Insurance

How George Petersen Built a High-Performing Backend Insurance Team in Weeks — Not Months

George Petersen Insurance Agency is one of Northern California's leading independent agencies, with expertise in Commercial Lines, Personal Lines, and much more. With more than $43 million in annual sales, the agency is known for its client-first approach and long-term relationships - but rapid growth and acquisitions began straining internal resources.

ClientKathy Heglin, Commercial Lines Service Manager, George Petersen Insurance

IndustryInsurance

LocationNorthern California

Employees Hired6

51%

Faster recruiting

Fully Staffed

Certificate Unit

10–25%

Higher Operational Efficiency

10/10

Four straight months of perfect customer satisfaction scores — every survey a 10/10

The Problem

Before Edge, Melendez Insurance Group’s team was stretched thin. Sales, service, and admin work were colliding on everyone’s plate, including the founder’s. Hiring locally was an uphill battle: The Chicago market for bilingual insurance talent was limited Larger firms offered higher pay, shrinking the talent pool further Recruiting took too long, leaving the team overextended and slowing response times Staff was stretched thin, burnt out, and frustrated “Instead of working on high-value activities, I was rolling up my sleeves in the trenches with my team. I needed a reliable customer service representative that was bilingual in Spanish and English—someone experienced, professional, and ready to contribute immediately.” — Jose Melendez, President, Melendez Insurance Group

The Solution

Melendez Insurance Group chose Edge because they needed more than a temp or contractor; they needed someone experienced, professional, and ready to contribute right away and for the long term. Within days, Edge provided three vetted, bilingual, top-tier candidates for consideration. Edge Services Provided: Bilingual Customer Service Representative Customer service & quoting Renewal reminders & lead intake Data entry & CRM updates Billing and service support Edge Talent management support Background checks, training and certification Security and compliance Employee tech provided Benefits and payroll From day one, their Edge Talent: Had already completed comprehensive training and compliance certification courses Immediately took over critical admin tasks, freeing leadership to focus on growth Integrated seamlessly into the in-house team as a true extension Scaled support as the agency grew, without the headaches of local hiring “Edge saved me a lot of time, and when you’re running a small business, time is a valuable thing. Their vetting process was super turnkey and their background checks made it an easy decision. The onboarding process was smooth and fast. Thanks to Edge’s pre-training, she was literally ready to help answer billing and service questions on day one. When it comes to hiring an admin, Edge is in a tier of their own and then there’s everybody else.” — Jose Melendez, President, Melendez Insurance Group

The Result

Since bringing on their Edge Talent, Melendez Insurance has seen measurable gains: 30% year-over-year growth, driven by faster service and freed leadership time Four straight months of perfect customer satisfaction scores — every survey a 10/10 Faster response times — phone and lead follow-up improved by 40–50%, boosting client experience and retention Weeks-to-hire instead of months for the right bilingual insurance talent Seamless team integration, with daily chats, Google Meet calls, and shared workflows; the team even sent Edge swag to make their associate feel part of the family “If we had never hired with Edge, we would still be playing whack-a-mole, being reactive instead of proactive. We wouldn’t have perfect scores on our surveys, and we wouldn’t be as profitable. We wouldn’t be in the growth accelerator stage that we are right now.” — Jose Melendez, President, Melendez Insurance Group

The Challenge

Rapid growth and multiple acquisitions had stretched George Petersen Insurance to its limits. Manual data migrations, certificate backlogs, and policy audits overwhelmed internal teams. Recruiting skilled insurance staff locally had become slow and expensive — and post-COVID, nearly impossible.

Core bottlenecks included:

Stretched thin with new business policy audits each month
Delays in certificate issuance across offices
Long onboarding cycles for new hires
Coverage gaps in personal lines
Rising costs for in-office staff with limited RO

Hiring locally proved slow and costly — and after COVID, finding skilled insurance staff became nearly impossible.

“We were losing that work-life balance for our staff. That just is difficult for everybody.” - Kathy Heglin, Commercial Lines Service Manager

The Edge Solution

When traditional recruiting couldn’t keep pace, George Petersen turned to Edge to build a dedicated backend team — not to outsource work, but to extend their operations responsibly. Edge’s full-service operating model goes beyond staffing. It combines global recruiting, compliance, IT, onboarding, and HR management into one secure, managed platform — so agencies can scale confidently without added administrative burden. Edge’s model allowed the agency to select and directly manage professionals trained in U.S. insurance workflows, EPIC systems, and compliance requirements.

