“If you think you’re too small to have impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room”

I read the paper this morning over breakfast and was depressed to read that the new CEO of Aviva announced yesterday that “…it is imperative that Aviva focuses on unlocking value for our shareholders…” and that they must focus on efficiencies. 

That comment made me think back 15 months when I stood on a stage and started a talk with the quote that titles this piece, which I attributed to Anita Roddick (although I have since found out was really said by Mahatma Gandhi!)

I explained that the norm in the insurance industry is profoundly depressing with the CEOs of incumbent insurers being focused on reducing costs, to drive shareholder returns, to be able to invest in tech, to further drive down costs etc etc. Depressing because, as I explained, it falls to the insurance start-ups to focus on what consumers actually want - by changing experiences.

There’s a critical need to monitor customer experiences closely at all touch points to enable fast learning and iteration to improve those experiences. I said that the Bought By Many Net Promoter Score had never been below 70, measured across customer touch points and that, sadly, this was highly unusual in the insurance industry.

I talked about how even small insurance start-ups like Bought By Many could have impact on the wider, global stage. I went on to evidence how a number of our core guiding customer-centric principles were being picked up and copied by much larger companies. I gave specific examples from the New AvivaPlus Car Insurance which offered consumers:

• the ability to pay monthly, interest free;
• to cancel at any stage, without penalty;
• and that no renewing customer would pay more than a new customer.

(All three have been core principles of ours since we launched our own pet insurance offerings in February 2017.)

We were the mosquito in the room and consumers were benefitting.

In that talk, I went further and announced our following year’s innovations to give the incumbent industry a headstart on copying: VideoVet (which has proved hugely popular in lockdown); waiving of the 2-week claims exclusion period for new customers; our launch into Sweden, and others.

I also explained that as the CEO of an insurance provider I followed a different economic model: I focus on our staff, to enable them to focus on our pet parent customers, who can in turn focus on the health and well-being of their pets, which in turn ensures healthy returns for our shareholders.

Which is why it was so depressing to hear Aviva talk about the old model. And if that wasn’t disappointing enough, I also recently learned that the New AvivaPlus Car Insurance product has been quietly shut down. So, it’s a reversion to the old school of focus on shareholders at the expense of customers and staff.

Luckily the incumbents aren’t our guiding light, at Bought By Many. I concluded that same talk with another Anita Roddick quote “If you do things well, do them better. Be daring, be first, be different, be just.” And so we will.

Friday 7th August 2020