True Partners – for Insurance Brokers
Interview with Patrick Edelmann, Member of the Executive Board and Authorized Officer of WIFO GmbH
For end customers, choosing the right insurance has become almost impossible among the plethora of offers to select the most suitable one for them. But it has also become increasingly difficult for insurance brokers to maintain an overview. More and more are therefore joining so-called broker pools. WIFO GmbH from Rheinstetten near Karlsruhe scores here with a comprehensive offer, enabling brokers to focus on what is most important to them: their customers.
Wirtschaftsforum: Mr. Edelmann, which insurance areas do you cover with WIFO?
Patrick Edelmann: We are an all-rounder and cover all insurance areas such as property, auto, life, and health insurance. We are strong in commercial property and corporate insurance. Here, we offer exclusive special concepts with a top price-performance ratio, tailored to the specific needs of individual sectors. For example, hotel or gastronomy policies or construction liability insurance. We are connected to all relevant insurers as well as to specialty insurers, for example, those that only insure classic cars. This is an advantage for our brokers, as they would otherwise have to insure individual components separately. Thus, they get everything from the famous one source. In the health sector, we excel in biometrics. For instance, when an application for disability insurance is made, we can rely on our extensive BU database with more than 5,600 votes to quickly find out which customers with what pre-existing conditions can be insured with which companies.
Wirtschaftsforum: What are the advantages for brokers who join you?
Patrick Edelman: They receive a complete package from us. We take care of the entire process, from drafting offers, managing applications, submitting them to the appropriate company, to invoicing. We even offer hierarchical billing. If a broker consolidates various sales structures underneath them, we handle the billing for these as well. We have an excellent partner network, from which our brokers benefit from high discounts. Additionally, we also support in sales and marketing. We offer a brokerage management program and a multi-award-winning customer app. All processes are IT-prepared, with interfaces to various companies. Thus, our brokers have more time to take care of their clients. Last but not least, our commissions are very good.
Wirtschaftsforum: The company has been on the market for almost 40 years. What have been important steps in its development so far?
Patrick Edelmann: We started in 1987, founded by Karl Burkart, as an insurance brokerage, and have grown continuously over the decades. An important recent development was certainly the cooperation in 2018 with blau direkt, a large broker pool based in Luebeck, which offers leading IT for insurance brokers. Since then, in addition to our services, our brokers have access to their entire IT portfolio. Since 2022, we have been operating under a new branding, combining leading IT and our personal support to bring the best of both worlds under one roof.
Wirtschaftsforum: What do you attribute this very long-term success of WIFO to?
Patrick Edelmann: Our success is a sum of many factors. Above all, we are always in dialogue with our brokers. We know each other and each broker has their own contact person. We always have our ear close to the market and are therefore able to respond early to trends and new topics or needs. We continuously look for solutions that are timely and fit the requirements. Furthermore, we support our brokers concretely, for example, by providing access to sales potentials that they could not tap into on their own, through video consulting or through a unique digital occupational pension consultation in Germany.
Wirtschaftsforum: What topics do you still have on the agenda for 2023?
Patrick Edelmann: We recently started an AI project. Through artificial intelligence, we are creating a communication platform for our brokers to the end customer. The AI will be able to decide which documents need to be sent to which customer. This means another important work relief for our brokers. We want to roll out this solution in the market still during this year. Currently, we are still in a pilot phase with some selected brokers. The goal is to go on roadshow with it in the fall of this year. Now that all Corona restrictions have been lifted, we will increase our personal presence in the market again, for example by regular round tables, which our managing directors will also attend. At the same time, we want to include more and more insurance companies in our digital administration. Here, through cooperation with blue directly, we have an important asset.
Wirtschaftsforum: What goals are you pursuing with WIFO in the medium and long term?
Patrick Edelmann: We want to position our brokers so that they all have a fully digital broker's office. Despite all our digitalization efforts, the broker will always be in the front line for the customer and also in our company, including with our AI solutions. At the end of the day, we are a People Business.