“The thing that made Edge stand out the most for me was that the people we worked with were specifically for our agency. It wasn’t our work being sent to a pool of people — we had specific people that worked with us.” - Kathy Heglin, Commercial Lines Service Manager

Why George Petersen chose Edge:

Dedicated team members, not a shared talent pool
Top-tier talent screening and matching, with complete control over final hiring selection
Spanish-speaking associates that aligned with U.S. business hours
Insurance-trained professionals familiar with EPIC and agency workflows

Results & Impact

Once Edge came onboard, everything changed.

“Edge became the dedicated backend team the agency couldn’t hire locally — handling certificates, policy checks, auditing, and data work that freed internal teams to focus on clients.” - Kathy Heglin, Commercial Lines Service Manager

✅ 51% faster time-to-recruit ✅ Fully staffed certificate unit ✅ Noticeable lift in efficiency across departments ✅ Staff balance and morale restored

Download the Full Story

Ready to Unstick Your Team?

Explore how Edge helps agencies regain capacity, improve efficiency, and build dependable teams designed to scale responsibly.

Get Started

How George Petersen Built a High-Performing Backend Insurance Team in Weeks — Not Months

ClientKathy Heglin, Commercial Lines Service Manager, George Petersen Insurance

IndustryInsurance

LocationNorthern California

Employees Hired6

51%

Faster recruiting

Fully Staffed

Certificate Unit

10–25%

Higher Operational Efficiency

10/10

Four straight months of perfect customer satisfaction scores — every survey a 10/10

The Problem

The Solution

The Result

The Challenge

Core bottlenecks included:

Stretched thin with new business policy audits each month
Delays in certificate issuance across offices
Long onboarding cycles for new hires
Coverage gaps in personal lines
Rising costs for in-office staff with limited RO

Hiring locally proved slow and costly — and after COVID, finding skilled insurance staff became nearly impossible.

“We were losing that work-life balance for our staff. That just is difficult for everybody.” - Kathy Heglin, Commercial Lines Service Manager

The Edge Solution

Why George Petersen chose Edge:

Dedicated team members, not a shared talent pool
Top-tier talent screening and matching, with complete control over final hiring selection
Spanish-speaking associates that aligned with U.S. business hours
Insurance-trained professionals familiar with EPIC and agency workflows

Results & Impact

Once Edge came onboard, everything changed.

✅ 51% faster time-to-recruit ✅ Fully staffed certificate unit ✅ Noticeable lift in efficiency across departments ✅ Staff balance and morale restored

Download the Full Story

Ready to Unstick Your Team?

Explore how Edge helps agencies regain capacity, improve efficiency, and build dependable teams designed to scale responsibly.

Get Started

How George Petersen Built a High-Performing Backend Insurance Team in Weeks — Not Months

The Challenge

The Edge Solution

Why George Petersen chose Edge:

Results & Impact

Ready to Unstick Your Team?

More customer stories

How One Strategic Hire Helped Zarahn Insurance Reclaim Capacity

How Dr. Naureen Alim Built A More Reliable, Scalable Practice With Edge

DHR Health’s Journey to a Stable, Scalable, and High-Performing Clinical Operations Team

From Turnover to Trust: How Partners in Endocrinology Built Long-Term Stability with Edge

How Melendez Insurance Group Achieved 30% Year-Over-Year Growth with Edge Talent

More customer stories

How One Strategic Hire Helped Zarahn Insurance Reclaim Capacity

How Dr. Naureen Alim Built A More Reliable, Scalable Practice With Edge

DHR Health’s Journey to a Stable, Scalable, and High-Performing Clinical Operations Team

From Turnover to Trust: How Partners in Endocrinology Built Long-Term Stability with Edge

How Melendez Insurance Group Achieved 30% Year-Over-Year Growth with Edge Talent

How George Petersen Built a High-Performing Backend Insurance Team in Weeks — Not Months

The Challenge

The Edge Solution

Why George Petersen chose Edge:

Results & Impact

Ready to Unstick Your Team?