We believe in diversity rather than concentration
– Younes Mazloumi, managing director of Cooperative Insurance, says about the different path that this company takes in the country’s insurance industry.
There is no fear of judgments, no fear of moving on the razor edge of risks. Yunus Mazloumi, CEO of Cooperative Insurance, introduced himself in this way during his five years in this company. He has a fever to be different and is thirsty for breaking the boundaries. He is adventurous and wants to hang out and talk about any new idea. Even if the heavy price of this move in the opposite direction is the frank and harsh criticism of public opinion.
An issue that was never addressed closely and nobody asked the reason for this desire to be different in the midst of criticisms and attacks on the sometimes strange actions of Cooperative Insurance. On the 9th anniversary of the establishment of Cooperative Insurance, we went to Yunus Mazloumi, and he talked to us not as a CEO, but as a person who is concerned about innovation in the form of diversity, with an open mind about the different path of Cooperative Insurance.
Today, we know cooperative insurance as a different insurer; An insurer who boldly enters different approaches in the traditional atmosphere of the insurance industry. How do you interpret this new insurance procedure?
I believe that when a private company is established, if it does the same thing that other companies have done for 90 years, naturally the insurer and the potential customer will prefer to meet their needs through the same veteran companies; Because these companies have passed their test and built trust due to their long-term activity.
Naturally, a company that enters the market must do different things in order to draw the market’s attention to itself and convey the message to the customer that we are different from others. This is exactly what we call content marketing.
Controversial marketing is like a double-edged sword. It may have a negative feedback as much as it is effective in attracting the attention of the audience. Aren’t you afraid of the opposite result?
Actually, we don’t have a big team, but a small group of decision-makers who take action by examining different dimensions. The issue is not that complicated and we do not do any special bureaucratic work. If an idea is right, we will definitely take action and move forward with the approval of the senior manager.
Let’s specifically talk about the big co-op insurance controversy. From a food blogger’s stomach insurance. Why did cooperative insurance decide to insure a celebrity’s stomach?
In the insurance industry, we have an insurance policy called body parts insurance, which is usually defined for celebrities, and it is based on the same law of attracting attention in today’s world. It means that not only the insurance company, but also the celebrities seek to attract public attention. At all, the basis of the work of celebrities is to attract attention.
Until now, few people in Iran had thought of using this tool to attract attention; Until “Hamid Sepidnam” came to us and asked if it is possible to insure his stomach or not? Naturally, accepting the request could have many negative consequences for cooperative insurance, but we accepted. We certainly did this with knowledge. Although we were attacked a lot in the first days, I must say that in that particular period of time, the sale of our insurance policies increased significantly. At the same time, we insured a traditional singer’s larynx, but this stream did not attract even one hundredth of attention!
Should we expect another strange and controversial move from cooperative insurance?
We conducted a survey in early 1400; With the question, have you ever heard the name of cooperative insurance? 80% of their answers were negative! At the beginning of 1401, we did this again and this time we got a negative answer of 60%. This means that 20% more than last time had heard the name of cooperative insurance. But this percentage is still not desirable for us. We have to reach a place where the name of cooperative insurance has reached the ears of all people and of course they have a good feeling.
We have many brands that people are familiar with but hate. So, to develop a brand, the brand name must be heard by the audience and create a good feeling in him. Of course, we have to take measures in this regard. The cost of environmental or radio advertising is very heavy for us, that’s why we have to turn to the use of virtual space in order to be a well-known and well-known brand.
Can’t this branding be defined in terms of social responsibilities? For example, action for disability insurance; A review that has been received by you a lot!
Let me be clear. Why didn’t anyone speak during the time of Corona when the cooperative insurance prevented the closing of five thousand business units? The rescue of those 5,000 business units of 1,000 stomach insurance cases was not seen. You know, we only know how to throw stones. Did someone who gave us cash for stomach insurance once say that we stopped small businesses from closing in the farthest reaches of Iran? Who talked about us?
Unfortunately, we are always judgmental about those who don’t think like us. I need to clarify something. Any citizen can contact us to buy insurance for members. This request is always from the insurer, not the insurer; Even if celebrities are involved.
This insurance policy is defined in the subgroup of accident and medical insurance, and each of the 80 million people of the country can buy an insurance policy for themselves by paying the premium!
Let’s talk about innovation in insurance. According to you, today insurance startups only have a five percent market share and 95 percent of sales are still face-to-face. Isn’t this small share the weakness of our insurance industry?
Unlike you, I consider this share to be a strong point, which we can look at from two different aspects; Both because of the innovative movement towards growth that we are witnessing in the country’s insurance industry, and because of an issue to reduce the concern of the large network of sales representatives who always see insurance startups as a big disruptor.
