Eric Herbelin is an insurance industry veteran and he’s certainly not one to stay idle. Since he was a schoolboy, Herbelin recalls refusing to follow the status-quo. With a practical mindset and tireless work ethic, he set out to get hands-on experience as soon as possible.
When he was 15 years old, Herbelin told his parents that he wanted to do a commercial apprenticeship.
At the time, Herbelin, who had been living in his native country of Switzerland, knew that apprenticeships were well established in banking and insurance. It would be an excellent starting point and eventually become the launching pad for Herbelin’s successful international career in insurance.
At the time, Herbelin’s parents organized a week for him to apprentice at an insurance agency. He enjoyed the role and the company wanted him back. When a bank came calling to hire Herbelin, he decided to stay in insurance.
This was when Herbelin told his parents that he was enjoying his work in insurance and wanted to continue.
Fast forward today and Herbelin has led a successful international career in insurance across Europe and North America, namely in Canada and the U.S. He has also traveled to every continent to establish new insurance products in diverse marketplaces.
Always staying ahead of the curve, Herbelin has expressed an interest in data analytics, artificial intelligence in risk management, as well as big data and organizational change. Most notably, Herbelin built his own data management tool out of the necessity of leveraging information in 2001 while he worked for Zurich Insurance Group.
“Data wasn’t being leveraged to its full potential,” explains Herbelin, who describes his leadership style as focused on empowering individuals within the organization. Herbelin promotes autonomy and the use of data to further the objectives of organizations. He also encourages organizations to work heavily from pre-existing data that has not yet been tapped into and analyzed.
Today, Herbelin continues to serve in various roles, but principally in the realm of business growth and transformational leadership within the insurance industry.
When we asked Herbelin about his top strategies for business success, he highlighted one key rule: understand your customers and how to serve them better. Know the gaps of your industry as well as your customer’s pain points.
“It helps to know what is working and what isn’t,” says Herbelin, who has helped businesses expand globally into entirely new markets.
When it comes to organizational growth, it’s important to remain focused on your own product and its delivery. If you get to know your customers and what they’re looking for, you will be able to refine your product to better meet their needs.
Herbelin also says that the customer experience is central to the success of an organization. Even more so, that the customer experience is one of the only ways and certainly the most profound way to differentiate a business.
Retaining loyal customers through a positive experience also has a compound effect on an organization’s bottom line. To support Herbelin’s claim, a study conducted by Bain and Company found that increasing customer retention rates by just 5 percent lead to an increase in profits ranging from 25 to 95 percent, which is significant.
It only takes a slight increase in customer satisfaction and retention to positively impact an organization and to further ensure its long-term viability in the marketplace.
PwC’s Consumer Intelligence Series also discovered that 73 percent of consumers consider customer experience to be the main factor in buying decisions. They ranked it even higher than product price and quality.
Herbelin states that, “If you align ten team members to move in the same direction, the impact on the organization is tenfold. It’s significant and more effective than telling everyone what to do.”
Achieving tenfold results might sound like somewhat of an organizational pipedream, but it’s truly not when you build effective systems and processes that work off pre existing data. Making sure your customers are happier and that your team works towards a common shared goal has tremendous impact that uplifts the entire organization.
“The difference is in the service,” says Herbelin, who is determined to continue leading organizations through continuous improvement and growth.
The impact of these strategies is multiplied throughout the organization, because it’s the small changes that add up over time and have the potential to deliver tremendous results.
Eric Herbelin’s approach to organizational growth is a testament to innovation and understanding. By focusing on customer experience, leveraging data, and encouraging autonomy within the organization, he has shaped success in a constantly evolving marketplace.
