Episodes
Tuesday May 30, 2023
106: Remaining Left of Bang with Brad Fraser - CEO of Infoprotect
Tuesday May 30, 2023
Tuesday May 30, 2023
How can brokers better advise clients with deficient cybersecurity architecture? What steps can we and our clients take to raise our cyber resilience and reduce the potential damage of an attack?
Businesses that haven’t suffered a cyberattack are in the minority, or alternatively, they simply haven’t discovered that it has happened yet. Infoprotect reports that 51% of businesses have suffered from a cyberattack or breach in the past year alone. In this episode of the Insurance Broker Podcast, returning guest Brad Fraser, CEO of Infoprotect, speaks about how we can improve the cybersecurity scaffolding that is so crucial for our data-centric industry, within our own businesses and those of our clients. In conversation with Boston Tullis’ Sarah Myerscough, he explains that while we are all potentially susceptible to a cyberattack, we need not cower in fear of this possibility. He outlines a straightforward and systematic approach for improving your cyber resilience, without deploying any of the jargon that often makes such advice inaccessible.
Quote of the Episode
“[Left of bang is] a term that was coined by the military, I think in the Iraq War. It's about being prepared and able to protect yourself before the attack happens. Be aware of your surroundings, have a situational awareness, and make sure that you've taken all the steps, because the last thing you want to happen is an attack to take place, and you're not prepared. Then you have to launch into a survival mode and scramble to get everything sorted out, and you suddenly realise, ‘I didn't do the basics. So, it's about situational awareness. When it comes to cyber, it's really around resilience… Just being resilient, and following the steps that can help you be resilient is so important.”
Much of the advice often distributed with regards to cybersecurity is retrospective, and only applicable after an attack has already taken place. Brad emphasises that to truly minimise the risk of such attacks, we must implement an array of systems and procedures by which they can be warded off. He offers a ten-step plan for building cyber resilience, also outlined in a blog on the Infoprotect website linked below, through which both small businesses and large enterprises can assess the state of their cybersecurity and implement measures for improving it. In doing so, you can ensure that your business and your clients can always remain ‘left of bang’ of any potential cyberattack.
Key Takeaways
When you’re putting out fires in your day-to-day work, it’s easy to overlook good procedures for maintaining healthy cybersecurity, and to allow any deficiencies within your digital infrastructure to go unchanged. Such nonchalance is exactly what cyber attackers aim to identify and exploit when targeting businesses.
Brad asserts that we must take a proactive approach to managing cybersecurity and building cyber resilience. He argues that this must begin with a comprehensive risk assessment of your digital infrastructure, thereby establishing a baseline from which your systems can become more resilient to attack.
Data has become the backbone of our industry, and therefore its secure storage and management is paramount. If our data is compromised in a cyberattack, the fallout will not simply be the loss of money and resources attributed to recovering it, but also the reputational damage of having insufficient cyber resilience. Brad argues that good data security is hinged upon several often underexamined areas of cyber resilience:
- Asset Management – how is your hardware and software infrastructure built to ensure that systems are impenetrable?
- Vulnerability Management – once you have cybersecurity software, are you keeping it up to date? What condition is it in?
- Identity & Access Management – who can access the various systems within your business?
Instilling cyber resilience is not about raising hysteria about the prospect of cyberattacks. Rather, once you’ve got a plan, you become prepared, and able to respond in the event of an incident. Cyberattacks should be assessed and planned for like any other tangible emergency. To facilitate this, it’s key to de-jargonise the conversations happening within this space, so that brokers and their clients alike are able to more easily comprehend the importance of cyber resilience measures, to prevent the worst from happening.
Infoprotect offer a cyber resilience package to help brokers with managing their clients’ cybersecurity. To find out more, visit their website linked below, or contact Brad, who is happy to help!
Best Moments/Key Quotes
“Who has got access to your data? And what do you do with it? Do you encrypt it? Do you keep it in a separate repository? Do you keep it offsite? Do you back it up? What do you do with your data? Your data is so important to your business, and if it is stolen and shared, that's the last thing you want to happen.”
“This is not putting fear into people. It's purely saying, ‘Just be ready for this’. It may or may never happen, and if it doesn't happen, well, that's good, isn't it? Who cares if it happens or not? Let's be ready for it. That's the most important thing.”
‘We need to make the internet and our whole way of communicating over the internet safer.’
“Unfortunately, there's a lot of people out there that are using fear. And they're using jargon and they're using buzzwords and they're saying, ‘You're always going to be in trouble.’ Follow the basics. Get your layers [of cyber resilience], go through those, and you're going to be much better off than people that haven't.”
Resources
Infoprotect – Cybersecurity: https://www.infoprotect.co.uk/cybersecurity/
Infoprotect – 10 Steps to Cyber Resilience: https://www.infoprotect.co.uk/blog/10-steps-to-cyber-resilience/
OpenText – What is Cyber Resilience?: https://blogs.opentext.com/cyber-resilience-definition/
About the Guest
Brad Fraser is the CEO of Infoprotect, an IT solution provider that designs complex technology solutions for clients. He specialises in Cyber Security and Data Backup as well as having a host of experience in security services and managed solutions.
Brad’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradfraserentrepreneur
About the Host
Sarah Myerscough is the Sales and Marketing Director of Boston Tullis Group. The founder of The Insurance Brokers Podcast, she brings a wealth of experience and a fresh perspective on communication in the insurance sector. Boston Tullis works with insurance professionals to build effective communication both internally and externally through podcasting, event reporting, videography, and internal communications facilitation.
Website: https://bostontullis.co.uk/
Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation
Tuesday May 23, 2023
105: Optimising Insurance Marketing on LinkedIn with Catherine France
Tuesday May 23, 2023
Tuesday May 23, 2023
How can LinkedIn be used for reaching your target demographic?
What kind of marketing content is most likely to facilitate a return on investment, and how can this be calculated?
In this episode, we’re excited to be speaking with Catherine France, an insurance copywriter who specialises in using LinkedIn to help attract and convert clients. In conversation with Boston Tullis’ Sarah Myerscough, she illustrates how you can target LinkedIn content to your intended demographic, and explains the steps you need to take in order to project a trustworthy and reliable brand presence.
