Interaction is the key to success

Bringing back face-to-face trading is hot on the agenda of insurers and brokers alike.

R&SA and now Brit have opened trading floors in regional offices to bring together brokers and underwriters within the confines of their own office space.

Brokers welcomed the opening of Brit’s Manchester trading floor last week , and appeared to be more enthusiastic than brokers who questioned the practicality of the idea when R&SA launched in Leeds.

But it is the potential to engage with the most important player in any deal – the client – that is exciting many.

With the client often taking a back seat during the trading process between insurer and broker – the ability to bring all three together could result in a faster and accurate response.

Ray Cox, underwriting director of Brit’s UK division, thinks the potential is there. He said: “I would like to believe that this [the trading floor] would increase the number of occasions that we actually have a 3 way relationship with broker and client. There is nothing more powerful than being able to hear from the insurer themselves or the insurer being able to deal with you. And it is really about building trust at a three-way level.”

For the clients who only intend to buy on price, then the element of face-to-face trading is seen as irrelevant to those people in the market who look to do their business with a more transactional approach.

But with a significant market that will want or even expect face-to-face service – the trading floor will provide that platform.

Simon Cooter, Brit’s UK distribution director, thinks interaction between all three parties could result in even greater rewards. He said: “It is amazing how many clients say it is the first time they have ever been asked by the insurer what they think. And to actually be there with the broker and talking to the client, listening to the client and understanding the client can make quite the difference.”