Surviving the digital landscape

| 05 Mar 2018

Broker survival tips in the digital landscape. Kay Jackson, Director, Simplex Insurance Solutions shares pointers on how a small insurance broker can survive. While the tips shared by Kay are for small brokerages, there are plenty of lessons for insurance advisers and agencies, too.

Keep a broker’s mindset
A broker’s mindset is not based on price. It is based on advice and no website can replicate a broker’s knowledge, advice and advocacy for a client.

A good broker should be in constant contact with their clients, understanding any changes they are implementing in their business model, you become part of their professional team, just like their accountant and solicitor. Be there when a claim occurs.

When I attended the 1st Asia Insurance Brokers’ Summit (organisedorganised by Asia Insurance Review) in Singapore, I can still recall a broker who stood up and said he is a “barrister for his client’s insurance at time of claim”. This was brilliant, it explains exactly what I feel is the most important role of the broker and something I feel we are undervalued for.

A comparator website can churn out a cheap price – so can I – but it does not mean that the insurance being purchased by the end consumer is what fits their needs or what will respond well if they need to claim and with insurance purchased directly, who is there to assist and advise the client at the time they need us the most – the time of claim?

Adapt to the times
I once blocked our work computers for connecting to Facebook. Then outside of work, we started engaging in forums and business groups in Facebook, and now without any Facebook Ads, we have for the month of January, had more business coming in from Facebook and Google without any optimisation.

This has been through joining groups and forums and as individuals providing advice on insurance for free and encouraging people to phone our office or Direct Message if they need more information and over 96% have then contacted us direct; and from those contacting us, over 60% have taken out a policy.

We now have others in these forums and groups tagging our brokerage because we assisted them. I now encourage our senior brokers to be engaged on Facebook during work.

Use computerised tools that enhance your advice
Sums Insured calculators, Business Interruption calculators, risk assessment tools which show the risks within your clients’ occupation class, which not only assist to make sure you are not missing a high risk in a client’s business but also helps you sell to them the cover required.

There is so much information now available to assist a broker in learning about statistics and risks that are attributed to Occupation Codes. (We use the LMI Group Calculators, Policy Comparison and Risk Coach System).

Use digital solutions to enhance your back office
Utilise tools which can obtain multiple quotes from underwriters (eg Steadfast SVU System) so you are not wasting time inputting the same data set into multiple underwriters’ systems. This duplication of work is a complete waste of time for a broker and not where time is best spent.

Using tools such as these, you can get a price, then negotiate on coverage/terms with the underwriter or if they are not interested in the risk, move on to underwriting agencies which still operate with manual slips so you can provide more information to have a solution tailored to your clients.

The secret is not using these systems as a comparator website as you cannot just look at the price, you must look at the endorsements/wordings that come with the pricing to ensure it meets your client’s needs.

Using technology to work more efficiently

So, despite the disruptors, the insurance brokers will not only survive but we will thrive by embracing the new digital era and by staying true to our traditional broking role.

The full article is available to Asia Insurance Review subscribers here

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