Quote of the Episode
“In terms of sales vs non-sales content, when I'm talking to my clients, and we're building their profile on LinkedIn, we are very much focused on educating, informing, giving value, as opposed to selling. It's probably like the 80-20 rule: 80% of the content we put out is information, and then 20% might be information with a call to action, that's more sales.”
It’s easy to assume that the best way to garner sales through your marketing content on LinkedIn is to directly promote the services and products you offer. However, this is more likely to alienate than entice your ideal client, particularly if they have little to no knowledge of the insurance industry. Catherine suggests that a great way to subtly market your business whilst simultaneously capturing the interest of potential clients is to post educational and informative content, perhaps explaining different kinds of policy or common insurance misconceptions. Prior to doing so, you should establish who your ideal client is, and what challenges they might be facing that you can assist with. How much do they know about insurance? Subsequently, you can target your marketing content towards such individuals.
Key Takeaways
With 875 million people on LinkedIn, all of whom need insurance, the service provides a huge wealth of potential clients that you can attract to your brand. We live in the age of content, and quality posts on your LinkedIn page can be hugely beneficial in capturing the interest of potential clients. However, before you start posting, there are other considerations you should make which will help your content to reach the right demographic.
When it comes to social media marketing, the focus is often always on your content and the engagement it receives, but potential clients’ reception of your posts is often entirely contingent on the initial impression made by your profile. If someone sees your post, the next thing they will likely do is to view your profile, to garner a sense of your legitimacy and trustworthiness as a brand. To optimise this, you should ensure that your contact information is clearly visible. Additionally, you should enable creator mode in order to add a link to your business’ website onto your profile. The ‘Summary’ section effectively serves as your business’ digital shopfront. In 3000 characters, you must explain what you do, who you help, and how. Being overly general in this description can be potentially confusing or alienating; thus, it must contain specific details tailored to capturing the interests of your specific ideal client.
Having optimised your profile, you must also examine your LinkedIn network. Most insurance professionals’ network will be full of insurance professionals. To change this, use search filters to find people in the particular business sectors you would like to connect with. Connect with as many people as possible, but avoid sending them private messages – this is likely to deter them from your brand. Make those connections, and allow those people to view your profile and determine whether they would like to correspond with you or not. This further emphasises the importance of having a well-curated and informative profile.
Subsequently, you can begin to contemplate the type of content you should post. As previously mentioned, deploying educative content, by using simple language and relatable stories from a non-insurance perspective, can be highly lucrative in drawing people to your brand. This enhances your reputation as delivering valuable knowledge. Furthermore, posting a diverse range of content is key. Behind-the-scenes posts shared by company staff often receive the most engagement, as they emphasise the faces behind your brand, thereby humanising the business and further amplifying its trustworthiness.
How do you identify a return on investment with marketing? Post likes and shares can be misleading, as they don’t necessarily correspond with new sales. Catherine argues that the key metric with LinkedIn marketing is profile views, either on personal or company pages. If posts lead to profile views, this means that they are drawing people to potentially want to reach out and ask for help or further information. To facilitate this, posting consistently quality posts covering a diverse range of topics, whilst also targeting your ideal client is essential.
Best Moments/Key Quotes
“The profile really is like having another webpage. If you haven't got a website, then you can use it like a website. Make sure that you've got a banner image, a decent headshot photo, that your headline is clear, saying what you do and who you help.”
“Think about your ideal client, you know, who are they? What are their challenges, what's keeping them awake at night? Then, talk to those people.”
“I think the key metric for a personal page, and probably a company page as well, is that profile view. It's actually who's gone on there and viewed your profile.”
Resources
Catherine France - https://www.catherinefrance.com/
About the Guest
Catherine France is an insurance copywriter, who helps insurance executives create consistent quality content to help them attract and convert their dream clients. This ranges from writing blog posts to social media captions, helping them build their website, and more.
Catherine’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-france/
About the Host
Sarah Myerscough is the Sales and Marketing Director of Boston Tullis Group. The founder of The Insurance Brokers Podcast, she brings a wealth of experience and a fresh perspective on communication in the insurance sector. Boston Tullis works with insurance professionals to build effective communication both internally and externally through podcasting, event reporting, videography, and internal communications facilitation.
Website: https://bostontullis.co.uk/
Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation
Tuesday May 16, 2023
104: ITC DIA Europe’s Upcoming Event with Merlin Beyts
Tuesday May 16, 2023
Tuesday May 16, 2023
Are you keen for your business to remain aligned with the latest innovations across the industry? Would you like to learn more about how new digital processes and platforms can energise and streamline your productive output?
In this episode of the Insurance Broker Podcast, we are very pleased to be speaking with Merlin Beyts, Head of Content at ITC DIA Europe! In conversation with Boston Tullis’ Sarah Myerscough, he explains what attendees can expect at the business’ exciting upcoming event at the Fira Gran Via in Barcelona, from 27th to 29th June! Uniting leading experts from across the industry, and giving a voice to professionals from adjacent industries, the event intends to further propel the future of insurance, facilitating discussion between insurers, brokers and Insurtech innovators.
Quote of the Episode
“What I've noticed working in events… is you sometimes can fall into the trap of having the same conversations about the same things, and you really do need those innovators to sometimes say something that's perhaps controversial, say something that perhaps people don't necessarily want to hear. It's always great to have those innovative opinions so that we can really drive things forward.”
The ITC DIA Europe event intends to provide a springboard for innovation, by hosting speakers who will push boundaries and encourage introspection for attending businesses, to evaluate how they can embrace new technology and form partnerships with which to stride confidently into the future. With so much change constantly rattling the industry, precipitated by the necessitated transformations during the COVID pandemic, it is through embracing change and constant innovation that insurers and brokers alike can continue to thrive throughout the unforeseeable.
Key Takeaways
The ITC DIA Event intends to promote widespread innovation across the industry, by uniting Insurtech creators alongside traditional brokers and insurers under one roof. There are many businesses out there who can help the traditional insurance industry to drive innovation, and the event aims to facilitate discussions and promote collaboration between the old and the new.
