Assurances du Crédit Mutuel Group

Unlike the financial sector, in the crisis which hit Spain between 2007 and 2017, the insurance market did not decrease its volume of business, but rather was subject to substantial changes in relation to the design and marketing processes of its products.

Until a few years ago, the insurance sector was characterized by being a very traditional, mature market with consolidated dynamics. Digitization changed the forms of consumption and relations of people with the ecosystem of suppliers necessary for their daily development: the retail sector, the consumption of basic goods, services and also insurance saw how their clients became less present face to face, but closer in a virtual manner. “As insurance companies, we had to confront the difficult task of working at a greater distance from our clients — they stopped coming to the offices — but without losing proximity”, mentions Albert Martí, General Manager Commercial and Group Business ACM Spain.

The severe crisis which affected the financial sector likewise led consumers to seek a more responsible view of financial management. “In addition to solvency, they demanded social commitment. It was no longer sufficient to manage the portfolio well, but rather the market required you to do so from a perspective of commitment to the social economy”, indicates Francesc Rodríguez, ACM Spain Group’s Human Resources Director. “It was essential to adapt to the client’s changes in consumption. We had to explain that we were an institution created with these values”.

In addition to this setting of changes in consumer habits, there was also an evolution in the sector’s profitability model. If, some years ago, insurance companies had two main sources of profit — “direct” income from insurance/claims and “indirect” income from the management of the capital from the premiums (financial performance) —, the sustained reduction in interest rates eroded this indirect profit which previously represented a safe source of income. The challenge now is to sell insurance products, a commodity which in segments such as car or health insurance leaves very little margin, and it was therefore essential to rethink the product model and the company’s priorities in order to be able to continue to lead the segment.

As a result of growth through takeovers, the Group is immersed in a profound process of transformation which seeks to create a common cultural framework for all the companies which make it up and, together with this, to equip them with a competitive business vision which is clearly differential on the market.

A strategic plan was therefore designed with an ambitious commercial commitment, based on “multi-channel effectiveness”, active client management, omni-channel agility and a complete value proposition, in which digital and cultural consolidation are also two fundamental pillars”. The goal of this strategic plan is to be able to grow by more than 50 thousand clients in the coming years, explains Albert Martí.

In this respect, ACM Spain Group’s major challenge is to transform the way in which the company sells and relates to the market (processes and methodology), leaving behind classic commercial dynamics, non-personalized and non-consultative sale in which the client was not the centre of the process, but rather the focus was on the product.

Thus, first, as Albert Martí indicates, it was necessary to redesign the commercial network with the aim of guaranteeing a more heterogeneous distribution: more products to reach more audiences. Second, it was necessary to influence the profile of the consultants, promoting their multidisciplinarity and helping them to be capable of serving the client in a comprehensive manner and for all kinds of insurance: household, accident, car, health… Finally, it was essential to work on the product: the portfolio also had to be transformed in order to give rise to products which prioritize digital proximity (remote contracting, for example) and which are consistent with the requirements of the social economy.

Furthermore, “the cultural transformation challenge had to take place with the organization fully operational and motivating a senior professional team which, as an advantage, contributed a high degree of commitment to the company to which they belonged and broad experience”, stresses Francesc Rodríguez, who explains that maybe one of the most complex issues on a human resources level was the management of expectations to which integration in the ACM Spain Group had given rise among all employees.

Thus, with the cultural transformation of the Group as the main axis of all the actions, together with the Institute of Lifelong Learning of the University of Barcelona (IL3-UB) it was decided to approach the evolution of the commercial team with the main objective of “promoting cross-cutting commercial profiles, who know the entire product portfolio, who could be less product specialists and more consultative” explains the ACM Spain Group’s Human Resources Director.

The project included the involvement of the commercial, business development and human resources departments, together with a team of consultants from IL3-UB which supported the ACM Spain Group in the definition of the training programme’s priorities, the recipients and the results that it was expected to obtain.

