12 BROKERS’ MONTHLY
BIBA CONFERENCE 2009
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BIBA CONFERENCE 2009
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Internet Selling
“The growth of internet selling, how can brokers The aggregators were figuring more prominently
compete?” was the title of a seminar session, in which in terms of sales. A total of 60% of internet sales were
Hayley Parsons, chief executive of Gocompare.com, now through aggregators, with brokers representing
told a large attendance that, to reach an audience of 50 80% of their sales, and even direct writers, with their
million, it had taken radio 38 years, television 13 years, stronger brands, were selling 15% through
and the internet 4 years, with the growth of internet aggregators.
usage generally increasing from less than 40% in 2001 He anticipated growing competition between
to nearly 70% in 2008. aggregators themselves, leading to an even more
As a former broker herself, she confessed a competitive overall market.
particular affection for that sector of the market. Another part of the major shift was in the use of
Gocompare’s car insurance panel is made up 68% of search engines for insurance. From nowhere the
brokers, home insurance 65% and bike and van 87%. comparison engines were almost the entry of choice
Looking at what comparison sites had done for over and above the brand names of the major
brokers, she said that they generated a huge volume of suppliers. What this meant was that the great Aviva and
quotes, with some of the larger players generating over the humble local broker were much more equal now as
1 million quotes a month for car insurance. Such they sit behind Gocompare’s brand. That clearly offered
volumes would only have been possible with big a major challenge for the big players spending a lot on
marketing budgets previously, but here they paid for their own brand.
sales and not quotes. Brokers were in the best position of all the players
Patrick Smith, chairman of Swinton, to resist the frightening and ongoing paradigm shift
acknowledged the dominant position of the internet in brought about by the internet. For Swinton, online
the insurance industry. For a branch-based operation like sales were considered to be only incremental; the
Swinton, he said, there was not much comfort when strategy was to work very hard to maintain or grow off-
only 5% now used the branch as preferred choice of line sales from that segment of the market likely to
purchase channel. Yet Swinton continued to do well, so remain available. An important element of survival was
there were other factors than just the bare usage figures. not to ignore core business activity.
Tools for Survival Adding value
Looking for opportunities for business in In any business, value and cost were massively
difficult times, seminar presenter Rupert important, said Matt Allison of 3t Transformations in a
Merson of BDO Stoy Hayward, referred to the seminar session. “If you can maximise value and
“recession-proof punter” who would prosper minimise cost, you will be ahead of the competition.”
from the opportunities presented for the Giving an example of the way to add value without
flexible, imaginative, entrepreneurial business. adding too much cost, Mr Allison referred to his buying
Ability to deploy and take advantage of the habit for fish and chips. The shop he chose to buy from
intangible was right at the heart of was the one where the “Oscar factor” prevailed. His
entrepreneurship. small son Oscar was greeted by the proprietor on his
“Plans are useless, but planning is first visit to the shop with a chip on a fork; thereafter he
indispensable,” he said. To develop a survival always wanted to go to the same shop to get his chip on
tool kit, it was necessary to indulge in a little a fork. Added value need not always mean added cost.
planning. “Planning for you” was part of that On cost he said that, if the broker started to get
process. “To what extent can your own plans be into improving business processes, to reduce costs, he
reconciled with those of the other important should not make it too complicated. Reducing all
people in your business? If they cannot, your sources of waste was what cutting costs was all about.
business will never deliver what it is that you He used emails to illustrate a point. A survey had shown
want. Knowing what you want is a good start; that business people were receiving an average of 50 a
then alignment can be built between you and day, of which only 16 were deemed to be adding value
your managers.” to the business. The time spent on emails was an
Get the personal planning right, he said, average 2.3 hours, so that meant roughly 1.5 hours per
and it provided a good platform for the business day wasted on emails, which could better be spent on
planning. adding value to customers.
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