Ryan McBrearty – Hurford Parker Insurance Brokers

We fully understand that in these challenging times it is essential that we show our clients the true value of insurance and in answer to your question I will outline what I feel to be three key innovative strategies that will show the customer the value of their insurance, and form a stronger bond between Client and Insurer.

1) Online Policy information I believe moving forward within the computer age, all customers should have their information available to them over the internet. Similar to internet banking, there should be internet insurance. A client should be able to log into their brokers site and have access to all of their policy information, with all extensions and wordings available at the click of a button. The underwriter would be able to give information to the broker to put on their site that details claims in the area, and other important information. This should be an interactive site, with the ability to add or delete basic covers as required eg. Adding or deleting vehicles. A follow on from this would be emails to the clients advising them of updates to the site and/or insurance seminars of interest in their area.

2) Insurance Incentives I have done some market research in this area, and clients are under the impression that they will only receive value for their insurance dollar when a loss occurs. I believe that if a client has zero claims for the period they should have some sort of incentive. Depending on the size of the client these could range from a free coffee to a lunch or dinner voucher. You could have an agreement with a café and get these at a discounted rate. Clients would then keep a keener interest in their insurances and become more knowledgeable on their types of cover.

3) Informative DVD I think that the insurance companies should bring out a DVD that is suitable to send out to our clients and sits inside a branded cardboard sleeve. This DVD would have recent interviews with NZ people who have suffered a loss, and would outline the effect this has had on not only their business but their personal lives. We could contrast this with clients who have both been insured correctly and incorrectly. With out insurance in these tough times a small loss may mean that an incorrectly insured business may not survive. If we can show the client in black and white what is likely to happen in the event of a loss, they would then understand the true value of their insurance.

Other options may include; 4) TV Commercials 5) Sustainable Informative Policies

Jared Jackson – Crombie Lockwood

What's in it for me? Every client has heard it before, if you don't insure this, you could go out of business. They are within their rights to switch off when getting the same dreary line from a broker. Discussions should focus on what a client stands to gain rather than what they stand to lose. Probably the best product example of this is Business Interruption. Why? Because to justify BI's inclusion a broker will simply tell their client that they can no longer trade or generate income following property damage. Shouldn't we instead be showing clients the advantages their insurance programme is providing and how it will benefit them? Your fixed expenses will be covered, rents will still be paid, costs of advertising are met and your profits will return. There is a sporting term, Focus on the method and not the result and no analogy is more relevant when speaking of restoring a business to a profitable state after material damage.

Have a story to tell. Insurance has always been about what ifs. What if you have a car crash; what if your employees are stealing; what if there's a flood; what if you have a fire? Too often we are asking clients to deal with the unknown and the unknowable. Most people will live their whole lives and never encounter a major fire or any other kind of total loss. Having a real life story to tell gives the client something realistic to relate to. Rather than talking about the one-in-a-million big fire or the one-in-a-hundred-years weather catastrophe talk about the pragmatic issues involved in getting a business back up and running. Use a personal or at least a first hand example. When you can illustrate exactly what you did to get the business back on its feet, they are going to appreciate you are not merely a salesman, but an industry professional with a vested interest in their well being. Not everybody has such a story to tell so do some research. Buy a coffee for your more experienced colleagues, learn from their knowledge and make the story your own. It is our responsibility as an industry professional to make the scenario real, before the loss is.

Earn their trust. Having illustrated what your client stands to gain from an appropriate insurance programme and how you have seen the positive outcome when it is put in to practice, you are faced with the real challenge. Any broker can talk about insurance; that is the easy part. Learning to listen and truly understand how a client runs their business is the important thing; perhaps the most important. It is the only effective means of earning trust from the outset. Clients are not interested in talking limits of liability or duty of disclosure; they are interested in running their business; making money for themselves, their families and their employees. Your interest and curiosity should be focused on how a client runs their business, what their goals are and how they aim to achieve them. As a consequence you will arm yourself with the majority of information needed to provide an accurate report on the business's insurance requirements. (And by the way, gather immeasurably valuable general business knowledge that you can use in other client encounters.) Ultimately this is what our clients want from us; professional advice, on how to protect their business and future, from someone who understands them. You can see the expression on a person's face change when they realise that you are genuinely there to help them. From that day forward, you will no longer need to depend on tired insurance threats or fantastic scenarios.