Canada Brokerlink - December 2020

BROKERLINK

DIGITAL REPORT 2020

A New Vision for Community-based Insurance IN ASSOCIATION WITH

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A New Vision for Community-based Insurance www.bro k e r lin k. ca

BROKERLINK

Alena Kharkavets, VP Digital Strategy and CX, outlines the transformation roadmap that’s enabling a new, digitally driven vision of insurance processes

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t a time when it seems like there’s insurmountable uncertainty about so many aspects of life, BrokerLink is spearhead-

ing a new approach to the insurance process: one that emphasises clarity, community and customercentricity. Founded in 1991, this Canadian company 04

has managed to create an expansive presence across the country, with over 140 branches serviced by more than 2,000 employees.

“I’ve been in insurance for over 13 years.

Throughout my entire career, I’ve always had the mindset of wanting to understand how all the pieces fit together,” says Alena Kharkavets, VP Digital Strategy and Customer Experience. Joining BrokerLink in October 2013, Kharkavets relates that her current role, in combination with her extensive industry experience in actuarial, corporate development, operations and sales, provides her with the “big picture thinking” she needs to thrive.

That holistic mindset is crucial for a company with a broad geographic footprint, which, nonetheless, must still deliver a consistent level of high quality

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“ Every single branch has a unique, grassroots presence and that resonates with me tremendously” — Alena Kharkavets, VP of Digital Strategy and CX, BrokerLink

service across all of its locations.

Kharkavets adds that “every single branch has a unique, grassroots presence and that resonates with me tremendously.” With regards to her management style in this ‘many community branches with a unified approach’ model, Kharkavets credits one of her previous roles as a sales team manager as a perfect primer: “It was one of the most transformational experiences of my career; it really taught me how to break

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down complexities into something more simple.”

BrokerLink’s national scale doesn’t detract from its local impact, and employees benefit just as much as customers. The company is a firm believer in fostering career development, which it facilitates by being a subsidiary of Intact Financial Corporation, allowing brokers to have a wide range of career opportunities from underwriting to claims adjustment. “We’ve worked very hard to be a great employer,” states Kharkavets. “In fact, we’ve obtained ‘Best Employer in Canada’ from Kincentric, again.” Empowered with

lean and agile capabilities through

at the beginning of the COVID-19

analytics technology, BrokerLink’s

pandemic. “In our case, nearly all our

team managers are given access to

employees ended up working from

a variety of live data and customer

home virtually overnight,” Kharkavets

surveys. “This year, we’ve received

relates. “I think the pandemic will

over 40,000 responses from our

change how we stay connected and

customers,” Kharkavets says. “The

how we make sure that culture is

notion of changing our tactics and

retained, particularly when onboarding

addressing pain points depending on

new staff.” This also goes hand-in-

what we read in those comments or

hand with BrokerLink’s renewed focus

observe in trends is hardwired into

on employee wellness and mental

BrokerLink’s culture.”

health. Indeed, for the company and

Like many companies around the world, BrokerLink rushed into action

insurance generally there is a sense that things are on course for significant www.bro k e r lin k. ca

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change, including how customers

“The pandemic has accelerated a lot

experience modern products and

of trends that we’ve seen before.”

services. While digital transformation

Developing omnichannel customer

certainly generated the momentum for

service capabilities has been a direct

a technologically invigorated industry,

and necessary consequence of

Kharkavets believes that current con-

increased digitisation at BrokerLink.

ditions are enabling its fulfillment,

Customer needs and expectations

1991

Year founded

2,000+ Number of employees

are changing in relation to technology, claims Kharkavets, and insurance’s evolution will be dependent on its realisation of this fact. However, while it’s tempting to assume that there is a clear divide between younger people (i.e. millennials) preferring digital self-service options and older people wanting agent-based service,

Kharkavets states that the truth is

is also careful to ensure that its road-

much more nuanced. “Everyone talks

map is configured to meet the specific

about digitisation in those terms, but

challenges of its clients, particularly in

what’s interesting is, when we dive

an industry often represented as being

into the data, 35% of BrokerLink’s

overly complex. “When we design

‘70+ years old’ demographic enjoys

things, we want them to be inclusive

using an app for their insurance needs.”

and accessible,” says Kharkavets.

