David Powell, senior account executive at Elliott Insurance Brokers, said a soft market and slowing economy, which results in a reduced revenue for commission-based brokers, puts further strain on the industry to provide the full suite of services of a professional broker for less.
“If all you do is provide quotes for your clients, then you’re doing them a disservice in not pointing them to a policy comparison website as they can do it cheaper and quicker than a broker.”
However, clients also need to value the service brokers provide too, he said.
He said at a recent client review, the issues discussed resulted in him obtaining professional advice for the client about a wide variety of topics from training for HR staff, insurance implications from an employee dismissal and internal claim reporting, to identifying insurance products and explaining business interruption calculations and business continuity plans.
“While I’m not a content expert in respect to all the above issues, through our professional relationships, we are able to obtain the requisite advice and coordinate its dissemination to the client.
“The underlying fact is that conversation as a broker is not just about price; it’s more focused upon their business – the real and perceived risks they face and ways we can help facilitate minimising or avoiding some of those risks."
Powell also said that it’s important for businesses to invest heavily in new and emerging technologies and not just to use it as a marketing opportunity.
“Elliott Insurance has been at the forefront of emerging technology since its inception and is continuing to develop systems and platforms to more efficiently deliver accurate and specific outcomes for all our business partnerships (be they client, insurer, repairer or referral business partners).”
“Those brokers not embracing this wave of technological change face the serious and real risk of losing touch with existing insurers, clients and not connecting with the next generation of technology savvy clients coming into the marketplace,” he said.
