Embrace Pet Insurance Blog

Embrace Core Values

We have been getting in touch with our inner Embrace lately. Answering questions such as What makes us tick as a company?  What lies behind everything we do? What does it mean to be an Embracer?

It's not easy to do but very rewarding. Here's what we came up with.

Embrace Core Values

 

Open & Honest:   
Open and honest actions and communications come first and they guide all that we do. We do the right thing for our pet parents and partners and they will do the same for us.

 

Personal Responsibility:  
We take responsibility for our own success at work, our relationships with pet parents and co-Embracers, and our own learning. Titles and roles do not matter when it comes to getting the job done. We believe we can do it, and we do it today.

 

Customer Fixation:
We respect our Embraced pet parents above all else and never forget that they come to us by choice. We share a personal responsibility to maintain our pet parents' loyalty & trust, which must never be taken for granted. We listen and respond to our pet parents and seek to WOW them at every turn.  

 

Innovation:
We thrive on creativity and ingenuity. We seek the innovations and ideas that can change the pet world. We use technology to further our goals. We are not afraid to take informed, responsible risk. We do more with less. We don't take shortcuts on quality.

 

Community & Environment:  
We are passionate about making an impact on the pet world. We are committed to serving both the pet community at large & our own communities at home. We respect our environment & recycle, reuse, & reduce our waste wherever & whenever we can.

 

Passion:
We believe humor is essential to success. We don’t talk corporate-speak and we provide surprisingly personal but professional care. We celebrate achievement. We share our daily lives with our pets. We do the happy dance at work and wear our slippers in the office.  

 

What do you think?

Happy Thanksgiving 2009 from Embrace Pet Insurance!

I am thankful for

...my family's good health (children, kittens, cats, and adults alike)
...Embraced pet parents who take the time to email me with their comments
...my neighborhood babysitting co-op
...my funny and exceptional and caring Embracers - the Embrace bedrock (yabba dabba dooo)
...random people who kick me up the rump every now and then
...my friends all around the world - I do miss you so
...smiling faces at the dinner table

I know everyone is stuffing themselves with turkey and dreaming of shopping and not reading blogs but I did want to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and hope that your list of thanks makes you feel as good as I do.

Celebrating Embrace Pet Insurance's 3rd anniversary - hello to year 4!

Can you believe it? Three years ago, in October 2006, we sold our first Embrace pet health insurance policy. Yes, it was to cover Lily, my newly rescued cat, but it wasn't too long after that that a brave soul, who wasn't a friend or family or a competitor, also bought an Embrace policy too - much to our delight and amazement.

We've come a long way from only being able to sell policies over the phone (it was another 6 months before we launched our first e-commerce website) and the only information about our policies was on this very blog. I'm still amazed that people actually picked up the phone and called us to buy a policy. We appreciate it very much.

Much has happened at Embrace over the last 3 years. If you are interested, we have a brief history of Embrace on our website. 

Most importantly though, every Embracer would like to thank YOU, the thousands of pet parents who put your trust in Embrace on behalf of your  cats and dogs. Simply stated, we wouldn't exist without your confidence we will be there when you need us.

I wonder what things will look like for Embrace in another 3 years. What do you think? 

Paid internship summer 2009 at Embrace Pet Insurance

We have one intern chosen so now I'm posting about another. Come join us for the summer - it's going to be a blast!

 

is looking for an intern to join our summer program in our Mayfield Village offices (781 Beta Drive, Mayfield Village, OH 44143). Embrace Pet Insurance

 

If you are a new high school grad who’s off to college in the autumn or a current college student who is:

·         a tech savvy data hound – someone who’s good at detective work on the web and is detail oriented

·         someone who can pick up the phone and talk to people (no sales involved)

·         someone who is flexible and doesn’t mind the changing environment of an early stage company

·         a pet lover who is not allergic to cats or dogs (we have a pet-friendly office with frequent 4-legged visitors)

·         a reliable person who works hard

Then we are looking for you.