This is reflected in the structural hybridity of the conference, combining a traditional approach whereby everyone can move around and meet different exhibitors, alongside a ‘festival feel’ whereby people can sit down, relax, and have meaningful conversations and create powerful connections. Through this approach, the event aims to enable both Insurtech innovators and insurers and brokers to achieve their business goals, attaining the confidence to incorporate new digital practices.
Merlin notes that some brokers have expressed a reluctance towards adopting new digital tools, perhaps for fear that it may eventually lead to certain areas of traditional broking becoming obsolete in the face of startlingly adaptable artificial intelligence. Yet, he argues that truly successful businesses will be those that embrace change.
The ultimate focus of the event is the future of our industry. Where will insurance be in a few years’ time, and what changes does your business need to make to remain in the running? To book your ticket, visit the registration page on ICT DIA’s website, linked below!
Best Moments/Key Quotes
“One of the big things that we are incredibly keen to make sure is on the agenda is just how many enablers there are out there who can help the insurance industry really drive innovation. That's the whole goal of everything that we do, whether it's an event, whether it's a webinar, is to is to push the industry forward.”
“If you're an insurance provider looking to looking to accelerate your innovation, looking to automate your underwriting processes, improve your claims experience, we've got all of those people that can help you do that. Similarly, if you are looking to engage with those people from a tech provider side, or even from an MGA standpoint looking to partner up with carriers who have a large customer base, we're going to have a lot of those people in the room as well.”
“There's a quote that I read from Andrew Horton, when he was CEO of Beazley and is now the Group CEO of QBE Insurance. [He] said, essentially, change is inevitable, and the truly successful people are going to be the ones that embrace change. I think, hopefully, we're going to see more adoption of digitization at the broker side of things.”
“The key word is innovation. But what we want to make sure we're doing is taking innovation, which is a very broad term, and actually put that into action. How do you get better? How do you actually improve your customer experience?”
Resources
Register to attend ICT DIA Europe in June: https://www.digitalinsuranceagenda.com/events/itcdia-europe/registration-itc-dia-europe/
About the Guest
Merlin Beyts is the Head of Content at ITC DIA Europe. In this role, he oversees the business’ digital content, including articles, interviews, and webinars.
Merlin’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/merlin-beyts-652ab0168/
About the Host
Sarah Myerscough is the Sales and Marketing Director of Boston Tullis Group. The founder of The Insurance Brokers Podcast, she brings a wealth of experience and a fresh perspective on communication in the insurance sector. Boston Tullis works with insurance professionals to build effective communication both internally and externally through podcasting, event reporting, videography, and internal communications facilitation.
Website: https://bostontullis.co.uk/
Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation
Tuesday May 09, 2023
103: Attitudes to Achieving Net Zero with Adrian Saunders
Tuesday May 09, 2023
Tuesday May 09, 2023
Why is it so important to set Net Zero targets on an individual business level? Is there anything regional or provincial brokerages can do to help curb the impact of climate change?
In this episode of the Insurance Broker Podcast, we’re thrilled to be speaking with returning guest Adrian Saunders, Commercial Director of Ecclesiastical Insurance. Ecclesiastical recently conducted a survey investigating brokers’ attitudes to Net Zero target setting and carbon emissions reduction, which has yielded some slightly disappointing, but not entirely surprising results. In conversation with Boston Tullis’ Sarah Myerscough, Adrian shares the highlights from the survey, and emphasises the imperative of raising climate awareness across the insurance industry, and providing greater resources and information for small businesses looking to make a difference.
Quote of the Episode
“We need to have a shared responsibility, across business, across society… and recognise and accept that responsibility and do something. Surely we're all better for doing something than saying, ‘That’s too difficult, I can't do anything.’”
National brokerages are leading the charge with regards to setting Net Zero targets and announcing climate-conscious commitments. It’s all too easy for smaller businesses to say that there’s nothing they can really do to help deter climate change, as any impact they might have would be negligible or insignificant in the broader scheme of things. Yet, it is only through an acceptance of a collective social responsibility, at every level of industry and society, to cutting carbon emissions and cultivating new, climate conscious ways to conduct our lives and business, that any substantial change can be made, and this crisis can be avoided. No business is too small to set Net Zero targets.
Key Takeaways
In the year since Ecclesiastical’s last climate awareness survey, understanding that Net Zero is a good thing has grown by 40%. Alongside this, 39% of brokers nationwide have established targets for becoming Net Zero. Yet, the growth in brokers setting these targets over the last year has been marginal, and the part of the market that seems to be lagging is regional and provincial brokers. Only 10% of regional brokers, and only 4% of provincial brokers, have set Net Zero targets.
Perhaps of even greater concern is that only 12% of all respondents to this year’s survey think it’s important to their clients that they have a carbon Net Zero mindset, with no change in this attitude from last year. This is contradicted by the fact that nearly three quarters of brokers have affirmed the importance of climate consciousness. Furthermore, all businesses are increasingly interested in the ethical stance of those whom they are trading and cooperating with.
What can we do as brokers to reduce our emissions and become Net Zero? How do we get started? For Adrian, in every facet of a business, you will probably be able to identify a change you could consciously make to become more climate responsible, such as introducing hybrid meetings to reduce travel emissions. Before we implement these changes, we first need to build a climate-conscious environment within our businesses. This must begin with a strong level of understanding about climate change, accompanied by a narrative about what you will do as a business to combat it. We must identify our carbon footprint, both on a business level and an individual level, and the opportunities we have to make a change.
Understanding how we can combat climate change is at the very essence of what we do as an industry. Insurance is all about managing risk, and the prospect of climate catastrophe is the biggest risk we all face today. Ecclesiastical have curated several great resources regarding how brokers can become more climate responsible, including a series of webinars linked in the Resources section below.
Best Moments/Key Quotes
“What our research shows is that national brokers, therefore bigger brokers with access to more resources have got, got targets and a greater level of awareness. As you come down the scale of size of broking businesses, there is less awareness and target setting. Maybe there is an element of, ‘We're too small for this to be important. We're too small to make a contribution.’ And I think what I would say to that is, ‘Nobody is too small.’”
