The rise of the internet and the power of digital has meant that almost every industry has been forced to adapt – and insurance is no exception.
As the co-founder of a company that helps brokers to compete in a digital world, Thomas Accardo knows a thing or two about how technology has changed the insurance landscape.
Accardo began his career at IBM, focusing on digital, branding and strategy consulting, which then led him into the advertising world, helping to build digital departments at a number of ad agencies in Toronto.
Working primarily in the auto, retail and online banking sectors, Accardo tells
Insurance Business that that part of his career was “during those formative years where the internet really took hold of businesses, and frankly, changed them forever.”
Through one of these agencies, Accardo began working for
Aviva Canada – “helping develop the creative strategy, the brand strategy and the advertising model behind a new digital brokerage they were supporting” - and this, he says, was his entrance into the insurance space.
Fast-forward a few years, and Accardo, along with his business partner, founded BrokerLift – a company that helps brokers to move with the technological times.
Whilst consulting for various insurers and brokers, Accardo says he became disillusioned with the slow uptake of digital in the insurance world.
“My business partner and I were tackling some similar problems, and really getting quite frustrated that the word digital, in the world of insurance, was mostly synonymous with online lead generation – so just turning to the internet for a lead like you would the Yellow Pages,” he says.
“The internet just wasn’t being utilised by the industry, and that was sort of what led us to found BrokerLift.”
The idea of helping brokers compete and stay relevant in the digital world became the mission for the company, and it is these topics that Accardo will be dissecting at the upcoming Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario convention next month.
As the host of a BIP talk at the event, Accardo will be sharing his digital knowledge with the industry – which he admits has been changed by the rise of the internet, but stresses that he doesn’t believe in the “doom and gloom” surrounding brokers.
“We believe in the future of brokers, so long as they are equipped with the right tools and the right technology, to be able to service customers digitally - which they have been lagging in,” he says.
Accardo’s talk will focus on ‘digital diversification’, and how brokers can diversify their revenue: “Going ‘digital’ doesn’t mean buying auto leads online – we need to think bigger,” he says, adding that technology will play a “massive role”.
Speaking of the
IBAO event, Accardo says: “It’s all about meeting up with brokers and some of the companies and seeing what’s going on. The event is great, it’s really well-attended, the trade-show floor is jammed, the conference halls are jammed, the conversation is great, and people are excited.”
The 96th IBAO annual conference will be held on October 19-21 at the Toronto Hotel Sheraton Centre. More information and tickets can be found at: http://www.ibao.org/events/convention/
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