GRP's Mike Bruce looks at what UK brokers can learn from their US counterparts

In the 1990s, the UK conglomerate Hanson Plc ran a TV advertising campaign using the strapline: “The company from over here that’s doing rather well over there”. The words ‘over there’ referred to the US, where Hanson companies did a lot of business at the time.

I remembered this advert after I attended the Brown & Brown leadership council in Daytona Beach, Florida, recently – my first visit after Brown & Brown headquarters completed the acquisition of Global Risk Partners earlier in the summer.

As well as receiving a tremendous welcome from more than 350 new colleagues (aka teammates), the conference provided a valuable opportunity to get an initial view of a different market, and to better understand how broking in the US works: what the similarities are between the UK and the US, and what they do differently to us.

What immediately struck me is how utterly focused the US brokers are on sales and delivering innovative solutions for their clients. Although producers are the undisputed champions of the business, what really struck me was the concept of team selling.

One-team culture for business success

There were numerous call outs of examples where ‘branch A’ had helped ‘branch B’ to bring their capabilities to the table to service and/or win business. Clearly, the shared priority is winning the client for Brown & Brown. I could feel the one-team culture in the room, and understand how it is a core part of the business’ success.

That includes a wholehearted commitment to clients and customer centricity, which is something the UK broadly shares with the US. Brown & Brown has a local ethos. It champions its teammates being at the heart of the communities they serve, and the concept of local service is warmly embraced. There’s no snobbishness attached to serving the needs of clients.

What immediately struck me is how utterly focused the US brokers are on sales and delivering innovative solutions for their clients. Although producers are the undisputed champions of the business, what really struck me was the concept of team selling.”

The senior leaders are all extremely close to the sales pulse of the business with their own portfolios of clients and active involvement in new business – in contrast to many broking businesses in the UK.

Personal and team development is a priority for Brown & Brown, which describes itself as being in the “people recruiting and enhancing business”. Teammates are given every opportunity to access training via the Brown & Brown University to enhance their capabilities. The company also has a progressive share-save policy (which we are in the process of rolling out in the UK, with great take-up) to enable all staff to share in the success of Brown & Brown. This ownership culture is at the heart of the one-team concept and culture.

Lessons for UK brokers

So, what are the lessons for UK brokers from the US? UK businesses can overcomplicate. I admire the simplicity of a business that is predicated on sales, and that the entire infrastructure is designed to deliver client customer solutions across the whole business to drive through sales growth. That approach is very liberating, as in the UK we have a tendency to overanalyse our businesses and give too much credence to bureaucracy.

Of course, there will be opportunities in the future to export our UK strengths to our colleagues in the US, and I was struck by how interested my US friends were in how we do business in the UK. On this occasion – my first visit to Brown & Brown HQ – I was there to learn and pick up some good lessons to apply here in the UK.