With the nation in lockdown, insurance advisers will be looking to analyse and adapt their business strategies over the coming weeks – and, according to one adviser, a particularly useful exercise to follow is the SWOT analysis.
SWOT takes stock of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to your business, and uses those insights to develop a strategy. Dean Logan, managing director at Christchurch-based brokerage Logan Smythe & Associates says doing an analysis amid the current pandemic is undoubtedly challenging, but it can also yield some helpful insights around what to focus on as we navigate this uncharted territory.
“We need data to come up with an analysis and a sustainability plan, and when it comes to a SWOT analysis, the main threat now is COVID-19,” Logan explained.
“The main weakness is that we don’t have a crystal ball, so the question is - where are the timeframes, and what are the goalposts?”
“We’re in a position now where we can use real-time information to quickly forecast a plan,” he continued. “But in saying that, we would normally have a start and end date, and we would know the influencing factors and the interruptions that can have an impact.
“What we’ve done as a company is looked at the information around us, and what we do know. We know that when the lockdown ends, recovery will come.”
Logan says that the lockdown may last only four weeks as planned - however, we may just as likely be looking at six to eight weeks, and so planning ahead for a decent period of time is a must. He says that if the lockdown is ultimately successful, the economy will rebound - and advisers need to be prepared.
“The key thing for us is that we’ve got to be there, and we’ve got to supply throughout the current period,” Logan said. “It’s all about sustainability and preservation.”
“In terms of the opportunity, for us that’s continued professional development, learning and education,” he continued.
“But the main focus is on strengths, and that comes down to communication. As financial advisers, we have the ability to communicate with our community, clients and colleagues, and form camaraderie.”
“We need to stay in our bubble, but when it comes to communication, we’re all in the same bubble, he concluded. “There is no template or historical data with what we’re going through, so we need to all communicate together and go through our plans.”
