For most of its history, Progressive focused on high-risk drivers, a market that it served profitably through extremely precise pricing. But in the early 1990s, the insurer believed that much larger companies were about to enter this niche and emulate its approach to pricing; the company’s managers realized it couldn’t compete against larger players on a level playing field. So Progressive decided to win the game by changing the rules. It reinvented claims processing to lower its costs and boost customer satisfaction and retention.