Bancassurance: Strategies for Insurers to Leverage Success at the Bank branch level

How adopting a process-based strategy for leveraging success with bank branches can help the insurance companies beat competition

In my previous post?on the evolving Bancassurance space, I discussed the need for a new approach and emphasized the critical role of Bank branches in driving new business and quality of business. To achieve success in this changing landscape, insurer sales teams must adopt a distinct and tailored strategy for each branch.

The RAIN Group Branch Success Blueprint? offers a unique and dynamic approach that addresses the realities of this space by focusing on the specific needs of branch staff and customers. This philosophy treats each branch as a "Customer Account", requiring insurer sales teams to approach each branch with the same level of detail and attention as they would in a business-to-business environment. In essence, they need to treat the branch similar to a "Key Account."

It is crucial for insurer sales teams to embrace this approach as a whole-organization strategy and implement a clearly defined process with discipline. This blueprint can become the de-facto Strategy and Review tool, going beyond quantitative metrics and providing guidance on How to Achieve desired outcomes at a granular level.

The key components of the Branch Success Blueprint? include:

1. Branch Intelligence: Developing a deep understanding of the branch, its staff, customer profile, business opportunities, gaps, micro markets, and competition. Uncovering the professional and personal drivers of branch staff and systematically creating ongoing value.
2. ?Relationship Strength: Objectively assessing the strength of the branch's relationship with the insurance company based on defined parameters. This assessment should be conducted periodically on an enterprise-to-enterprise basis, rather than relying solely on personal rapport between the insurer sales team and branch manager/staff.
3. ?Setting Goals, Mission, and KPIs for each branch: Using the branch intelligence and relationship strength assessment to develop goals, mission, and key performance indicators (KPIs) for each branch. These goals and KPIs should be distinct from business performance goals and are meant to align the insurance company with the branch manager's priorities and larger agenda.
4. ?Competition Strategy: Mapping the competition's presence and threats in each branch and formulating suitable strategies to counter competition for each player in each branch.
5. ?Opportunity and Action Plan: Assessing the opportunity within the branch and devising a detailed, quantifiable, and time-bound action plan to achieve branch goals. This plan should include a strategic element, leveraging the insurer's strengths to help the bank branch address its own priorities beyond insurance. For example, utilizing sales promotion and data analytics capabilities to support customer acquisition and micro market strategies.

The key differentiator of this approach is its focus on creating Value and success for the branch and branch staff, rather than solely focusing on short-term insurance business numbers and tactical interventions. Implementing this approach requires the Insurer sales teams and leadership to adopt a strategic mindset and long-term perspective, leveraging organizational strengths and capabilities to deliver value to bank branches and achieve mutually beneficial outcomes.