After months of work, the project was defined as four programmes, differentiated by the type of profile at which they were aimed, although they all shared the common objective of promoting the transformation of the business:

• An “Insurance Expert Consultancy” programme which included a university extension certificate for premium consultants with high potential, professionals focused on large sales, highly specialized in B2C, who were to be equipped with tools to consolidate sales in the B2B sphere.
• An “Insurance Network Development” programme, which on completion leads to a university extension certificate, for sales managers, consultants who coordinate the team and look for other agents for insurance sales. In this case the objective was to consolidate institutional relations, create a link between the company’s professionals and open up horizons for them so that they would be capable of simultaneously managing different network profiles, different professionals and different commercial objectives.
• A “Group Commercial Development” programme, with a university extension certificate, for delegates from this segment, specialized in sales to companies and associations (B2B), in which the priority was to evolve from reactive sales to more proactive sales capable of opening up new markets for the company.
• A “Transformation and development” pathway for consultants on acquisition and development, high turnover profiles with a commercial contract, specialized in minor sales and focused on B2C for whom it was necessary to open up horizons in B2B and equip them with tools to make close sales not on a physical but a digital level.

The talent proposal sought to specifically influence each of the professional profiles existing in the organization, in view of their particular professional and market situation, being able to offer them specific training in knowledge and skills for their field of work.

From among these programmes, those of Sales Manager, Premium Consultants and Group Delegates were organized on the basis of four areas — business development, insurance expert or group insurance expert, commercial systems and professional skills — which were worked on according to online, face-to-face and blended learning format professionalization proposals clearly focused on transfer for the development of key skills and knowledge for the programme’s participants. As regards the acquisition and development consultants, the proposal was a four-stage pathway with a face-to-face training day approach complemented with activities for transfer to the job position tutored by IL3-UB through a virtual classroom specially designed for this segment of professionals.

On a formal level, the intention was to follow the line of innovative and inclusive training that had characterized the Group’s companies, “proposals in which the professionals were always open to participate”, highlights Francesc Rodríguez. Likewise, given the set-up of the team, remote tools were needed in order to monitor and develop the practices, prepare the sessions, etc. “It was essential to have an online campus, but also to have prominence for the face-to-face sessions, since they would allow us to consolidate the corporate culture in the teams by prioritizing personal treatment”, he adds.

Both for Albert Martí and for Francesc Rodríguez, the most complex part of the project was the management of the change which involved the commitment made to the commercial team. “Despite the fact that the project is still ongoing, the results have been seen immediately: the professionals, irrespective of their position, have accepted that their role is important for the consolidation of the corporate culture and for the evolution of the commercial processes. They are aware that the change begins with them”.

The most important evolutions include the change of focus of the commercial action from product to client: “we have been able to evolve the framework of the commercial relations of our professionals with the market”, explains Martí. Another achievement is that each profile is accepting its renewed responsibilities: “the proposal has not been received as an imposition, but rather as a necessary evolution to progress as a company and as professionals. We have managed to generate a high level of commitment in the team”.

There is a very high degree of satisfaction with the collaboration with IL3-UB: “they adapted to everything that we requested. You often work with institutions which sell you their product, their recipe, but in IL3-UB they designed a customized solution for the profiles that we had defined, a specific solution for our Group”.

The feedback received from the professionals is highly positive: “they greatly appreciate the contents, the learning and the methodology, but what we are most proud of is that many of the Group’s professionals have told us that for the first time in a training proposal they have felt direct support from the company, helping them to discover the solutions to their daily challenges by themselves”, mentions Rodríguez. “The sensation of loneliness and uncertainty which always occurs with business mergers and acquisitions was completely avoided”, he explains.

The fact that three of the programmes moreover offered a university extension certificate increased that feeling of support by the company: “it was not just a question of a commitment to improving the commercial results, but rather to the actual people, since the training offered will help them to consolidate their professional future, whether developed in the ACM Spain Group or outside the same”.

The feedback received from the professionals participating in the Consultants programme appreciated the wide range of tools with which the training provided them, knowledge and skills which are having a direct influence on the development of the day-to-day work: they feel more confident, they can plan their work better and make better use of their time, they are capable of listening to the client better, offering innovative solutions and adapting to what the market demands.

Finally, the training is making it possible to consolidate the group’s values, which are transparency and honesty in the communication with the market and its clients; work for people because they are its raison d’être; solvency and soundness as a guarantee so that its clients feel secure, and solidarity on being an institution committed to the social economy.