How specialized brokers can help seal the deal with a client

As specialization evolves, tripartite, in-person meetings between brokers, underwriters, and clients are becoming a more frequent tactic for strengthening the partnerships between the three central players involved in insuring a commercial risk.

“As long as I’ve been in the industry, [in-person meetings between brokers, underwriters, and clients] have always happened, but I think it’s happening more and more now as people specialize in certain segments,” Lance Chipudhla, assistant vice president of broker distribution at Sovereign Insurance, observed at Canadian Underwriter’s ‘What’s so Special About Specialization?’ webinar.

“A lot of times, we were able to write some businesses when an underwriter and a producer met to talk to a client [in person]. That goes a long way. Clients can see the two [insurance] partners are trying to find a solution for their business, and you speak their language. In most cases, they will definitely give you the business. So, collaboration between the [insurer and broker] is extremely huge. And it goes a long way in specialization, right?”

Conversely, by coordinating in-person visits between the client and the underwriter, the broker can also strengthen the confidence the insurer has in the client. This comes from allowing the client to represent themselves on how they approach and mitigate against risks, added Russ Quilley, executive vice president, chief broking office, and head of commercial risk at Aon Canada.

“The lens I would look through is, [we are] building a confidence in the risk. The client has an opportunity to represent the risk, to represent their beliefs regarding how to mitigate, how they fund, and how they view risk as a whole as an organization.

“And I think that gives underwriters a lot of confidence [about] being able to open up capital for them, based on the presentations [the clients] are putting forward, versus a third party trying to represent some of those core beliefs that an organization has.

“[As a specialist broker], I think your results in the marketplace are always better when you can engage the underwriter and the client together.”

Broker support for specialization as a growth strategy has been longstanding and consistently high, as confirmed in the results of Canadian Underwriter’s 2024 National Broker Survey.

This year’s survey, which canvassed the opinions of more than 200 Canadian brokers, showed support for specialization at a five-year high of 86%.

The lowest support was 83% during the throes of the pandemic in 2022. At the time, some brokers told CU that support may have dipped because of the vulnerability of some sectors of the economy during the pandemic.

But panellist Eric Osborne, chief growth office at Navacord, offered a different take during CU’s Tuesday webinar. He linked the slight dip in support for specialization during the pandemic to the challenges associated with collaboration caused by public health restrictions.

“Sometimes I reflect back on that period, and maybe that [dip in support in 2022] was more driven because of the change we had in our working environment, where people weren’t able to collaborate anymore,” he said. “The learning wasn’t as readily available to [clients].

The team-selling approach of bringing multiple insurance professionals face-to-face to see a client wasn’t as prevalent during the pandemic, he said. “Sometimes I think it might have just been the opportunity to really specialize wasn’t as available and perhaps that drove it down.”

Feature image courtesy of Istock.com/LaylaBird