Changing the Conversation: The People in Insurance
Business:Management
071: The future‘s bright if your a specialist with Chris Withers, Ecclesiastical
Are you unsure as to what kind of broker you are, or wish to be? Do you have a vague understanding of where your interests lie, and wish to reorient yourself and/or your business towards them? Are you interested to learn the various benefits and potential pitfalls of being a generalist or a specialist broker?
In this episode, we’re thrilled to be speaking with Chris Withers, the Broker Distribution Director for Ecclesiastical Insurance, about the firm’s recent research into broker specialism and generalism. The recently published whitepaper identifies four key broker personas, distinguished by their inclination towards specialist or generalist tendencies. In conversation with Boston Tullis’ Sarah Myerscough, Chris explains the findings of the study and identifies the advantages and pitfalls of each broker persona type, culminating in a fascinating discussion about how the broking market will evolve in years to come.
Quote of the Episode
‘The future’s bright if you’re a specialist.’
This notion concludes Ecclesiastical’s research report, composed after the initial survey and a series of roundtable discussions featuring brokers across the generalist-specialist spectrum. This suggests that there is a significant benefit to the particular market knowledge which specialism entails, and that this will prove increasingly fruitful as the market develops over the next few years. That being said, the very nature of specialism and generalism appears to be evolving. As Chris notes in the episode, broker consolidation is a rapidly growing part of the industry. Specialist brokers who have a particular niche within the market may soon find themselves as part of a major distributor, who may present themselves as a generalist provider with pockets of specialism. Thus, generalism is by no means a drawback, but incorporating elements of specialism into your firm, or developing a few particular niches as an individual broker may ultimately prove advantageous.
Key Takeaways
Chris Withers outlines the following broker persona types throughout the episode:
Ultimately, there is no right or wrong personality type – each of them has a value and a powerful contribution to offer to the industry. This research is by no means conclusive or definitive, and indeed there may be other persona types prevalent within the market, or some of those outlined above could be fused together.
Best Moments/Key Quotes
“[The Pure Specialist is] completely immersed in whatever it is that they have chosen as their specialism. It is their passion, as well as their career. They are usually quite disruptive, actually, because they don't want to settle for the status quo. They don't want to come up with a solution everyone else has got, they want to be ahead of the game.”
“One of the big findings of our research was that differentiation was a big reason as to why brokers would choose a specialism, so the Intentional Hybrid sees that and has the ability to have specialist areas within their general broking business.”
“The General Practitioner certainly doesn't shy away from specialism. But they don't pretend to be anything that they're not either. So, the GP is well connected, in terms of specialist suppliers, and invariably specialist insurers that they can bring in, they deliberately seek out these opportunities, but they don't try to build that capability themselves within their business.”
“The Organic Generalist is proud of the fact that they're a generalist. And the specialism for them is insurance placement, and managing and identifying insurance risk.”
Resources
Ecclesiastical’s Whitepaper Report: https://ecclesiastical.com/documents/broker-specialist-roundtable-research.pdf
About the Guest
Chris Withers is the Broker Distribution Director for Ecclesiastical Insurance. He has over 25 years of experience in the industry, having previously worked for Covea and RSA.
Chris’ LinkedIn Profile: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/chris-withers-ab77761b
About the Host
Sarah Myerscough is the Sales and Marketing Director of Boston Tullis Group. The founder of The Insurance Brokers Podcast, she brings a wealth of marketing experience and a fresh perspective on marketing in the insurance sector. Boston Tullis works with insurance brokers to offer solutions to business development ceilings, particularly in the rapidly developing fields of video marketing and thought leadership.
If you would like Sarah to help you develop an integrated marketing strategy, using state of the art concepts, then please book a free 20 min call via Calendly.
Website: https://bostontullis.co.uk/
Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free