“I think brokers have got a huge role to play. You know, brokers are skilled and trusted advisors. That's what brokers do for their living. They've got the trust of clients, they understand what client's needs are, and they understand what their challenges are. So, by modelling some of this behaviour, I think brokers have got a really, really key role to play in, in business at large.”
“What are those practical actions towards Net Zero? It's about creating that environment. Understanding what your impact is, equally understanding the opportunity, and doing something.”
Resources
Ecclesiastical – Practical actions to reduce your company’s carbon footprint: https://www.ecclesiastical.com/brokers/training/practical-actions-net-zero/
About the Guest
Adrian Saunders is the Commercial Director of Ecclesiastical Insurance. He’s worked in both the company and broker markets, and specialises in developing new enterprises within organisations, and re-engineering existing processes to develop strategy and increase ROL.
About the Host
Sarah Myerscough is the Sales and Marketing Director of Boston Tullis Group. The founder of The Insurance Brokers Podcast, she brings a wealth of experience and a fresh perspective on communication in the insurance sector. Boston Tullis works with insurance professionals to build effective communication both internally and externally through podcasting, event reporting, videography, and internal communications facilitation.
Website: https://bostontullis.co.uk/
Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation
Tuesday May 02, 2023
102: How Small Brokerages Can Survive and Prosper with Alistair Body
Tuesday May 02, 2023
Tuesday May 02, 2023
How can small brokers navigate the various and insistent industry pressures that have emerged in recent years? Is it possible to sustain a client-first bottom line whilst also incorporating new digital data processing practices and becoming increasingly reliant on remote customer interactions?
In this episode of the Insurance Broker Podcast, we’re very pleased to be speaking with Alistair Body, Business Development Director at Momentum Broker Solutions. In conversation with Boston Tullis’ Sarah Myerscough, he discusses the numerous pressures facing small and independent brokerages, including consolidation, the shift to digitalisation, and regulatory red tape. He emphasises the importance of retaining focus on the primary goal of effectively advising clients, and explains how firms like Momentum can help to support brokerages struggling to remain afloat amidst all these aforementioned challenges.
Quote of the Episode
“The insurance industry has always been a people business. So, let's try and free up more time for [brokers] to do just that. The momentum proposition is about effectively creating an infrastructure in an environment where you've someone's got your back, whether it be your client’s money, their insurer relationships credit control, marketing, and so on. And just taking all that away from you. And just going back to the bare basics of letting you do what you do [best]: looking after your clients.”
Given the rapidity of change in the industry in recent years, it’s become easy to lose sight of our primary aim as brokers: to advise and support our clients through genuine interactions. While this has been complicated due to the shift to remote conversations as a result of the pandemic, these interactions remain our raison d’être. Thus, the opportunity for small brokerages to consign some of the challenging behind-the-scenes processes that enable fruitful client relationships to supportive businesses like Momentum is certainly worth considering.
Key Takeaways
Beyond the broader everyday challenges that have accompanied the past few years, this period has also brought considerable changes to how brokers conduct their business. This whirlwind of rapid change includes vast market consolidation, the increasingly urgent importance of carbon emissions reduction, and additional regulatory constraints. These, alongside the fundamental service challenges wrought by the shift to digitalisation and the emergence of new, highly efficient data processing software, have placed enormous pressure on small, independent brokerages. What is the solution to this, other than selling up and getting out of the industry altogether?
Alistair suggests that, first and foremost, we must return to the basics, and remember what our primary function as brokers is: to look after clients. Yet, our increasing industry reliance on data arguably conflicts with the desire to be a people-centred business. Is it possible to work in accordance with the data, whilst also fulfilling the needs of clients on an individualised, personal level? For Alistair, there is always a need to drive towards greater efficiency, in insurance and every industry. However, not all clients fit in the boxes that data-processing software may create. We must therefore remain flexible and versatile, finding ways to write risks that may not necessarily be ideal.
Another key issue is the ever-expanding red tape of compliance. Regulatory demands are often one-size-fits-all, and fail to account for the specific needs of small or niche brokerages. This is where firms like Momentum can lend a hand. Momentum specialises in supporting small and independent brokers to persevere through issues surrounding compliance, and the various other industry pressures that have emerged in the past few years, including the mounting necessity of carbon emissions reduction, profound economic turbulence, and changes in client behaviour.
Momentum will be at stand G20 at this year’s BIBA conference. To find out more about how they can support your business, find them and have a chat!
Best Moments/Key Quotes
“When you look at what's been thrust upon independent small businesses these days, you've got additional compliance concerns, you've got more talk around equality and diversity, we've got the DSG, we've got net zero, it just keeps going on and on and on. I think for a lot of these businesses, they simply don't have the internal resource or the internal knowhow to manage these things.”
“It's about looking after clients. It's about supporting them and their businesses or their personal insurance requirements, and giving them the advice and seeing the value that they created. I think it's just really going back to basics and focusing on what they're good at, and then ultimately using the services of Momentum or others to provide them the support [that will] allow them to get on with it.”
“Pre-pandemic, we would probably have a lot of brokers considering the move to direct authorization. Whereas it seems very much now that it's the other way around.”
Resources
Momentum - https://momentumsolutions.co.uk/
About the Guest
Alistair Body is the Business Development Director at Momentum Broker Solutions. Momentum provides support to small, independent and startup brokerages, helping them to grow and thrive.
Alistair’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alistair-body/
About the Host
Sarah Myerscough is the Sales and Marketing Director of Boston Tullis Group. The founder of The Insurance Brokers Podcast, she brings a wealth of experience and a fresh perspective on communication in the insurance sector. Boston Tullis works with insurance professionals to build effective communication both internally and externally through podcasting, event reporting, videography, and internal communications facilitation.
Website: https://bostontullis.co.uk/
Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation
Tuesday Apr 25, 2023
Tuesday Apr 25, 2023
Have you identified any inefficiencies in your business’ software which delay brokers’ dealings with clients?