In some fields, we do not have online sales at all; For example, life insurance. This issue can be a positive point for our sales network to progress. It depends on how we look at it.
Insurance startups with this small share have big challenges with the supervisory body today. From the issue of license to switch and… if their share of the market is really five percent or even less, how can this regulator’s supervisory look at startups be justified?
Naturally, the playing field has changed and the regulator has also understood this, but in my opinion, online insurance sales startups are a new distribution channel, albeit as much as their 5% share. Still, most of the insurance activities are carried out by sales representatives, and perhaps the biggest concerns are on their side.
What do you envision for insurance startups for the next 5 to 10 years?
In the world, insurance startups operate in various fields, but we in Iran currently know more about aggregators. In my opinion, insurance startups can still operate in the field of selling mandatory B2C insurance policies such as third parties or bodies. The conditions of our insurance industry are such that in the field of life, liability, transportation, engineering and medical insurance, especially group treatment and all types of insurance policies that are done on a B2B basis, these insurance agents will be responsible for sales.
Why do you think the movement in the field of innovation in insurance is so slow?
Innovation in sales?
Exactly the point here is that we see all the insurance on sale. Well, perhaps it is the easiest place to use information technology. Of course, insurtechs do a lot of things in the world now; From damage assessment to payment methods, etc., but today in Iran online sales and comparison of insurance in third party insurance is the easiest thing that can be done using information technology, although maybe other things will be developed in the future. Of course, insurance companies have made moves to meet the needs.
In Cooperative Insurance, in the health insurance sector, we provide paraclinical treatment insurance through the application, so that the face-to-face visit is almost eliminated and the insurer does all matters related to sending documents and notifications, etc. through the application. Or we have another application for the inspection of body insurance, which in the near future will reach a point where the insurer will do the inspection of the car himself and there is no need to send an expert.
Talking about traditional sales representatives. How do you think sales reps can be equipped with the tools to both address their concerns today and keep pace with the new wave of innovation?
Naturally, the business model for online and face-to-face sales is different and each has its own conditions. But we must accept that the emergence of startups is a fact and cannot be hidden. Of course, this does not mean the end of the work of sales representatives in the future. If the sales representatives want to continue their activity as before, they should think about developing their field of activity, that is, if someone sold only third party insurance until yesterday, now they can also sell liability insurance or life insurance, which still does not exist in that competitive market. to add to his collection of activities.
We must prepare ourselves to transform; That when technology enters different approaches to life, businesses may change, of course, they will not be eliminated, but their business model will change. At one time we only had transport agencies and the entry of SNAP seemed to be a big challenge, but now we have drivers who have their own jobs in the agencies and are busy with SNAP on the excess commuting route. In fact, technology not only eliminates jobs, but also creates new ones.
Let’s talk about insurance legislation. The insurance law in our country is an old law; A law with a lifespan of more than half a century and much more. In your opinion, as a member of the Supreme Council of Insurance, is it necessary to revise our insurance laws?
I must mention an important point. It is true that our insurance law was approved in 1316, but in my opinion, it is one of the progressive laws of its time and even now. Another point is that the insurance industry is not governed according to the law approved in 1316; Because during these years, more than 100 regulations have been approved by the Supreme Council of Insurance or the Third Party Insurance Law, which was approved in 2015. 40% of the market share of the insurance industry is this third party insurance, whose law has a six-year life.
On the other hand, other insurances are constantly reviewed by the Supreme Insurance Council over time. There is a point that law professors hold that whenever we tamper with the law, it is broken. For this reason, there is a concern among the people of the insurance industry that changing the law may not have a suitable approach and may even lead to a worsening of the situation. For this reason, maybe revising the regulations is a more suitable method.
The problem here is that this amendment of regulations is sometimes done without considering the current developments and new business models. Like the challenge that insurance startups have today regarding the flow of the 92/2 regulation.
There are many stakeholders in the discussion of insurance regulations. A group of beneficiaries are insurers and a group of insurers. A group are insurance intermediaries such as representatives and… and another group is the government and regulatory body. However, at the time of drafting the regulations, each of these stakeholders has a way of exercising power.
The problem is that the regulations approved by the Supreme Insurance Council are the result of all these forces. Maybe in the year when the regulation 2/92 was approved, insurance sales startups did not have much presence and power. That is, in fact, there was no force from them in the result of the forces, and naturally, in the subsequent revisions, their help and force will be used unconsciously. The legislative body has to use the opinion of all the stakeholders of the industry.