 

Here’s what you would get out of it:

·         $8/hr for a 40 hour work week June - August

·         work experience in a venture-backed early stage company that would be very hard to come by otherwise

·         a great resume addition

·         a valuable reference (assuming one was deserved!)

 

Please email your resume and a cover email on why you think we should hire you over anyone else who is applying to Laura Bennett lb@embracepetinsurance.com.

 

Looking forward to hearing from you [or forward to your friends/family who might know someone!]

Support our small pet-related businesses: waggintails

 

I've followed Waggintails for 5 years now. John Gigliotti, the founder, is really passionate about quality foods (read healthy and safe) for pets and has an exceptional online business that satisfies that niche admirably.

So, I was moved to action when I received the email below:

Dear Friend

I lost a good customer the other day. 

I was out of what the product needed, and she was able to find someone else that had it.  “I can’t keep my dogs waiting,” she emailed me.  

She had been with me for three years.  It hurts.

It hurts because I’ve built my whole business on always going the extra mile for my customers and trying hard to earn your loyalty.  And right now, with the economy slumping and with so many of our suppliers hurting, too, it just isn’t possible to always deliver the ship times you’ve come to expect.  I know that puts everyone in a difficult situation.  You can’t feed your dogs and cats apologies.

I could explain it all, but I’m sure you don’t want to hear it.  You may even be hurting, too.  In fact, if you’re feeling the slowdown in your own life or business, you definitely have my empathy. 

I just hope we can get through this together.  I can’t afford to lose another good customer at times like these. 

I wish I could promise things will be better next week or next month, but I don’t want to make a promise I can’t keep.  All I can say is, I will continue to do everything I my power to serve you, just as I always have.    

My values haven’t changed, and I know yours haven’t either.   I still sell only products that are good and healthy for pets.  And nothing matters more to my than your pets’ health, and your satisfaction.

There is one thing you can do to help.  If you can place your orders with some extra lead time during these difficult times, it would be very much appreciated.  I don’t want your pets to go hungry or have to switch brands.  And I definitely don’t want to lose another good customer.

With sincere thanks for your business — and your patience,  

John Gigliotti

So if you care about quality pet foods and small business in the US, please visit the Waggintails website.

Better yet, visit the Embrace Pet Community website first and get 10% off non-sale items by clicking through the Featured Partner field top right. We get nothing for your click except the satisfaction that a good business is being supported by people who care.

What do you think of John's email above?

Who or What is PetInsuranceReview.com anyway?

There was a very interesting comment from Chris on a post I did about PetInsuranceReview.com as follows:

I am skeptical about this petinsurancereview site as it does not give any indication as to who is responsible for it's content. Who decides which reviews make it onto the site, and who makes sure that there is no bias. What's more, how does this site pay for its operating costs as it has no visible advertisements, and we all know that no one would maintain a site without a bit of payback... Are the companies themselves involved in this site? Are some companies more involved than others? Very odd...

These are very valid questions that need answers so I asked Mike Hemstreet who runs the site to respond so I could post the answers. Here's his reply to me:

Hi Laura,

Thanks for giving me a chance to respond to the post. I suppose I could do a better job at clarifying these issues on my site. Anyway, here is my answer:

PetinsuranceReview.com is run by Michael Hemstreet and is not affiliated with any insurance company. The goal of the site is to provide objective information and customer reviews to assist pet owners researching pet insurance. The site makes money when a user fills out a form requesting quotes from multiple insurers. This service is available to any pet insurance company that wishes to participate. Whether or not an insurance company chooses to participate has no effect on the content of the site. (Embrace does not participate and they are prominently featured and have one of the highest ratings.)

I take several steps to weed out fraudulent reviews, including scanning the reviewer’s IP address and looking for similar language or sentence structure in multiple posts. While I can’t guarantee the legitimacy of every review, I believe a reader can obtain an accurate view of a company by looking at the cumulative effect of dozens (or hundreds) of reviews.

Mike

I only know Mike from when he contacted us back in September 2006 when he launched the site.

