One-stop-shop approach for HNW customers presents opportunities for brokers

Insurance firms operating within the high net worth (HNW) market are increasingly offering clients a “one-stop-shop option” in a bid to drive up revenues, however this approach could present “big opportunities” for “more rounded broking houses”, said Mark Pierce, operations director at loss adjusting company Criterion.

Speaking exclusively to Insurance Times, Pierce revealed that his firm has seen “an expansion of some of the cover options that are available”, meaning that cover is not just centred around customers’ “goods and their property, but widening it, so the insurance policies extend to provide cover for things like vehicles, watercraft, travel insurance [and] health benefits”.

“There’s a whole load of other things that are now getting bolted on as optional modules,” he added.

Describing this method as “a one-stop-shop option” or “a classic cross-sell”, Pierce said this tactic can make firms “a lot more sticky with that customer [because] that customer is buying more things from us, with one renewal date, one premium to pay - they’re not buying those bits and pieces of cover from all over the place”.

For Pierce, the key driver behind this approach is “definitely revenue” as businesses leverage “one strong relationship to get into other areas”.

He continued: “It’s just using data, working a bit smarter, working much more in a team approach, a collegiate approach to provide solutions for people.

“If I could buy everything I need for my business and my home with one person at a reasonable price, with a really good service, with one renewal date, that makes a lot of sense to me. That’s a lot less aggravation.”

Taking the blinkers off

In terms of how this strategy could impact brokers’ operations, Pierce recommended that “they’ve got to take the blinkers off” to take full advantage of the possible opportunity.

He explained: “Let’s say they’re a broker and they specialise in commercial insurance. They’ve got to realise there are probably other colleagues within their business that specialise in motor or high net worth or travel or whatever, and instead of them feeling that they own the customer, they’ve got to understand that it’s the broker that owns the customer and actually there are big opportunities for colleagues that sit the other side, there are revenue opportunities. The more rounded broking houses [have] sussed this.”

Pierce added that the ‘one-stop-shop’ approach is “definitely something that [brokers] all need to bear in mind”.

“The ones that will survive and prosper will be the ones that are better at doing that than the others,” he noted.

Beyond price

Furthermore, this collaborative strategy ties in nicely with the HNW market’s focus on high quality service, said Pierce.

“[In]the high net worth space, price is a feature but it’s never the only feature. What are the benefits to me as a policyholder? And those benefits don’t necessarily have to be financial per se,” he explained.

“Insurance has got to look at itself as a commodity. Is it easier for me to go to a one-stop-shop and buy everything? It’s got to be easier and if you look at our lives in general, that’s why we use the likes of Amazon. Anything that makes life easier and the point of execution a lot more simple has got to be attractive to people.”