6. Estudio medio ambiental
6.1. Empresa y medio ambiente
Intended by P&C-
insurers (n = 8) Perceived by B2B-clients (n = 171) Needed by B2B-clients (n = 171)
Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD
Closing/changing policies Operational excellence 18,1 27,0 33,7 28,0 35,1 30,5 Product leadership 20,0 21,4 29,3 26,0 27,7 26,0 Customer intimacy 61,9 35,7 37,0 29,0 37,2 31,1 Gap 2: Significant difference from P&C-insurers’ intention to B2B-clients’ needs? Gap 3: Significant difference from P&C-insurers’ intention to B2B-clients’ perception? Gap 4: Significant difference from B2B-clients’ perception to B2B-clients’ needs? Closing/changing policies Yes: OE – PL – CI ↓ Yes: OE – PL – CI ↓ No
While B2B-clients’ needs also seem to be heterogeneous on ‘closing and changing policies’, we do observe significant gaps on this element. B2B-clients’ needs are classified as significantly lower on customer intimacy than P&C-insurers intend (gap 2). This implies that B2B-clients show a less prevalent need for an advisor who makes sure that a policy is closed in accordance with the B2B- clients’ needs. A similar difference can also be observed between P&C-insurers’ intention and B2B- clients’ perception (gap 3), whereas the difference between an individual B2B-client’s perception and needs was not found to be significant (gap 4). Therefore, B2B-clients do not need a different kind of value than what they perceive now.
5.6.1 An increase of direct channels
The gap between P&C-insurers’ intention and B2B-clients’ perception and needs might be explained by the distribution channels being used. Five out of six P&C-insurers (i.e. about 83%) in our sample still intend to work predominantly via intermediaries (or banks), which might explain the higher average extent of customer intimacy in their intention. However, as presented in Table 17, 35% of the B2B-clients in our sample have their policies currently closed via direct distribution channels. The other 65% of B2B-clients currently closed their current policies via an intermediary or bank. Therefore, while some B2B-clients still have a preference for an advisor who closes their policy (customer intimacy), there is also a group of B2B-clients which prefers the benefits of direct channels, e.g. ‘quick’ and ‘simple’ (operational
excellence).
However, if we look at the future preferred channels, the percentage of B2B- clients that prefer intermediaries or banks in the future decreases to 55%. To test the significance of this change in preference, we used a chi- squared test for goodness of fit. The number of B2B-clients for each of the current distribution channels was used as ‘expected value’,
Current channel Preferred in future
Direct 59 (35%) 75 (44%) Intermediary 83 (49%) 73 (43%) Bank 28 (16%) 20 (12%) Other 1 (1%) 3 (2%)
Table 17: Number of B2B-clients who currently closed their policy via a certain distribution channel, and the channel through which they prefer to close their policies in the future
compared to the ‘observed values’ for preferred channels in the future. We found a significant
difference between current and preferred distribution channels, with χ2 (3, N = 171) = 11,830, p <
0.01. This may indicate a shift of B2B-clients towards more direct distribution.
• P&C-insurers may anticipate an increase in clients’ needs for direct distribution channels, or at least the benefits associated with it, e.g. quick and simple.
5.6.2 Complications in shifting from intermediary to direct channels
Although the role of direct (online) distribution is increasing, the B2B market for P&C insurance still offers sufficient potential for intermediaries to maintain market share (Berendsen, 2013). In our sample, five out of six P&C-insurers still intend to work predominantly via intermediaries (or banks), which might explain the higher average extent of customer intimacy in their intention.
A transition from intermediary towards direct distribution channels may involve some complications though, which can be illustrated by the case of Nationale-Nederlanden (NN). Intermediaries are currently generating a large share of NN’s revenue, and intermediaries might not be happy with a multichannel policy of NN (van Vugt, 2014b). ‘Going direct’ means that the intermediaries are left out from a client transaction, implying that the revenues for intermediaries will be lower. The CEO of NN, Lard Friese, acknowledges that intermediaries are important and that they will remain important, although he also states that the “client belongs to no-one: not to the intermediary, and not to the insurer” (van Vugt, 2014b, para. 3).
Still, if policies are sold via an intermediary, P&C-insurers can prevent the costs of ‘duty of care’ (‘zorgplicht’) and the costs of direct contact with a large group of smaller clients. For one of the insurers in our sample, this may be a reason to keep intermediaries involved, even if they offer a predefined, industry specific package for which a minimal amount of time is needed from clients and advisors to close the policy. The alternative would be a business model of a direct writer. Another interviewee from one of the insurers confirmed that the business model of a direct writer is quite expensive if you need to have a client support department standby 24/7.
However, another option to combine the benefits of closing and changing policies in a quick and simple manner, while also involving an intermediary who takes care of it, is through ‘signature by proxy’ (in Dutch: ‘volmachten’). Insurer Echo also mentioned this as an important future trend. Intermediaries who operate via signature by proxy are allowed to take over the P&C-insurer’s task of underwriting, i.e. selecting which risks to insure and deciding what premiums to charge for accepting these risks. Although this authority is limited to risks of a certain (monetary) level, it presents an efficient way of closing and changing policies for a large group of smaller clients.
• Closing and changing policies via signature by proxy combines the benefits of closing and changing policies in a quick and simple manner, while there is still an intermediary involved who takes care for B2B-clients’ needs.