GRP Group MD Mike Bruce featured in Post Magazine's C Suite blog on client relationships in commercial broking.

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GRP Group MD Mike Bruce has been featured in Post Magazine's "C Suite" blog covering survey feedback from GRP commercial clients.

He said:

“Where choosing a broker is concerned, the professionalism of the person clients deal with was the most important factor, followed by price. Highly-trained and helpful staff with good market knowledge and expertise give clients the reassurance that the right solution is being offered. Once clients have that peace of mind, a fair price is still vital to win their business.”

Other significant factors quoted in terms of broker choice were ease and convenience of placing insurance, with many clients still preferring to deal with a local office, and recommendation which was often cited as a decisive factor.

A range of elements make for great service
On service, Mike commented:

“Turning to service, there are a wide range of elements which make up a client’s perspective on great service. One factor on its own is not enough; clients say that to be effective, brokers must excel in a number of different areas. Top of the list were fast response times, and ease of contact. In providing this feedback, clients frequently made reference to the quality of personal interactions – clients want to deal with staff who are “helpful and friendly”, “professional”, “knowledgeable” and “trusted”.

High quality personal interaction is paramount

A key conclusion from this feedback is that high quality personal interaction is still of paramount importance. Technology in commercial broking is critical, but the emphasis is less on allowing clients to place cover for themselves, and more on technology as an enabler which helps client facing staff to efficiently access markets, place risks and administer insurances, freeing up their time to focus on delivering a great personal service. In a nutshell, getting business done quickly and hassle-free, with advice provided by good people, defines high quality customer service. Focus on price, say, at the expense of everything else, is not going to work in commercial broking."

The full article is available on the Post Magazine web site.

Note: The "Net Promoter Score" survey to which Mikes comments referred was sent to over 80,000 clients using GRP's cerebrum data warehouse. See the news article on our web site for more information.