Introducing VIU by HUB

Something exciting is happening today. We’re steering the insurance industry towards a better place, and I have my mom to thank for teaching me how… ?

She was a life insurance agent, and when I was young, I’d go with her when she delivered death benefits checks to families who had just lost a loved one. She didn’t just leave the envelope in the mailbox. She walked up to the front door and knocked. She looked them in the eyes. They were in distress, experiencing this great moment of sadness, and while that indemnity payment could never replace their family member or friend, it did give those families a sense that things might eventually be all right. ?

My mother was delivering more than just money—she was delivering a little bit of peace and security when it was needed most. And because of that, she was viewed as a trusted advisor to her community—then and now. ??

I didn’t realize it at the time, but this was my first introduction to the noble purpose the insurance industry can serve.?

Years later, I’d find my own way to this noble purpose.

I honestly never thought I’d follow in my mother’s footsteps, but you never know where life will lead you, and after starting my career working with carriers, I made the decision to join HUB International. I gravitated towards the energy and hustle I felt inside the company. They seemed to know there was more that the industry could be doing to help people in need—and I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to help them achieve that goal.?

But first we had to ask ourselves a tough question that was going to have an even tougher answer: what was the real problem our customers were facing??

Uncovering the real problem.

With so many ways to communicate, it seems like we’re always talking—texting, tweeting, posting, sharing. But I always try to remember the power of listening. And that’s what we did: we asked the world what they thought about the insurance industry, and we sat back and listened. ?

What we heard from them was that insurance is complicated. We heard that the only thing harder than finding coverage was finding a trusted advisor who had their best interests at heart (and not the insurance company’s bottom line). In short, our customers told us: “No offence, insurance industry, but I’d rather spend more time with my heart and less time with all this insurance stuff.” ?

Their “hearts” are their family and friends, their homes,—all the things that bring them joy. Insurance is important to them—but not more important than the things they’re protecting. ?

That was the trigger moment for me. A lightbulb went off. We needed to make insurance simple, easy, give our customers neutral advice and the power to choose. And we needed to do it in a way that was flexible and adaptable to the customer’s preferences. ?

No problem, right??

Let’s go!?

It’s always important to begin with the end in mind—one that solves our customer’s pain points. To do that, we had to have a robust understanding of what our customers really wanted.?The COVID-19 pandemic caused a sudden and dramatic change in the way people interacted with each other and with services like insurance. In many places, you literally couldn’t see a broker. And what this did was open the door for our customers to experience a whole new way to do insurance.??

We established a vision, a strategy, and a value proposition.?We built a broad coalition of partners from marketing, IT, sales, and operations. HUB is in a very unique position to make this happen, to be tenaciously focused on the customer and agnostic to all other interests. From the start, our north star was about that larger noble purpose, the mission of our organization the mission of the entire industry: to protect what matters most to our customers.?

Form, Norm and Storm

My instincts about HUB were proven right when I saw how quickly and passionately the executive team understood the vision and rallied around it. That noble purpose I keep talking about?—they got it right away. They only asked me one question: how fast can you go?

I don’t know about you, but I can’t think of a better question to be asked.?

It was a breath of fresh air to move that fast. That doesn’t happen at most insurance companies, and it speaks to the entrepreneurial culture of HUB. We don’t just say that customer service is one of our core values, were proving it.

?And that’s what we’re doing today—proving our commitment to our customers with the launch of VIU by HUB.??https://www.viubyhub.com/

A fresh perspective on insurance?

Simply put, VIU by HUB is a solution that helps customers find and manage their insurance. What makes it special is that it combines HUB’s unparalleled insurance intelligence with a quick, easy, customizable digital experience. People aren’t just guided to the insurance they need today; they’re proactively supported as their needs evolve. ?

VIU was built this way in order to bridge the insurance protection gap—that’s the gap between the amount of insurance that people need and coverage they actually have. In the last twenty years, even though the industry has invested heavily in digital, that gap has actually doubled. ?

Why? Because even though customers were able to buy insurance pretty easily, they couldn’t get neutral advice on what insurance to buy. VIU gives customers both: neutral advice on what insurance they need, and an easy way for them to get it. ?

Let’s remember what our end goal was: to solve our customers’ pain points by changing the game from within. I believe that’s exactly what we’ve done—and it’s really not that different than what I watched my mother do all those years ago. Even though I didn’t recognize it at the time, she was teaching me an important lesson: she was making people feel a little more secure in their greatest moment of insecurity. She was working in service to her customers—and that’s what VIU is built to do. ?

I’m proud and humbled by the rockstar team who came together to build this thing. I’m appreciative and in awe of our leadership for having the vision to get behind it. I’m proud of this industry and the noble purpose it serves. I’m proud of VIU—and I hope it brings people a little bit of peace and security when they need it most.?

What I learned along the way:

Enjoy the journey—it’s just as good as the destination.

Be fully present in all the ups and downs along the way—this makes arriving at your destination so much more fulfilling.?

It’s okay to be anxious—you can turn that feeling into “anxious confidence” and that’s a surprisingly effective state of mind.

Prepare for the best and the worst—just like my time as a college football quarterback-- your ability to be adaptable when things go wrong is just as important as your ability to recognize and be grateful what goes right.