IDEX Consulting spoke to John Dunn, Brokerbility Managing Director about the network’s proposition, how the membership programme works and what makes the group different to others in the market. John shares all, from the benefits members experience, to how the network promotes and supports innovation, to what future developments are in store.“Most of our members year on year have achieved double digit growth, and when you look at market statistics, what will always be a stark reminder of Brokerbility’s value is how our members tend to outperform others in the market”, says John.
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What is Brokerbility’s core purpose?
Our purpose at Brokerbility is to be the network community of choice for high quality, growth orientated independent brokers of all sizes from start-ups to large brokers.
We’re very much the voice of the independent broker, championing professionalism, improvement and continuity. Our network is a collaborative community where we lift each other up and provide that sounding board and support network that many independent brokers often don’t have access to.
It’s incredibly important to us that we stay at the forefront of innovation, where we’re able to provide strategic advice on business growth for all of our brokers. A key component of that is our partnerships with esteemed suppliers and insurers.
For those starting out on their independent broking journey we have two propositions within our membership that can help people get their businesses off the ground. They include an appointed representative proposition in partnership with Gauntlet Group and an employed proposition as part of Konsileo. Both of these routes provide a pathway for the next generation of broking entrepreneurs to start their independent journey but with a strong support network backed by Brokerbility.
For those transacting business across borders we have a capability to support overseas placements. This expertise is invaluable to independent brokers who would likely find it a challenge to build an international capability on their own.
What many of our members tend to find invaluable is peer-to-peer mentoring support, providing different perspectives and introductions to innovations that initiate new business opportunities.
How is Brokerbility different to other similar networks?
It’s always important for any broker to consider their options and find a network that best meets their objectives. In terms of Brokerbility, we see ourselves as more of a boutique community. Our differentiator is our size, we’re relatively small with a highly experienced central team but what that creates is a real community culture. This helps us to get to know our members and their ambitions really well, enabling us to more accurately and carefully convey our members goals to our strategic partners.
Many of us have worked in the broker community for a long time and have experienced enough change to be able to pivot effectively. I ran a broking business and have also worked on the insurer side so am able to use that experience and knowledge to benefit our members and partners. In addition to my role as MD for BrokerbilityI’m also the MD of Distribution and Market Management for Clear Group which offers another degree of connectivity across the market.
On the flip side, our membership base is very broad, placing a significant volume of GWP into the market which carries a huge amount of influence and opportunity. We’re able to leverage this expertise and provide better outcomes for our members and end customers.
With AI transforming the insurance landscape, can you share how you’re helping brokers innovate?
This is a really interesting space, many brokers are trailing AI but for a lot of independent brokers it’s often difficult to find the time to really dig into the benefits AI can offer. We’re supporting in a number of ways. We’re an affiliate partner of InsurTech UK and the only broker network to be part of that community, enabling us to explore new innovations and share those with our members. We also run a regular national director’s event for our member MDs and business owners which covers a range of thought leadership topics and insights, helping to encourage new thinking. AI will also be an integral part of our upcoming conference in September.
What technology solutions do Brokerbility offer?
A couple of years ago we commissioned our own version of the Broker Insights platform, that is purely for our members and strategic partner insurers. In our bespoke version individual members are able to understand where all of their risks are, providing them with a quick and clear view of the specific insurer partners they’re using, enabling better connectivity and alignment, thus driving better customer outcomes. A recent development we’ve rolled out is the ability for members to set their own placement strategy within the platform, allowing them to track compliance, offering another layer of tracking which helps to analyse business performance. We’re continuing to partner with Broker Insights to fine tune and enhance the platform ensuring it serves the purpose of our members.
How does the membership programme work for your members?
Our membership model is a fee-based programme which is the reflective of the comprehensive services we offer. What I think makes us very different to other broker networks is that we don’t have a contractual tie in.
Our members have access to over 14 unique schemes and can select the most appropriate for their goals.
We’re a community that epitomizes partnership, for us the key is transparency which really helps to build trust and an open relationship. We also don’t direct people towards specific insurance relationships, our role is more of a matchmaker – we help brokers identify a partner and opportunity and once we’ve made that connection, it’s then down to them to explore whether that match will work. We have a fantastic Relationship Manager and Operations Director who work with our members day to day on a range of topics. They also provide a pathway of escalation for supplier issues when things aren’t going well, something that members probably wouldn’t have access to outside of the network. It’s hard to find this level of dedicated support anywhere else.
We also did a big piece of work a couple of years ago to help us investigate if our offering met the needs of our members in terms of size and growth stage. This helped us identify some gaps where we added new partners, particularly around compliance. I’m proud of our strong partnerships, our members have access to a breadth of specialist insurance providers and we’re constantly having conversations with new partners to evolve our offering.
Can you share more about the Brokerbility training academy?
The academy is a key component of our proposition and we’re extremely proud of the comprehensive programme we’ve created for our members. Each year, informed by our questionnaire, we design a schedule that caters to our members’ challenges and growth areas, it’s a combination of face-to-face sessions and webinars covering a huge amount of topics including; technical insurance, CPD and leadership, ESG, sales and business development. It’s not just about enabling and empowering our members, the programme also offers insights and learning opportunities brokers can provide to their own teams. Last year we delivered over 2,000 hours of training but the opportunities following those learning experiences are endless.
What are the network’s immediate focus areas, to support brokers?
We very much look to be the voice of our members, what we really try to get under the skin of is how they’re feeling, how they’re finding trading and what can help address their challenges. That defines our priority areas and sets our agenda for the year ahead. What is always integral to this is how we continue to maximise our strategic partnerships to create solutions, overcome service issues and create new prospective opportunities.
Another focus area is how we continue to support growth, especially around lead generation and then also how we can help members develop their placement strategies. What we’ve looked to do over the past 12 months, in particular, is bring additional carriers and facilities on board who can help independent brokers drive better results and customer outcomes.
What’s essential is how we can continue to offer something unique, something that not everyone has access to and how we can genuinely and proactively support with the retention of existing clients and development of new ones.
Can you share any success stories members have experienced since joining?
So, one of the things we're incredibly proud of is the fact that most of our members year on year have achieved double digit growth. A cornerstone of that is the willingness of our members to share learnings and new ways of working with each other, which hugely helps the less established brokers.
When you look at market statistics, what will always be a stark reminder of Brokerbility’s value is how our members tend to outperform others in the market.
We’re regularly welcoming new members and I’d encourage any independent broker considering their options to get in touch for an initial chat. The market can be a lonely pace for independent brokers and that little of bit extra support can make a huge difference.
If you’re interested in learning more about Brokerbility and how the network might benefit your brokerage, get in touch with the team.
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