What features would you like to see incorporated into broking Insurtech software?
In this episode of the Insurance Broker Podcast, we’re very pleased to be speaking with Nick Jordan, Managing Director of Nuworks Ltd, an Insurtech business providing new digital solutions for the industry. In conversation with Boston Tullis’ Sarah Myerscough, Nick discusses the company’s new software, BrokerCentral, a bespoke platform which aims to streamline the broking experience and thereby facilitate more impactful broker-client interactions. He explains the origins of the software, its various features and how Nuworks hopes to develop it further in years to come.
Quote of the Episode
“Software is there to serve you, you're not there to serve the software. Most software in our industry seems to have this thing where if you want things to work in the way you want it to work, then you have to jump through a lot of hoops, you have to kind of really dig deep into the system, or you have to pay a lot of money to have that functionality provided. With BrokerCentral… we’ve got a really strong focus on customer experience and user interface design, to make it really easy, so that we don't have to give loads of training.”
Much of the software used in the broking sphere today was designed by software developers with little or no understanding of the needs and desires of brokers. As such, many of these platforms are difficult to navigate, with complex interfaces that require a considerable amount of training to master, and with various inefficient design features that ultimately slow down the user experience. The software your business uses must be more of a help than a hindrance to your brokers.
Key Takeaways
BrokerCentral has been built over the course of a decade, with a considerable amount of feedback from various guinea pig businesses to test its effectiveness. The platform ultimately aims to smoothen communication and the transmission of information between insurers and brokers. Thus, BrokerCentral enables you to work more efficiently, and to prioritise finding the best coverage for your customers.
Furthermore, we are now in the age of data. Thus, data accessibility and functionality are crucial to a streamlined insurance service. BrokerCentral locates and logs readily available client data on the behalf of brokers, saving them time by considerably reducing the need for manual data entry.
Nick notes that, unlike other Insurtech products already on the market, BrokerCentral will never be ‘finished’ in a traditional sense. It will always continue to be developed, incorporating feature requests, helping to further smoothen brokers’ journey with their clients. Nuworks seeks to constantly push for further innovation, and therefore the software is not a one-time product but a continually improving service.
He states that the three main benefits of using BrokerCentral are:
- It allows your team to do more in less time
- It provides a user experience that you can enjoy rather than endure
- It enables you to do more for your own customers, instead of being bogged down with manual data entry
If you’re in any doubt, check out the demo linked in the resources below! You can also have a chat with Nick who will be exhibiting BrokerCentral at Stand G31 at this year’s BIBA conference on 11th May!
Nuworks is also providing an offer for any prospective clients at the BIBA conference and listeners of this show! While the company would normally charge a £1000 onboarding fee for the BrokerCentral service to cover the cost of building documents, this will not be charged at all for listeners or BIBA attendees who get in touch.
Best Moments/Key Quotes
“The whole point of BrokerCentral is to is to make it easy for brokers to do their work more efficiently, so that they can free their time up to do the customer service side of things and focus their attention on the things that they're really good at, which is keeping customers engaged and finding really good coverage for them.”
“We basically only ever present a list of questions that are relevant to the insurance that you've selected, and the kind of risk that you've inputted into the system. From that point, if you go to a portal, because all that information is now stored, you can just press a button, and it will just go down each field. And if it knows the information, if it sees a match, it will just enter it for you.”
“’What would probably take a half an hour to an hour before for a more complex risk now takes less than five minutes.”
Resources
Nuworks: https://www.nuworks.com/
BrokerCentral by Nuworks: https://www.nuworks.com/brokercentral
About the Guest
Nick Jordan is the Managing Director of Nuworks, an Insurtech business seeking to identify and facilitate ways of working in the insurance industry. With 10 years’ experience in and around the industry, he is an expert in digital solutions for brokers and insurers.
Nick’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-j-jordan/
About the Host
Sarah Myerscough is the Sales and Marketing Director of Boston Tullis Group. The founder of The Insurance Brokers Podcast, she brings a wealth of experience and a fresh perspective on communication in the insurance sector. Boston Tullis works with insurance professionals to build effective communication both internally and externally through podcasting, event reporting, videography, and internal communications facilitation.
Website: https://bostontullis.co.uk/
Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation
Tuesday Apr 11, 2023
Tuesday Apr 11, 2023
Is an over reliance on analytical and logical thinking stifling innovation in insurance? How can we help clients become more emotionally invested in the insurance they purchase, and why should we?
Welcome to the 100th episode of the Insurance Broker Podcast, and the first to be recorded live! This week, we are celebrating this milestone by tackling some big questions with three titans of the industry – Sam White, Peter Blanc, and Steve White! In conversation with Boston Tullis’ Sarah Myerscough, they discuss the dichotomy of ‘left brain’ (analytical, logical) and ‘right brain’ (creative, emotional) thinking. Bemoaning the industry’s general reliance on the former, they highlight the need for emotionally driven engagement with customer needs for insurers and brokers alike to truly innovate. Touching on all the major problems facing the industry today, including new regulatory pressures, the cost-of-living crisis, and recruitment difficulties, each of the guests emphasise how tapping into emotionally driven thinking can provide an alternative perspective from which to understand and tackle these issues.
Quote of the Episode
“Fundamentally, people don't care about insurance. And that's our fault. If we can't get people emotionally invested in what we're doing, then they do just think, [‘I’ll buy] whatever is cheaper’… Somebody will buy a life insurance policy online, just as a kind of, ‘I’d better grab that’. We need to learn how to evolve the product so that we can really get people to understand what they're buying in a digital world, as well as face to face.”
For many people not well-versed in industry jargon and technicalities, an insurance policy is often considered an grudge purchase. Despite the fact that policies are taken to protect their lives and livelihoods if disaster were to strike, there is often an emotional disconnect between the purchasing of a life insurance policy, for example, and an in-depth consideration of the reasons why one needs it. This is becoming increasingly challenging due to the digitisation of the insurance market, by which face-to-face discussions between clients and insurers are becoming eclipsed by the ease of doing it all online. Sam White argues that the insurance industry as a whole needs to improve its external communication in this regard, in order to crystallise in a prospective client’s mind, the potential consequences of taking out a lacking insurance policy, be it for their business, their car, or their life.
