Even in a soft market, price is not the only differentiator among insurance companies.

In a wide-ranging interview, Paul Romano touches upon the many elements of quality his company seeks to offer--including responsiveness through every stage of underwriting, expertise in a rapidly changing risk environment and a commitment to managing risk.

A 25-year insurance industry veteran, Romano previously was responsible for underwriting, business development and marketing with Darwin Professional Underwriters. His prior experience includes leading Chubb Specialty's Health Care Underwriting Division and, early in his career, working in Aetna's Group Insurance and Managed Care businesses.

Q: What is your business strategy for OneBeacon Professional Insurance? What unmet market need are you addressing - and in what segments?

Paul Romano: Our strategy focuses expressly on our value proposition: "OneBeacon is determined to deliver an entirely better insurance experience." We feel as though there's an opportunity to position ourselves as a company whose ease of doing business is greater than that of our competitors.

There are few companies that do a lot of things well, and several who do a few things well, but executing at all customer touch points crisply and professionally is a point of distinction. We've been repositioning the company for some time to bring specialized expertise to those segments that value it. We have a strong franchise in hospitals, in mid-market lawyers, in nursing homes and managed care organizations, in media organizations and several other segments including design professionals, realtors, technology and privacy coverage.

Q: How does this approach contrast with the typical customer experience with insurance providers? What has changed in the market - and in your approach?

A: Traditionally, the insurance transaction really centered around the purchase of insurance coverage, and under some circumstances, companies might supply some risk mitigation services and ultimately deal with the claims activities.

In the research that we've done, brokers and insureds express that many of the transaction points in the insurance business could be executed substantially better. In their minds, getting things done isn't as easy as it should be. They want access to people who are able to help with front-line decisions. Follow-through needs to be consistent, whether it's the issuance of policy, arrangement of service visit, etc. They perceive that, traditionally, it's not about the customer, it's about the carrier. So we think there's an opportunity in moving the needle much more dramatically, by taking ownership of meeting customer needs.

Q: What's the benefit of this approach to OneBeacon? How does it make you a stronger company?

A: None of what we're doing is intended to sacrifice our profitability objectives and returns as a company. In fact, we think our approach enhances our bottom line. If we can get the best-run companies to buy their insurance from us, then it's likely both we and the client will be very satisfied.

The efforts we're making around service and customer experience directly relate to becoming a more desirable market for the best quality business, from a risk perspective. So we're trying to earn our way into being recognized by the very best businesses, and in a soft market that provides you a lot better opportunity to achieve the returns you want - more predictable business, more engaged in serving customers, a better portfolio of insureds. The soft market is about a continually reduced margin of error in the risks you're writing at a given price, so the reliability of clients to perform becomes much more important.

Q: How do you go about improving client performance? What kind of results are you seeing?

A: Today, it's become a much more active relationship with our customers. We're constantly interacting with our customers--both the brokers and agents we distribute through as well as the end clients who have our coverage. Technical expertise and depth are really important, and education and awareness are very important as well. We think that at the many touch points with our customers, those experiences ought to be more fluid, efficient and more satisfying to our customers.

We've been at this for two years, and we've seen a change, particularly with our brokers and agents. We've seen an increase in loyalty, an improvement in the quality of risks we see and more opportunities than before. This appears to be an acknowledgement that our message is getting across - that we're about quality.

Q: How do you make customer experiences "more fluid, efficient and satisfying"?

A: When we are provided a submission (an application for insurance) there is an immediate dialogue around the opportunity. Brokers want to understand our interest in a particular risk very quickly, so they can sort out their own strategy. They want direct contact from a technically capable person--an immediate screening contact. They want a quote that's on time and a requote process that is not arduous. At the end of the day, brokers and agents are trying to select carriers that are a good fit for clients, so reliable practices go a long way in getting brokers to recommend a carrier to their clients.

Q: How do you balance your quality value proposition with the pricing pressures in a soft market?

A: There is risk in changing carriers in pursuit of lowest price, but brokers feel vulnerable if they don't get you the best possible deal. We try to work with brokers and customers to say we're probably not going to be the cheapest, but we are generally going to be in a very competitive range - one that will allow us to sustain our business over time. We strive to be a good fit today, and emphasize what we are doing to ensure our products evolve appropriately over time. If you're just looking at price, you may be missing the knowledge, expertise and adaptive qualities of a carrier that you need to rely upon in a changing market.

Special Reports /

Moving Beyond Price in a Soft Market

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