Bangers and mash, bacon and eggs, cheese and pickle … some things were just made to be together. But building a business relationship is really no different to building personal relationships with friends and loved ones.
- A successful relationship requires work from both partners
- Great relationships don’t always come easy
- Finding the right partner is half the battle, but no matter how long you’re with that partner, you have to work continuously on your relationship
All of the above apply to the relationship between intermediaries and GI providers. But how do you put it into practice?
1. Communication: I can’t stress the importance of communication enough. Its absence can lead to misunderstanding and anger, and ultimately a breakdown in the relationship. Both parties need to share their objectives, successes, issues and views openly and continually. The provider in particular needs to listen and ask questions to find out what the intermediary needs to succeed, what they want to achieve, and the challenges they face. And while we should maximise the technology at our fingertips to be able to contact anyone at anytime and anywhere, remember that you can’t beat face-to-face time.
2. Honesty: Being honest is crucial to a healthy relationship. I know we like to think that everything will work first time every time, but in reality things don’t always go to plan. Honest feedback on both sides is essential and the provider needs to know if things aren’t working in order to put them right or suggest alternative strategies.
3. Respect: A healthy relationship has a key element of mutual respect for one another. Providers need to earn the respect of intermediaries by behaving in a professional manner. They need to demonstrate their knowledge of the insurance market, the mortgage market and the intermediary’s own business environment. They should be able to open the doors to new marketplaces and facilitate the intermediary’s entry through training and marketing support. In my view, a provider really should be more of a strategic consultant than just a portal to a bunch of insurance products. Each firm of intermediaries has its own objectives and challenges, and it is important that a provider can provide a solution that is tailored to the intermediary’s needs.
4. Commitment: Both parties need to be committed to working together to achieve not only the successful outcome each is working toward, but also to develop a successful relationship. If either party is not fully committed to delivering on their particular contribution to the relationship then it is not going to succeed.
5. Delivery: If you over-promise then it is highly likely that you will fail to deliver. It is essential that the intermediary is upfront about what they expect and equally the provider should be clear about what they can deliver. Understand the goals, ensure that strategies are aligned. Share information constantly to ensure that any issues can be identified and a solution put in place before they become a problem. Each side needs to know what the other is expecting to achieve from the relationship from day one. Having said that, any provider worth their while should be willing to go the extra mile to deliver what the intermediary needs – but should manage expectations along the way.
6. Spend time with the right people: The provider should take the time not just with the decision makers within the firm of intermediaries, but also the rest of the staff so they can understand the culture of the business and what makes it tick as well as get to know the different personalities. If they really want to add value to a business then they must understand it from the ground up. Equally, I would encourage intermediaries to invest time getting to know their provider. Go and visit the head office so that you get to meet the people you might speak to on a daily basis and put faces to names.
At the end of the day, we’re in a people business and it is all about relationships. Each firm is unique and every individual in that firm has their own idiosyncrasies. That’s part of the challenge of any relationship – but also part of the fun.
