7th November 2022
Underwriters + Brokers, these days just being available isn’t enough
In our last blog we talked about understanding the unique and varied needs of your Brokers in both a personal and professional sense, have a look here .
In the past people were always available. Cruise down to Lime St in the City of London, pop into Lloyds and go and queue up at the desk of the Underwriter (UW) you needed. No holding a place in the queue. Have your papers in order and your questions ready. No messing.
Now there is an expectation in a post-Covid world (long forgotten?) that people will be available when you need them. There was a focus, wrongly in our opinion, on how can you get time with people.
Many insurers put in place tools to ‘Book’ availability with UWs. “Here's my calendar, pick a time. My door is always open”.
The focus here is that the attention was put on Availability and not Accessibility.
Let's make a distinction.
Availability
This is asking the broker or client to come into your world. They need to look up times in a shared calendar. In the hope that it is fully up to date and then say that they would like to book you for a certain time. The problem with this is that you:
Need to anticipate when you would need to speak to someone
You might not have the time available to be booked when you require
The lead time on a piece of work means that you need to come in ad hoc
People block out their diaries to preserve meeting times - Like flight gate times or gym visits
People never need to talk to you at certain scheduled times
Your weekly catch-up is out of sync with their needs or requests
Accessibility
This is about fitting into their world, providing a combination of options for the broker or client to choose from according to the level of engagement they feel they need with you. For example, they may only have a quick question, is it really necessary to book an hour’s meeting or even 20 minutes? The dialogue could be held and resolved over instant messaging. In contrast an intricate issue that is best dealt with in person may justify a one-to-one meeting.
It’s about triaging incoming requests and allowing you to escalate to the appropriate setting if things are urgent, “can I drop in on you tomorrow?”.
You go into the customer's world
You show them ways that they can get in touch and fallbacks
You increase the options available to someone to do business with you
You set the terms of the interaction and what can be accomplished in that type of conversation
You lead the market by establishing new modes of engagement
With this distinction it’s possible to take a new perspective and put your offering first in line for doing business with. You’re now, so much easier to deal with.
Getting accessible
Interestingly this, relatively small change in corporate mindset can transform the quality of the UW / Broker / Client relationship. A higher value can be placed on time (you can be more effective) increasing the propensity to win more business.
Here are things to consider if you want to be more than just available, but accessible:
Standardise a range of effective ways to get in touch as well as meet, beyond the classic one hour face to face:
Instant messaging for quick queries
Allow for the ability to host unannounced one to one visits with individual UW’s during certain times a week
Run a ‘drop-in’ (in person and / or virtual) for time slots in the week that the team is available
Of course, maintain the provision of appointments for more detailed matters
Contact forms for claims on specific lines of business were this is the initial point of contact and the detail is previously unknown
It’s also important to cater for the fidelity of the conversation whatever the method - would one say things differently in a meeting room compared with being in a public space like a pub, restaurant or coffee shop?
Specific examples of how to put accessibility in action
Product pages on your website pointing to bespoke contact information for your individuals or lines / classes of business
Drop-ins at a regular time each week
Unscheduled drop-ins handled with clear rules
Booked appointments given longer time periods to encourage the correct or desired behaviours.
Rules to govern what information can be disclosed over the phone, email or face-to-face.
Considering rules of engagement for out of hours vs business hours across markets, how people want to meet and providing flexible options - these all increase the customer experience.
Adopting a more accessible mindset doesn’t stop at the office door, it requires a change at industry level for all parties, but one we’re optimistic will become widespread in the not too distant future.
Have any questions? Drop us a line at hello@pangaeacreative.co.uk
Pangaea is an independent design consultancy that grew out of Formula1. We thrived in this cutting edge, fast-moving environment and now bring our experience of designing in F1 to clients and brands seeking to gain an edge over their competitors in any market.