Key Takeaways
Increasing the educative role of insurers and brokers could be instrumental to curbing the public’s general disinterest in their insurance policies, and indeed, to reorienting the industry’s reputation in their minds. Communicating with customers on an emotional, rather than purely statistical level could be hugely beneficial to broadening the general understanding of what insurance is and why people need it, which people are often falsely assumed to automatically understand upon becoming adults despite being minimally, if at all, addressed during school education.
Additionally, a greater emphasis on the emotional, human element of insurance could help with the industry’s floundering recruitment efforts. Sam White suggests that emphasising the practicalities of insurance will quickly lose the interest of potential candidates. Alternatively, highlighting the ideology of insurance may be a great way to capture and retain their interest.
Peter Blanc asserts that there should be a moral overlay upon everything we do in insurance, which should assist in the navigation of when to deploy ‘left brain’ or ‘right brain’ thinking. As a result of the cost-of-living crisis, many people are looking to cut expenses wherever they can. In attending to this crisis, there needs to be a balance in both logical and emotional thought. There needs to be a balance in attending to this crisis. A customer’s primary concern may be cost, and using right brain/emotional thinking we may be driven to provide them with a cheaper policy. However, we must also use logical thinking – what will ultimately save the client money long term? If they need to make a claim, will this cheaper policy actually provide the help they need? Peter suggests that ‘we should fundamentally be providing products that enable people to go about their lives without undue risks’.
Best Moments/Key Quotes
“People work for organisations that they want to work for, and that they enjoy being part of. Our job as leaders, I think, has changed enormously over the last few years. It's all about creating an environment where people want to work for us. Employers had the power 10 years ago. I'd say employees have the power now. And that's a much nicer place to be.”
“It's a problem that we haven't quite managed to deal with yet, actually how to communicate to customers in a way that they want to be communicated with. We still just inundate customers with utter nonsense: the renewal invites, the PDF documents with 80 pages that no one is ever going to read. And that's our standard mode of communication with customers, which I think is appalling and needs to change.”
“The big change will be that I think the regulator will expect us to deliver products that are going to work… We have to be talking to our customers truly understand what they need, and then make sure we're doing our job, so that when something does go wrong, they are looked after.”
Resources
The BIBA Pod: https://thebibaconference.org.uk/feed/podcast/
BIBA - BIBA Homepage - British Insurance Brokers' Association
Howden Group - Howden Broking Group - Global Website (howdengroup.com)
Stella Insurance AU - Stella Insurance - Insurance Provider for women in Australia
Stella Insurance UK - Home - Stella Insurance (withstella.co.uk)
Human Business with Sam White: https://www.spreaker.com/show/human-business
About the Guest
Sam White is the Founder and CEO of Stella Insurance, which launched in Australia in 2020 and launched in the UK in November 2022. A pioneer in the insurance industry, Sam is also host of the Human Business Podcast.
Sam’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-white-093b9b22/
Steve White is the CEO of the British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA), with an extensive career in the insurance industry. He previously worked for Norwich Union, followed by a 21-year stint at Orion Insurance Company, a few years with the General Insurance Standards Council, and subsequently, the Financial Services Authority.
Steve’s LinkedIn Profile: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/steve-white-437107a
Peter Blanc is the Exec Chair for Howden UK and Ireland, and the CEO of Aston Lark. He founded Aston Lark by merging Aston Scott Group with Lark Group in 2017. The business has completed 56 acquisitions since then, and Peter subsequently sold the business to Howden. Aston Lark now leads the M&A drive for Howden.
Peter’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-blanc-0402961a/
About the Host
Sarah Myerscough is the Sales and Marketing Director of Boston Tullis Group. The founder of The Insurance Brokers Podcast, she brings a wealth of experience and a fresh perspective on communication in the insurance sector. Boston Tullis works with insurance professionals to build effective communication both internally and externally through podcasting, event reporting, videography, and internal communications facilitation.
Website: https://bostontullis.co.uk/
Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation
Tuesday Mar 28, 2023
Tuesday Mar 28, 2023
Are your staff all on the same page about your broader business strategy? How do you communicate this on both an individual and a collective basis? How can alterations to your comms process fructify recruitment?
In this episode of the Insurance Broker Podcast, we’re thrilled to be speaking with Phil Kelly, Managing Director of Pro Noctis Group. In the episode, Phil outlines the crucial importance of retaining ‘alignment’ within your business, by ensuring that your various teams and individuals are always aware of and actively contributing towards your company’s strategy. In conversation with Boston Tullis’ Sarah Myerscough, he emphasises that good communication is crucial to the alignment process, and notes that technology can be beneficial in this regard, but only if a channel suitable for your business is utilised.
Quote of the Episode
“The world's forever changing, and I think the way we embrace and engage our people really does pay dividends, if we can align it to what we're trying to achieve and communicate that effectively. More often than not, I think the people within an organisation are an afterthought, it's more ‘strategy first, and then they'll play catch up’. But actually, the biggest challenge to delivering progress or growth [is engaging staff], as part of the decision-making process.”
An organisation only functions through the work of the individuals within it. For Phil Kelly, it is crucial for the people at all levels of a business to be both well-informed about and involved in its decision-making. If you only treat the employees within your business as functionaries facilitating a broader strategy, they will only perform their roles as such. Alternatively, if you can engage your staff with consistent and encouraging internal messaging, repeatedly emphasising your broader goals, they will be more willing to roll up their sleeves when the business inevitably hits bumps in the road. People derive fulfilment and satisfaction from understanding how their contributions are facilitating the mechanism of the business, and focused messaging in this regard will pay dividends in both productivity and staff retention.
Key Takeaways
This form of engaging staff communication will also help with recruitment, a key issue currently facing the insurance industry. Contrary to common misconceptions about Generation Z, young people want to work, but they also want clarity about the nature of their prospective employers – who are you as an organisation? What are you trying to achieve? By communicating this, you can demonstrate to prospective employees what their goals would be, and the broader strategy they would be contributing to, which are key factors by which young people navigate the recruitment process.
