034:COVID & Transitioning your business - with Gary Williamson

In this week's episode, we are speaking to Gary Williamson, Trading and Development Manager at South Essex Insurance Brokers (SEIB). Gary has over 25 years experience in the industry across all elements and joined SEIB in February 2020 after having worked with big names in the insurance space such as AXA, AIG and CAN.   KEY TAKEAWAYS: The transition that the business needed to make during COVID was difficult, but it was a change that needed to happen. Some insurers have damaged their reputation and relationships through this time but not wrapping themselves around the broker and thinking of it too insular. Our brand has been built on effort, passion and our ability to deal with experts and drive our business forward. Having a strong a successful management team in place is the key to phenomenal business profits and growth.   BEST MOMENTS: “…you learn more about any business and yourself a little bit as well in a time of difficulty. I think it would have been quite a simple transition into a fairly understandable business but I think it's not so much easier, I guess, to learn about the challenges and the things that we really faced by seeing it in a point of real change and knowing the significant issues that businesses never face and weren't prepared for.’’   ‘’You probably ended up doing more business with nimble MGAs into Lloyds markets and those kind of players where they've been open for business, they've had an appetite, and you've been able to get all the people and actually you've built much stronger relationships through this.’’   ‘’We've got a really strong commercial general open market, which perhaps we don't shout enough about. That's definitely an area that we've seen some real progress and growth in to just been the local broker for our clients in South Essex, which isn't a particularly over-populated by broker territory.’’   ‘’I think as CEOs, they engage on a regular basis in the business and my level between myself and the Managing Directors of the three businesses we engage on a regular basis - we look at things like markets, trends, challenges, and partnerships.’’   RESOURCES: SEIB website: https://www.seib.co.uk/ Gary’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-williamson-7107082b/   ABOUT THE HOST Sarah Myerscough is the Sales and Marketing Director of Boston Tullis Group. The founder of The Insurance Brokers Podcast, she brings a wealth of marketing experience and a fresh perspective on marketing in the insurance sector. Boston Tullis works with insurance brokers to offer solutions to business development ceilings, particularly in the rapidly developing fields of video marketing and thought leadership. If you would like Sarah to help you develop an integrated marketing strategy, using state of the art concepts, then please book a free 20 min call via Calendly    Website: https://bostontullis.co.uk/ Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation