Q&A with Georgina Davis, Head of Broker Proposition and Distribution
11/16/2023
How are you finding your role as Head of Broker Proposition and Distribution and what led you to taking this on?
Since joining in April, I've loved every second of the role and the team that I've joined; the wider team within retail have been fantastic. I'm enjoying working with such an innovative, dynamic group of people. Being in a market facing role that revolves around understanding what our broker partners need from us means a lot to me. I joined the team at such an important time, with us launching our regional broker proposition Zurich Club Blue, and I’m passionate about ensuring our regional broker partners feel truly connected to Zurich.
I've been in the insurance industry for nearly six years. My previous roles have revolved around people and putting relationships at the heart of everything we do. I'm excited to be at Zurich and see what we can achieve with regional distribution.
What is the main focus of your role?
My priority is to ensure that our regional broker partners, whether that's regional independents, or brokers that are part of a network, feel seen and heard by us. The ambition is to be the insurer of choice for our regional broker partners, through the delivery of targeted broker propositions, market leading sales excellence and a supportive trading framework. Ensuring our propositions evolve with the market is key.
I work closely with our wider sales and distribution team and market facing business units to ensure the strategy and the propositions that we launch are delivered to our brokers locally, whether that's for Zurich Club Blue or networks that we partner with.
For people who may not be aware, what is Zurich Club Blue?
Zurich Club Blue is our broker proposition that launched in May this year. It’s underpinned by 3 core pillars and is tailored to align to our partners trading framework demands and needs, providing its members with a first-class experience in their partnership with Zurich. The proposition allows us to be more agile and responsive to the evolving needs of our broker partners and connects us locally, which is important.
It’s been designed as a one-stop-shop for our brokers, and their customers are at the heart of the offering. We try to think of everything from rising talent to training, right through to networking and how we trade. We know that the insurance sector is about people and personal relationships, which are built over time, so we aim to connect with our broker partners at all levels, whether it's with a broker just starting out in their career or with a director at one of our regional trading events. Zurich Club Blue will allow us to develop longstanding relationships at all levels, and with new brokers.
What are the 3 pillars and how do they support members of the Club?
The proposition was built around 3 core pillars: Ease of Trading, Professional Development and Future Proofing.
Ease of trading is simply what it says – making it as easy to trade with us as possible. We know that this is a priority for brokers and making it as simple, efficient, and personable is an absolute priority for us.
On professional development, attraction, recruitment, and retention of talent remains high on our brokers’ agenda, as well as on ours. Our goal is to help brokers grow their own talent. This could be through the delivery of certain risk management webinars, access to tried and tested content, sales training, all the way through to our rising broker network and our future leaders’ programmes.
Futureproof is about being forward thinking and future proofing the industry by offering support that will make a difference long term. Zurich Club Blue looks to support brokers in futureproofing their own business, highlighting the importance of prioritising your well-being as well as advocating for being a more sustainable business. Within Zurich we have experts in sustainability, apprenticeships, talent attraction, retention, and the futureproofing pillar is sharing our learnings and our experience to help our brokers develop their own futureproof business.
Can you delve into the Future Leaders Programme, who it’s available to, and how it benefits members?
The Future Leaders Programme has been designed for those looking to develop their own leadership style and skills. We're delivering it through five sessions, which will cover content exploring different leadership styles, communication, and collaboration, how to navigate change as a leader and how to take your team with you.
We've got a diverse cohort and these individuals have been recognised as future talent by the broker businesses that they work within, and we feel it's important to support our brokers in their people development.
What is the Rising Broker Network and how can brokers get involved?
This network was launched to support those just starting out in their career and are quite fresh into the industry. We have over 50 Members from all over the UK, in a variety of different roles. The idea was that we would build a community of like-minded people and provide an opportunity for them to network, increase their industry knowledge and boost their personal and professional development. We'll be hosting events over the next 12 months, both educational and social. To kick off 2024, we will be running a future of insurance event where we'll hear about key industry topics such as ESG, how AI is going to impact the industry and any other emerging opportunities and challenges.
We’re also planning to deliver some training on important aspects of personal development, such as negotiation skills, understanding your own brand, opening doors and sales skills. The individuals that are involved in these programmes, whether that's future leaders or rising brokers, are the future of the industry and bring innovative new ideas with them. We absolutely take pride in supporting them with their development and building a long-lasting relationship with them.
We'll be looking at who we bring into the next part of the rising broker network for 2024.
What does 2024 look like for Zurich Club Blue?
We have already achieved a lot in a short space of time. 2023 has been about showing up and building the foundations of our relationships with our regional broker partners. Continuing to support and grow with these brokers is a priority in ensuring that we provide the best solutions for them, because they know their customers like nobody else.
2024 is about taking this to the next level. I want us to be loud and I want us to be present. It's about truly connecting with Zurich Club Blue members and ensuring that we're always there to offer them a solution. With the amount of change that we're seeing in the industry at the minute, there's quite a lot of uncertainty and I think brokers feel that. This is our time to make a difference and show up and be the insurer of choice for our regional broker partners. We're here to stay.
How do brokers become a member?
If you would like more information on becoming a valued member of Zurich Club Blue, please speak to your local relationship manager, or reach out to us by emailing: gbz.distribution.team@uk.zurich.com