Therefore, she considers the contin-

“We’re constantly exploring how

ued investment in digital channels as

digital interacts with local: how can

wholly validated. However, BrokerLink

it support and act as an extension of

E X E C U T I V E P R O FILE :

Alena Kharkavets

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Title: VP of Digital Strategy and Customer Experience Industry: Insurance

Location: Canada

Alena Kharkavets is the VP of Digital Strategy and Customer Experience at BrokerLink Insurance. She brings extensive experience in actuarial, corporate development, strategy and sales operations. She’s passionate about modernizing and simplifying the insurance experience. Alena graduated from the University of Toronto with a dual degree in Computer Science and Actuarial Science. She has also completed a Global Professional Master of Laws. She is a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries and the Casualty Actuarial Society. Outside of insurance, Alena loves spending time with her daughters, ages two and four. She loves travelling with them and showing them the world.

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our branches?” One of BrokerLink’s

behavioural science in our design: we

guiding principles is its ‘#realpeople’

serve information in bite-sized chunks

philosophy, a method by which digital

and manage price expectations with

projects are developed conscien-

an accuracy meter on our website. If

tiously with maximised accessibility

someone’s eyesight is impaired or their

as the ultimate goal. “Our accessibil-

attention span is reduced because

ity score is 92% while the industry

they’re browsing at night and require

benchmark is only 71%,” she explains.

more visual information, it all has to

“We implement the principles of

be factored in.”

“ The notion of changing our tactics and addressing pain points depending on what we [...] observe in trends is hardwired into BrokerLink’s culture” — Alena Kharkavets, VP of Digital Strategy and CX, BrokerLink

Furthermore, on the topic of digital projects, Kharkavets emphasises the importance of instilling team confidence with ‘minimum viable product’, a concept predicated on fast-paced two-week development sprints and combined with a “progress over perfection” attitude and data-based decision making. “In digital, if you aim

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B R O KE R L I N K: I N SU RAN CE WI T H SO CI AL I MP ACT

Sponsoring YW Calgary’s ‘International Day of the Girl 2020’ on 11 October, a UN sanctioned annual event dedicated to empowering girls and protecting their rights, BrokerLink has distinguished itself as part of a rising movement in insurance: insurers with a strong social stance.

“Every branch participates quite actively in the community; we have a firm belief that organisations of every size – small, medium and large – have a role to play in making society a better place,” states Kharkavets. “BrokerLink will continue to champion diversity

and inclusion. We believe that the input of business will be essential to achieving this goal, particularly as consumers expect companies to have an opinion and to stand up for what is right.”

“The power of ‘diversity of thought’ is huge. I encourage everyone when they start their digital roadmap, or wherever they are on their journey, to question whether they have a team that contains different opinions and consider how they interact so that everyone is inclusive of each other.”

for perfection you’ll likely arrive too late. BrokerLink demonstrates the value of its propositions to customers and then iterates and improves from there based on their feedback and what data shows.” From these key building blocks, the company is able to forge a coherent understanding of where and how it wants to develop.

Kharkavets adds that, although BrokerLink’s transformation journey has been underway for slightly less

“ When we design things, they are inclusive and accessible. We’re constantly exploring how digital interacts with local: how can it support and act as an extension of our branches?”

— Alena Kharkavets, VP of Digital Strategy and CX, BrokerLink

than two years, it firmly believes 13

that maintaining focus on delivering

BrokerLink Recruitment Video 2019 CLICK TO WATCH

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“ In digital, if you aim for perfection you’ll likely arrive too late. BrokerLink demonstrates the value of its propositions to customers and then iterates from there” — Alena Kharkavets, VP of Digital Strategy and CX, BrokerLink

customer value at all times will ultimately reap greater success.

When considering the direction of the company as it prepares to enter 2021, Kharkavets states that BrokerLink will remain as dedicated to transformation as ever, “We like to set ambitious goals. We then break them down into small steps and say, ‘Okay, here’s where we are going and here’s how we’re going to achieve it’.”

This approach will be bolstered by collaborating with its partner companies to help improve customer experience by responding to their needs. Central to BrokerLink’s future success will be an inherent trust in the value of digital technology and fast-paced R&D, which Kharkavets highlights as being particularly important. “The term ‘digital transformation’ can be intimidating for many because it’s a big term,” she adds. “But you don’t need to do everything at once, so long as you’re putting the right building blocks in place.”

www.bro k e r lin k. ca

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48 YONGE ST. SUITE 700, TORONTO ON M5E 1G6 T (416) 368-6511 www.brokerlink.ca

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