Throughout this episode, Phil repeatedly returns to the term ‘alignment’, to articulate how easy it is for various teams to be functioning on splintered or even contradictory conceptions of their business’ overall strategy. It is essential that at every level of the business, there is a consensus of ‘Who are we as an organisation? What are our goals? How are we going to achieve them?’. Once this clear messaging has been delivered at all levels of the business, it becomes more resilient to the unpredictable impacts of external factors, namely the continuing socioeconomic turbulence we are facing.
The key to achieving and delivering alignment within your business is effective and consistent communication. This must be repeatedly reinforced, by ensuring that every team in the business, and every individual within those teams, is always clear on its overall strategy. To keep your staff engaged with this messaging, creating a warm and friendly environment is crucial. A productive office ecosystem in which everyone is engaged creates to a rewarding and collaborative work experience.
Best Moments/Key Quotes
“As human beings, to get the best out of each other, we need to be a feeling that we are cared about, and we contribute, and we get regular feedback, good, bad and indifferent… If we really want to have that ecosystem of wellbeing and looking after each other, and really having a sort of a movement and working towards a goal, that's the type of effective leadership or management we need and that's not the role, obviously, of the CEO. They’re too far removed, but certainly, they should have an understanding with their senior or executive leadership team of what's going on with them rather than everything being transactional.”
“It fundamentally comes down to, ‘How do we have better conversations and create clarity in our messages?’ because that creates alignment.”
“Who are we as an organisation, as a team, what are we trying to achieve? And how do we go about our business? How do we behave and perform? When you get that aligned, you get congruence, and then when you're communicating those marketing messages, those key sales messages or even in the interviews, you're going to attract the right type of talent, and then all of a sudden, then you're going to have people making the right decision to come with you.”
Resources
Pro-Noctis - https://www.pro-noctis.com/
About the Guest
Phil Kelly is the Managing Director of Pro Noctis, a training and consultancy business which helps organisations to align their strategies and streamline day-to-day decision-making. He was previously a professional footballer, before working for 11 years in the RAF as a trainer and educator.
Phil’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-kelly-pro-noctis/
About the Host
Sarah Myerscough is the Sales and Marketing Director of Boston Tullis Group. The founder of The Insurance Brokers Podcast, she brings a wealth of experience and a fresh perspective on communication in the insurance sector. Boston Tullis works with insurance professionals to build effective communication both internally and externally through podcasting, event reporting, videography, and internal communications facilitation.
Website: https://bostontullis.co.uk/
Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation
Tuesday Mar 14, 2023
Tuesday Mar 14, 2023
What challenges are facing the high-net-worth insurance market in 2023? What key messages to brokers need to communicate to high-net-worth clients? Is the future bright for this sector?
In this episode of the Insurance Broker Podcast, we’re very pleased to be speaking with Jonathan Rouse, founding partner of Protect Underwriting. In this episode, he explains the various challenges currently facing the high-net-worth insurance market as a result of ongoing economic turbulence, and how brokers can help clients in this sector to better understand the cover they are purchasing and the dangers of underinsurance. In conversation with Boston Tullis’ Sarah Myerscough, Jonathan shares his optimistic view of the future for this particular market, reflecting positively on the incoming Consumer Duty and the ever-growing opportunities for brokers and underwriters who operate in this specialist area.
Quote of the Episode
“I think that that communication challenge is the big one we see from brokers. [They ask] how they should engage policyholders in thinking about the correct sums insured that they need. And actually, helping them to evaluate that and make sure the policy is fit for purpose for them.”
Inflation is a significant challenge currently facing the insurance market as a whole. The cost of claims is rising, and consequently, so too is that of insurance cover. Jonathan argues that the onus is on brokers to ensure that their clients are well-informed about the need to provide sufficient and accurate information about their property, so that a suitable policy can be arranged for them.
Key Takeaways
In the high-net-worth market, it is crucial that policyholders’ cover remains aligned with current levels of inflation. The risks of underinsurance can be hugely financially damaging in the event of a claim. However, it can be difficult to navigate these conversations with customers, particularly in the high-net-worth area where policyholders are already paying high insurance premiums.
Jonathan notes that it is essential for brokers to explain to a customer in such a scenario that they need to buy more cover – it is not simply a matter of brokers and insurers asking for higher premium rates – it is in order to ensure that their cover is suitably raised, so that there will be no unexpected shocks in the event of a claim. Thus, it is key during these difficult discussions to reaffirm that you are attempting to deliver what the policyholder needs to continue to protect their property.
Furthermore, to have a productive conversation about policy renewal with a customer, brokers must be confident about the value that they are providing. Customers must be able to recognise the full extent of the service that they are receiving, which also includes advice and education which some clients may need to make better sense of their cover.
Jonathan also highlights the importance of brokers ensuring that they always have up-to-date information about their clients’ property, be it the security measures in place, if any building work is underway, or simply if their assets are increasing. Insurance isn’t a maintenance product, it exists for unexpected events that have been prepared for, but brokers need sufficient information so that protections against potential damages or losses can be built into their clients’ policies.
Best Moments/Key Quotes
“The tricky thing for brokers to explain to a customer is that they're actually buying more cover, or they need to buy more cover. It's not necessarily about insurers wanting more money. It's about making sure that the cover goes up. And unfortunately, the price goes up with that. In difficult economic times, it's a challenging conversation. But I think most policyholders still want to get their insurance in the right way, and they want to be correctly insured.”
“Brokers have to be confident about what they're providing. They're not just providing a piece of paper and a premium attached to it. Part of what they provide is the service and the engagement, and that education piece. They're providing real advice to the customer. And I think a lot of customers get that.”
“I think consumer duty is a good thing… For most of the high-net-worth market, I would say that we're already extremely focused on customer outcomes. But obviously, we've got to make sure that we can demonstrate that, as a board, as a company, around our product governance and the service we provide, we already collect a lot of data to make sure that our policyholders are happy with our product, and that we're providing good value”
Resources
TIBP Episode 87 – The Creeping Effects of Water Damage with Miller Insurance – https://theinsurancebroker.podbean.com/e/087-the-creeping-effects-of-water-damage-with-miller-insurance/
About the Guest
Jonathan Rouse is one of the founding partners of Protect Underwriting, a specialist underwriting business focused on providing service directly to brokers. He has worked in insurance for his entire career of over 25 years.
