be improved. But it really is a passion of mine.”
That passion, coupled with strong leadership from co-chair Claudia McLain and the involvement of ACT participants, led to the creation of a series of recommendations for improving agency customer experience. “We set out to explore how consumers want to engage with us and then design a customer journey that’s on par with or better than other financial institutions,” she explains. That journey gets its official interactive public unveiling in a June 22, 2015 IIABA Customer Experience webinar.
Advice to Others
DeLaRosa encourages others in the industry to make time and get involved. “You’ll be surprised at how much you have to offer and how much you’ll gain, with relatively little investment,” she notes. “The people are absolutely wonderful, and you’ll develop great relationships – some that will span many years.”
She adds, “Do more than just attend a couple of meetings a year, though. It’s hard to get or give value while just skimming the surface. Join a work group. You’ll gain insight into the issues and opportunities facing our industry and how we can collectively address them.”
She stresses the importance of working together to improve customer experience. “Steve Jobs said to start with the customer experience and work back toward the technology – not the other way around."
Words from journalist Walter Isaacson’s commencement address at her daughter’s Lehigh University graduation this year resonate with DeLaRosa. “He encouraged graduates to ‘connect their passion to something larger than themselves,’ as that’s what they need to do to achieve true success,” she explains. “He also encouraged them to be curious and creative in thinking about how to combine the arts and sciences to improve the world around them.”
Her takeaway from this for prospective ACT participants is simple: “Bring your passion, your curiosity and your creativity. Get involved. It’s easier than you think.”
Beyond Insurance
In addition to her Chubb and ACT roles, DeLaRosa is a busy mom of five daughters. “I’ve been on the school board and youth athletic association board, coached cheerleading and pony baseball and, most recently, indulged my interest in wine and great food on a mother-daughter trip to Napa with our three oldest,” she explains. She and her husband, who count among their “kids” a 210-pound English mastiff and a 15-year-old rat terrier, recently bought a Harley Street Glide. “It’s great to be able to get up on a Saturday morning and just go – with no plans, no kids, no dogs, and no insurance and technology issues to deal with,” she says.