Hope that helps clarify the situation - hopefully Mike will put something up on the site as well. 

Related Posts:
Customer reviews for Embrace Pet Insurance
Pet Insurance Reviews by Customers
Evangelism at its best
Invisible Voices blog entries on pet insurance
"Mo’s How-to guide on getting the most out of pet insurance" on Invisible Voices

News: Embrace Pet Insurance Secures Over $2 Million in First Institutional Funding Round

You may have seen our press release this week - we've just raised our first round of institutional funding. Woo-hoo!

In the evolution of developing company, it's quite a big accomplishment to pursuade professional investors to take a plunge in one's company, particularly in this economic environment, so we feel very positive about our next phase of growth.

“We are excited about NCT Venture's decision to invest in our company and see this funding as a tremendous vote of confidence in our product leadership and growth strategy, particularly in these difficult economic times,” said Bennett, Chief Executive Officer of Embrace. “This investment will help us continue to deliver the industry’s best pet insurance product suite to pet parents, grow our sales and marketing support, and become one of the few in the industry to do so profitably.”
[That Bennett, she's such a know-it-all :)]

We're particularly pleased with NCT Ventures as our investing partners. They are entrepreneurs as well and know from experience the ups and downs of entrepreneurship. We are looking forward to working with them to grow Embrace.

NCT Ventures (www.nctventures.com) is a Columbus, OH-based venture capital firm that is founded by entrepreneurs. The NCT investment team is passionate about people and they believe an idea is only as good the entrepreneurs behind it. Over the past 20 years NCT has helped build and grow many successful companies and they get excited about sharing experiences, methods and time with entrepreneurs through hands-on operational support. NCT’s investment focus is in marketing, logistics and disruptive business models that are headquartered in the Midwest.

Now that we have raised some money, don't be looking for an Embrace Super Bowl ad any time soon (nor a placement on a cable home renovation show - please stop calling!)

It's time to stay focused and continue to grow. This difficult economy is going to be a test but when we make it through the other side, we'll be a better company for it.

Now, back to work; no time for slacking...

Interview on entrepreneurship with Laura Bennett

A few months ago, Akemi asked me if I'd answer a few questions about entrepreneurship for her website, which I was happy to do. It turned out to be more fun than I thought.

A snippet for you:

What is the best part of being an entrepreneur for you?
It’s such a cliché but it comes down to being able to build something from nothing that solves people’s problems. There’s no feeling like it.

I also like that if I am going to work hard, I might as well do it for my own benefit since I put my all into whatever I do. And finally, I’m not sure I could work for anyone else now – I would be such a horrible employee. I have too many opinions about how things should be run, particularly around company culture, and I’d drive everyone crazy.

The rest is here.

Lily and Barnes visit our new office

We're well ensconced in our new digs and now that we have our own space (as opposed to sharing with another early stage company), we can bring in our pets and allow them to wander the halls.

Lily and Barnes came for the day yesterday and they had mixed reactions. Barnes was a little more curious but Lily at one point completely disappeared and ALL of us ended up looking for her.

We finally found her under my desk, not on the cat shelf there (who knew that desks came with such things!) but under the drawers under the desk, tucked right into the back in the shadows. She's a wily one!

Have you ever taken your dogs or cats to work and how did that work out for you?

Guest Blogger: Lea on what dog mom geeks do on lunch!

While on the phone with a pet parent client recent, one of our office dogs barked or whined, and when she heard the noise in the background she asked "Are you working from home?" She was quite surprised when I told her that no, we just bring our dogs to work.

Embrace is just one of many employers that encourages friendly dogs to visit the office.  Google lists dogs at work as a perk of employment and Chipotle has a webpage dedicated to their office dogs.  It's great therapy during a long day, it encourages you to take a walk on your lunch, and certainly helps a dog release some of that extra energy.  There's not a dog here everyday, and we do rotate, so that everyone gets a turn and special attention each visit.

Today Belinda's little Yorkie, Daisy came in to meet my foster dog, Otis.  It could have gone a little better, but it made for cute videos...