Friday, June 19,
2020 / 09:16 AM / By Ekerete Ola Gam-Ikon / Header Image
Credit: The Economic Times
Whether you are just starting out or you have been in
business for some seasons, value is the element that will build and shape your
business into the future. It could be the value of the relationship you have
with your investors, employees, customers, regulators, suppliers or even
competitors.
If you do not think of the value involved, exchanged
and earned, you will most definitely be heading to somewhere you will not like,
regarding those relationships.
Consider how most enterprises, and even institutions,
decide who they get insurance contracts from:
Here, I am simply putting forward the situation that
enables the latter group to get more value from their insurance relationships
than the former; and this has nothing to do with financial strength but just
information.
For example, do you know that the cost of getting an
insurance broker is the time you spend signing a letter of appointment. It is
absolutely FREE!
When MSMEs focus more on value and not help, they will
not only receive it but will also be on the way to becoming big and bigger.
MSMEs that seek to grow should know that a professional relationship with a
credible insurance broker or agent is certainly better than the one with a
relative or friend based on sentiments.
Have you not heard of the business owner who called
his/her insurer representative to report an accident and got the response from
the representative that he was no longer in that company? It is easier to say
the representative did not act professionally but you must avoid such a
situation.
You and such other business owners have been saved by
some insurers and brokers that are now deploying digital solutions to improve
your experiences AT NO COST to you. If you value your business and enterprise,
these are the ones you should be relating with as COVID-19 persist.
As you appreciate VALUE, let it show in the way you
determine your insurance relationships, so that at the end you will get value
and not volumes of excuses or arguments.
To the Insurance
Providers
What has brought you this far cannot take you farther
could be the statement the Insurance Industry in Nigeria needs to drive the
innovation we all desire to have.
Listening more to customers (policyholders) and
outsiders to the industry, and working with them on improving insurance
experience within the past years have made me clearly understand that the LAW
can bring them to you but it is the VALUE they enjoy that will keep them, and
active too.
Those that care about your capital base will become
concerned when you are either unable to offer the cover they need or settle
their claims promptly. What is the value in having a high capital base but
cannot drive product innovation?
When you promptly arrive the premises of prospective
policyholders to inspect their vehicles and office equipment for determination
of the premium they will pay, they expect similar promptness when they have
losses and claims to be paid. Can you decide that you will only have Seven (7)
questions or steps for your policyholders before they get their claims paid?
When you enjoy speed and convenience in your business
with another entity, it is expected that others will enjoy same with you.
When you seek to understand how the other businesses
make money and the kind of margins or mark up they get, you will begin to make
products based on what they are willing and able to pay, not what you expect
based on your calculations.
These are some of the scenarios that bring VALUE to
the forefront in your relationship with businesses.
Today's people, sometimes called Digital Natives, seek
to have you in their zone - online and social media so they can express their
minds about your offerings and receive your clarifications. You cannot avoid
them if you desire to have a fruitful relationship with them and sizeable chunk
of their population as policyholders.
These ones have misgivings about government at any
level, so when you speak about the LAW as basis for them to insure their assets
(vehicles and buildings) and employees, they quickly start thinking of
alternatives that technology can offer them to secure their businesses and
investments.
Minimize Focus on Price
and Premium
Businesses that focus strongly on price when
negotiating with insurance companies for the cover they need, whether according
to the LAW or not, miss lots of VALUE they could have heard from the insurers
or brokers/agents in the course of their discussions.
There is usually the mindset on the price we will pay,
on the part of business owners and the premium we will get on the side of the
insurers when they meet. Often, business owners do so without their brokers in
the room, or even when they are present, the broker is erroneously considered
to be on the side of the insurers.
Putting VALUE forward and into the relationship
between insurers and business owners requires a process that both sides are
often not ready to painstakingly consider. I have seen many insurance
contracts, usually for one year duration, concluded within 15 minutes, then the
"forgotten" discussion on VALUE surfaces when claims occur.
Insurance offers value that can only be seen in a
sustainable system, which depends on the appetite and temperament of both
sides.
Let VALUE determine your take!
About The Author
Ekerete Olawoye Gam-Ikon, MNIM, CPP, is a management
consultant with a specialization in Strategy and Insurance. He is available
through e-mail olagamola@gmail.com
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