Jonathan’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-rouse-6a30024b/
About the Host
Sarah Myerscough is the Sales and Marketing Director of Boston Tullis Group. The founder of The Insurance Brokers Podcast, she brings a wealth of experience and a fresh perspective on communication in the insurance sector. Boston Tullis works with insurance professionals to build effective communication both internally and externally through podcasting, event reporting, videography, and internal communications facilitation.
Website: https://bostontullis.co.uk/
Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation
Tuesday Feb 28, 2023
Tuesday Feb 28, 2023
How important is marketing for insurance businesses? Can it significantly boost your sales? What is the value of in-house or external marketing content writers and creators?
In this episode of the Insurance Broker Podcast, we’re thrilled to be speaking with the brilliant Lucy Mowatt, founder of bespoke agency Method Marketing. In conversation with Boston Tullis’ Sarah Myerscough, she explains why marketing is generally undervalued in regulated industries like insurance, and highlights five key challenges to marketing insurance products. She emphasises the personal element of marketing content as a potentially powerful means of humanising your brand, and how a combined marketing and sales strategy can create a significant impact in your business.
Quote of the Episode
“[In many insurance businesses] there is not necessarily a strategy from the top-down. So, marketing is more of a reactive activity rather than a proactive activity. There's no consistency with what's happening. Then things happen at the last minute, so it really does feel like there is not enough time to get everything done, because it's not in the plan or there's no time set aside for it.”
Lucy identifies a key problem with the marketing practices of many insurance businesses; that being that there is often a lack of an instructive strategy. It is often left to the last minute, reacting to changes in customer behaviours or broader industry trends, rather than remaining a step ahead. Hence, she argues that marketing must become more cohesively integrated into how insurance businesses conduct sales, and that the results of doing so are often highly fruitful.
Key Takeaways
Both Lucy and Sarah suggest that marketing and sales can hugely complement each other, if done well. However, marketing is arguably often undervalued and under-prioritised in insurance businesses, as it can be considered somewhat wishy-washy, while sales has a direct impact on the business’ bottom line. This is a significant underestimation of the value of marketing, but it must be done well in order to have a sizeable impact. It needs to be consistent, be it through social media posts on a regular basis, blogs uploaded to your website, or e-shot material. You cannot simply send out the same emails or upload the same posts and expect improved sales results. Conversely, your business needs to be constantly trying to expand who is receiving your message, and reiterating and re-expressing that message in new and interesting ways to maintain high engagement and thereby facilitating consistent or improved sales.
Is there a value to content writers? Or is AI-generated content such as that produced by ChatGPT and similar software the future? For Lucy, content writers aren’t going anywhere. The need for well-informed research and editing remains paramount. In a regulated industry, you need to know your sources and to be very careful with the information you put across. ChatGPT, by contrast, uses Wikipedia and other untrustworthy sources to generate ostensibly factual information, which in a regulated sector can be dangerous. Furthermore, the content it produces is collated from blogs, articles and posts that are already in the online ether. As such, it cannot provide any new takes, or offer any original insights or opinions. The human element to good marketing is key – it can be the difference between making and missing a sale.
Lucy highlights five key challenges to marketing insurance:
- Finding time – for your marketing to make a significant impact, it needs to be a priority within your business, and integrated into your broader sales strategy.
- Tech integration vs legacy data – CRM data analysis can be hugely beneficial to creating targeted marketing content, but many insurance businesses rely on old technology, and retain huge banks of legacy data. Transitioning to the use of this new software and streamlining your data can facilitate smoother client communications, and enable your marketing to be much more fruitfully focused on your target market.
- Use of jargon – it is key to make sure that your communications are clear and informative, but the insurance industry deals with concepts and terminology that is often unfamiliar to a layperson, and which can be alienating and confusing if found in your marketing content.
- Reporting marketing statistics – it is difficult to determine exactly how well your marketing spend is being delivered upon. Lucy argues that the engagement rate of social media posts and the subsequent traffic to your website can be a very strong indicator of good marketing material.
- Compliance – your marketing and compliance teams need to communicate with each other to ensure that the right message is always being put across to your existing and prospective clients.
Best Moments/Key Quotes
“A lot of times with our clients, what we'll say is, ‘You are the experts in what you do in insurance, but we are the marketing communication specialists. So, if we work together, we can help create something that will speak to the layperson who's not in the industry in a way that they will understand and be able to apply it to their life or their business.’ So, they understand the benefits. Sometimes you don't realise that not everybody knows about a particular term or what a particular term means.”
“If your readers don't get it, you switch them off. A lot of the time, people won't persevere because they don't want to feel like they’re stupid. You lose them at that point.”
“I think the average is something like 3% engagement rate on most social media channels. So, if you can get anything above that, that's fantastic. We've seen like certain posts do 45% engagement rates, or like on a one off, which I think is fantastic. Aiming for 5% or higher, I think is a good aim, and [you can] learn from what works.”
Resources
Solve For Happy: Engineer Your Path to Joy by Mo Gawdat, former Chief Business Officer at GoogleX
About the Guest
Lucy Mowatt is the founder of Method Marketing, a content marketing agency based in Norwich. The agency specialises in working with clients in regulated and compliance-heavy industries, because they have very specific needs around writing articles, website content, and podcasting. Before establishing Method, her previous role was in-house marketing at an insurance broker.
Lucy’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucymowatt/
About the Host
Sarah Myerscough is the Sales and Marketing Director of Boston Tullis Group. The founder of The Insurance Brokers Podcast, she brings a wealth of marketing experience and a fresh perspective on marketing in the insurance sector. Boston Tullis works with insurance brokers to offer solutions to business development ceilings, particularly in the rapidly developing fields of video marketing and thought leadership.
Website: https://bostontullis.co.uk/v
Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation