Are brokers facing a soft skills Armageddon?

Technology and mass retirements could mean the end of old ways

Are brokers facing a soft skills Armageddon?

Insurance News

By Daniel Wood

The digital age is decades old and virtual communication by text, email and messaging has become a mainstay of the business world. The insurance industry has always prided itself on face to face, in-person communication, but how much longer can that last?

Forces pushing the industry in this digital direction have recently accelerated. On the one hand, the talent crunch continues and large numbers of middle-aged insurance brokers will retire in the next five years. Younger, likely more tech-focused brokers will be the industry’s dominant force. Meanwhile, more SMEs are buying insurance online.

Insurance Business is asking the question: is that human touch approach to business first used in the Lloyd’s coffee shop centuries ago, finally coming to an end?

Veteran broker Wayne Knight (pictured top left), is very sure it’s not.

“I feel the personal touch is the secret to success,” said the executive director with Omnisure.

IB asked Knight if this is true for all of his SME and corporate customers regardless of age? For example, equally to the 55-year-old and the 35-year-old CEO?

“I think so,” he said. “I think the younger generations of CEOs coming up, they don't really understand insurance.”

As a result, said Knight, they need someone with experience to help them understand what the insurance obligations and risk exposures in their business are.

The insurance professional said a respectful and lasting business relationship with a client depends on spending time with them physically and communicating face to face.

“The more you relate to your client and the more that you actually spend time with your client, the benefits are that much greater,” said Knight. “You'll generally find you do more business with that client.”

He said clients still want this sort of business relationship.

“I get calls every day: ‘Wayne, when you're in the area, can you pop in and have a coffee? There’s a few changes happening in my business that I need to go through’,” said Knight.

He said face to face, in person communication is “a big thing” and it also helps a broker to really understand a client’s risk profile.

Soft skills: “an important part of a broker’s skill set”

Daniel Berry (pictured top right), a Brisbane-based broker in his late 30s, also rejected the idea of a looming soft skills Armageddon.

“No, not at all,” said the partner with Dudgeon Berry Insurance Group. “Soft skills play an important part of a broker’s skill set, just as important as your technical knowledge.”

He said technology is playing a bigger role for brokers, but more around improving the efficiency of services. Berry said it doesn’t replace engaging with clients and peers.

“These are skills that are needed in every aspect of your career,” said Berry. “You need to work on these skills and develop them.”

“Soft skills are becoming more important”

IB also put the question to Gareth Downie (pictured bottom left) with PSC Insurance Brokers. The Melbourne-based account manager is in his early 30s. 

“I believe that while the way we engage with clients is changing, soft skills are definitely not becoming obsolete,” he said. “If anything, soft skills are becoming more important, just in a different context and way.”

Downie said there is definitely a rise in digital platforms and self-service options for SME clients. He said this is largely driven by convenience and efficiency and brokers need to adapt to that.

“But even in a digital environment, clients still want to feel understood, supported and valued,” said Downie. “That’s where soft skills come in, and where a broker can be of most value.”

Soft but not an “old-school, boardroom-style”

Another younger broker, Laura Meyer (pictured bottom right), said soft skills are becoming “even more important.”

Meyer is director of Meyerinsure, a smaller brokerage in Creswick, Victoria. However, she suggested that those skills have evolved from the old school style associated with the Lloyd’s coffee shop days -  and they can used be online.

“We don’t take the old-school, boardroom-style, transactional approach to broking,” she said. “Most of my client interactions happen online or over the phone, but that doesn’t make them impersonal.”

Meyer said a broker can still build trust, empathy and long-term relationships “without sitting across a table in a suit.”

She said smaller brokerages can have a big advantage because they can be “hands-on in every part of the client journey.”

Meyer said smaller brokerages, like hers, are closing the service gap that results when bigger firms don’t call back clients or treat them like a number.

“Tech can absolutely handle the transactions and brokers who ignore that will fall behind,” she said. “But it’s soft skills that help people feel understood and looked after, and that’s where the real difference is made.”

Are a broker’s soft skills becoming obsolete? Or are they more important than ever? Please tell us your view below

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