2016 Aspire Awards Rep of the Year

Ask a broker in Nova Scotia to name an insurance rep off the top of their head and there’s a good chance they’ll say Michelle Baker.

Michelle is a people person. She understands all about systems talking to each other, but she’d much rather connect face to face. If it’s after hours, you may even find that a glass of wine is involved!

After working her way up through the industry over three decades, she achieved a management position within Intact Insurance. But Michelle knew that she belonged out on the road talking to brokers, which is where she did her best work and would do the best work for the company.

So Michelle moved laterally and got back out face to face with brokers. She was recently awarded the Insurance Broker Association of Nova Scotia’s Aspire Award for Insurance Company Rep of the Year.  I sat down with Michelle in May to talk about the award.

INTERVIEWER

Congratulations!

BAKER

Thank you very much, thank you very much. They bought me a princess crown upstairs [laughs].

INTERVIEWER

Nice [laughs]. What’s the background behind the award?

BAKER

Each year the broker association, IBANS, they recognize the brokers across the province who have earned their professional designation, their CAIB [the Canadian Accredited Insurance Broker]. They also identify a few key areas where brokers have excelled. And one of the awards is to recognize someone within the insurer community, so that’s the one that I won.

INTERVIEWER

What was the evening like when you got the award?

BAKER

It was lovely. The insurer representative is a small part of it. It really was about the brokers. It was their evening for sure. It was great seeing you guys had quite a few people there. And there were three gentlemen who were recognized for fifty years each in the business, so that was kind of cool. The demographics in the room were really neat: you had pretty much all generations represented.

INTERVIEWER

Why do you think it’s important to have a ceremony like that and awards like the Aspire Awards?

BAKER

I was a broker for ten years so I recognize the skills you need to be a broker. You’re selling, you’re negotiating, you’re supporting with claims, you’re collecting accounts receivable—there are so many tasks that brokers do. And you have to adopt to new technology changes all the time. So those brokers that put in the effort on top of that to get their designation show a lot of commitment. It’s neat that we get to all go out and celebrate.

INTERVIEWER

Have you shared your award with anyone in your community or your family? Do they know what this means for you?

BAKER

It was Facebook official around three o’clock in the morning! I saw somebody post it and then so the phone calls started [laughs]. The award itself is a beautiful Nova Scotian crystal statuette and I have it on a lovely table at home.

INTERVIEWER

Do you feel that there’s a growing sense in the general public of what insurance is or what a broker does?

BAKER

I think there’s probably more of a sense of the value of an independent broker versus a direct writer because brokers are doing a much better job of telling their story. Some of that would be because of IBANS and their promotion. I think individual brokers have also stepped up and now in their own Facebook posts, social media, and hard print they’re talking about the value of an independent broker—and that has to continue.

INTERVIEWER

What is next for you?

BAKER

I am on the other side of my career now, so it includes a lot of role modelling behaviours for the up and coming people. We have a huge group of people that are just chomping, right, they want start moving through the business. And until a lot of people in my generation start to exit the business, they’re sitting there looking for something to do. So that is where I see my role now: being a role model and mentor for them and helping in getting them opportunities.

INTERVIEWER

Has the role of a broker changed since you first started in the business and got your CAIB designation?

BAKER

I think it’s still the exact same role as far as offering your customers the products and services you think that they need—and not just on price, but the products and services that are best for them. And taking them through the claims process is important because it can be a traumatic experience. I think the challenge now is to reach out to customers and continue to help them understand the value in that business relationship. Community involvement is a big part of that by doing the activities that you guys participate in right across the province, like the Lobster Carnival in Pictou.

INTERVIEWER

Are brokers becoming more like advisors?

BAKER

We are seeing more brokers bring on people that offer specific types of financial services advice, but I think an overall advisor is what brokers have always been. When I was a broker, I didn’t see myself as giving someone the cheapest price and giving them a pink card. I always felt it was my job to really explain to them what they need and what they have.

INTERVIEWER

To just talk to people in a way that helps them understand how to make sure their assets are safe?

BAKER

Exactly. To help them sleep at night.

INTERVIEWER

So why do you think you won this award?

BAKER

I appreciate how busy brokers are and how valuable their time is. And if I’m going to be visiting a broker or in front of a broker I really try to focus on giving them something to enrich their conversations with their customers—maybe that’s product knowledge, an explanation of coverage, or information on what’s happening in the industry. In addition to knowing all about the insurer side through my work at Intact, I think I also have a really good feeling for the tasks that brokers do on a day to day basis.

INTERVIEWER

So you have a good overview of the different parts of the whole insurance system.

BAKER

Absolutely. A perfect example was a newer employee recently who said she doesn’t understand why doesn’t the broker just get me that oil tank questionnaire. As if it was a memo and the broker should just send it right back. But I understand how the brokerages operate and how the tasks that we do bounce back and forth from each other. And I appreciate the fact that any given broker also has you know five other companies—returning an oil tank questionnaire is just one of many tasks that they have to do in a day. So I always try to make sure our folks are appreciative of the role of the broker.

INTERVIEWER

Right, the paper doesn’t exist so that the system moves along. The system evolved out of human needs.

BAKER

Exactly. When I talk to our underwriters I try to help them see the human side of our business, you know the relationship part, and how we can help the brokers do their job. I help our underwriters understand the role of a broker so that they can be empathic.

INTERVIEWER

That’s so important.

BAKER

And I will say that there is a noticeable emotional connection and a mutual respect between our underwriting team and the folks at AA Munro. It’s clear that your staff are so committed to customers and they’re a pleasure for our underwriters to work with. You can see that they actually like each other and that’s such a huge part of our business, for sure!