Underwriter Unplugged
-
Underwriter Unplugged Episode 2: "Build A Better Mouse Trap"
Have you ever heard the saying "Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door"? This quote is attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson from the late nineteenth century. I first heard this quote early in my career and it always stuck with me. If you had a better product, much better, wouldn't the customers line up to buy? I've heard people joke that if the product was that good, "you could fire all the sales people and put in a drive thru window". It's the same concept. A superior product should create a market demand for that product. I can tell you though I don't think this is universally true.If you are selling a consumer good such as a chicken sandwich or an iPhone then yes I believe there is some truth to this. The average consumer gets some degree of personal joy out of these purchases and using them. However in something like financial services or insurance I don't believe this to be true at all. I think you can have a far superior product but you must go out and shout it to the world and show them why it is good for them.....Click Read More to Continue
-
Underwriter Unplugged Episode 1: "Schools, Cities and Towns Oh My!"
I've spent the better part of the last 30 years working for insurance companies. During this time I've seen the good the industry can do even though most people never see it and the bad when it can't get out of its own way. The majority of my experience has been in the financial trenches first as a front line underwriter and then as an executive overseeing the teams watching the numbers as health insurance rate proposals and renewals went out the door. Basically I'm a numbers guy. I know all the "ins and outs" and more than most people would ever want to know about what makes up your health insurance premiums and how and why they are calculated (I know, fun guy at a party). Over the years I've seen some crazy things. I remember in the 1990's when there was discussion in the IT department that they didn't think they needed to code four digits for premium as no family plan would ever hit $1,000 a month. Now, that number would be a dream for most employers or families paying that bill. There were also many times were I would see something internally and then see something outside of work, maybe on the local news, that contradicted what I knew. I was never able to say anything and I hated that. I could see solutions to problems in the community and couldn't be heard. Well now that I am running my own consulting business and truly independent I can open up....Click Read More to Continue
Have you ever heard the saying "Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door"? This quote is attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson from the late nineteenth century. I first heard this quote early in my career and it always stuck with me. If you had a better product, much better, wouldn't the customers line up to buy? I've heard people joke that if the product was that good, "you could fire all the sales people and put in a drive thru window". It's the same concept. A superior product should create a market demand for that product. I can tell you though I don't think this is universally true.
I've spent the better part of the last 30 years working for insurance companies. During this time I've seen the good the industry can do even though most people never see it and the bad when it can't get out of its own way. The majority of my experience has been in the financial trenches first as a front line underwriter and then as an executive overseeing the teams watching the numbers as health insurance rate proposals and renewals went out the door. Basically I'm a numbers guy. I know all the "ins and outs" and more than most people would ever want to know about what makes up your health insurance premiums and how and why they are calculated (I know, fun guy at a party). Over the years I've seen some crazy things. I remember in the 1990's when there was discussion in the IT department that they didn't think they needed to code four digits for premium as no family plan would ever hit $1,000 a month. Now, that number would be a dream for most employers or families paying that bill. There were also many times were I would see something internally and then see something outside of work, maybe on the local news, that contradicted what I knew. I was never able to say anything and I hated that. I could see solutions to problems in the community and couldn't be heard. Well now that I am running my own consulting business and truly independent I can open up....Click Read More to Continue