Being a trusted voice can open doors for brokers

Norm McIntyre has seen the commercial fleet industry undergo a fundamental change during his 35 years in the business – but one constant remains his book of clients that stretches back more than three decades.

Risk Management News

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Norm McIntyre has seen the commercial fleet industry undergo a fundamental change during his 35 years in the business – but one constant remains his book of clients that stretches back more than three decades.

“The key to success is you try to become an asset to the management of that company of your customer,” says McIntyre, whose strong numbers make him an ideal candidate to crack Insurance Business magazine’s Top 30 Elite Broker list. “You become like a valuable partner – just like his accountant; you get an insight into how his business works, and how insurance can go hand in hand with that to make it easier for him.”

McIntyre got his start as a fleet clerk with Zurich Insurance, starting on the company side of the ledger before moving from the company side to the broker side, with part of that business being commercial, long-haul transportation.

“I went from the fleet clerk position up to an underwriting position, and then eventually a senior underwriter in charge of the portfolio at the Hamilton branch,” says McInyre. “Part of my background is risk management, and that becomes very important when you get into conversations about how a client can mitigate his insurance costs and take on some of the risk himself.” (Continued on Page 2)

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McIntyre has had a front row seat to witness the changing face of the transportation trucking industry, as many business owners have traded coffee thermoses and sandwiches in the cab for suits and hot lunches in the office.

“When I first got into the industry, the section of commercial transportation for example, a lot of the owners were hands-on owners who were driving trucks,” he says, “and when you went to meet with them, you met with them at night – because that was the only time they were able to meet, and sometimes they met with you from their truck.

“That part of the industry has really changed, because now we’re talking to businessmen who have a business in the trucking company – and they have more of an insight into how the money is being spent.”

The explosion of online media, and the instantaneous sharing of news that is now possible, has placed a company’s reputation near the top of liability concerns – and the message on a trucking company’s website can inadvertently and unintentionally send the wrong message to both insurers and customers.

“You look at the safety aspect of trucking, and you look at some connation of speed (on the website), people will look at that and say, ‘Well based on the attitude of what I see on the website, I don’t think this company is the company that I will entertain,” says McIntyre. “So it is really important that they put on a website something that can be written into a policy from an insurance standpoint.” (Continued on Page 3)

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The same occurs when there is a road accident, and 24-hour television news agencies begin showing images and video footage non-stop.

“If there is an unfortunate accident, the perception of what we see on TV – with no understanding of what the company is; before, there wasn’t that level of sensationalism,” he says. “The instant communication, the way it is set up with the internet, or CP24, the accident happens, and five minutes later everybody sees it.

“The industry has changed that way, and that can be bad as far as the professional attitude of the trucking company on the basis of one picture. It is difficult to change an attitude that has already been set by an underwriter.”

Brokers need to explain to the trucking companies that there needs to be a crisis management plan put in place ahead of time, and not be placed into a position where the company is reacting to the situation.

“That is the biggest problem. I think the companies have to basically have some risk management plan – someone who will take that phone call, who is going to talk to the press, and know what are they going to say to the press,” says McIntyre. “They should certainly mitigate the reputational damage as much as possible at that time for whoever is at the scene.”
 

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