Needless to say I was delighted when 3XD asked me to write this column. The highlight of my year was always the roadshow events, where I was able to share my thoughts with the many people who had remained loyal to us, through good and bad times at Paymentshield.
Whilst I can't say quite so much in one page, I hope you will find my thoughts and ideas for your insurance business helpful.
At the current time however, where else can I start but with the endless supply of bad news stories hitting the media brought about by the Credit Crunch.
The current crisis in the mortgage market seems almost identical to the horrendous problems affecting the financial services sector when we started Paymentshield back in 1992.
Whatever the cause of these economic downturns, they always seem to end up in the supply of customers drying up and trying to find new business opportunities can be like looking for an oasis in the middle of a desert.
I remember that in the early days "Survival" was the key word and we quickly realised that this depended on us finding new sales ideas. One such concept was the Unemployment Only variant of the MPPI policy and whilst this did not generate huge levels of income due to the lower premium rate, it did open up thousands of doors that created a platform for our future success.
Given that the intermediaries of 3XD now face a similar challenge, we have been trying to find another simple concept that will open up new doors and create other lucrative business opportunities.
We believe that the launch of our Premium Beating Guarantee achieves this objective because it focuses on helping clients save money on their buildings and contents insurance. As a result, if the provider you previously recommended needs to increase the price at renewal, you can guarantee to beat the premium the customer is currently paying.
With this, you will not only be able to protect yourself (and your renewal income) against your existing customers heading straight for the internet, but you will have an opportunity to discuss other ways you can help - perhaps our fantastic low cost payment protection insurance?
I hope you enjoy these columns and as 3XD continues to grow look forward to seeing you all at events of our own in the future.
