Creating value by acting swiftly and delivering with quality

Since the launch of Surer a week and a half ago, we have been fortunate enough to be able to help users achieve the goal of ‘pitching better and closing faster’.

While this could be just a couple of words – to the team here at Surer, we take this very seriously and is our promise to intermediaries.

In this article, we speak to early adopters of Surer, Leonard Zhou who helms Multi-Lines Agencies along with Jay Chew, to get their take on Surer and their ambitions as intermediaries and their agency.

About Multi-Lines Agencies Multi-Lines Agencies is a locally owned and operated independent insurance agency. The agency has grown through the years, to handle all types of insurance for thousands of satisfied customers. With its strong relationships with A-rated insurance companies, clients of the agency have benefited with more options. The agency prides itself in being active in the communities in which they provide their services.

Their journey to success – same same but different

There was an interesting juxtaposition of journeys when we asked how Leonard and Jay entered and found success in the industry.

Leonard had been exposed to the industry, given Multi-Lines Agencies was a family business. However, he has had to strive to learn the ropes and conquer challenges as well.

‘Like any family business, there were many steep challenges, maybe unbeknownst to many’ said Leonard.

‘Like any family business, there were many steep challenges, maybe unbeknownst to many’

Ten years ago, Leonard gave himself six months to test his fortitude for the business. He was able to continue to grow the business and has never looked back since.

On the other hand, Jay started his journey fresh. He picked up his knowledge by first supporting Leonard, handling renewals. He has since grown to manage his own portfolio successfully.

While both started their foray into the industry rather differently, there exists a harmonious blend in their work ethic and hunger for improvement.

A hunger to improve and adapt

This attitude to seek new ways to improve permeated all the answers Leonard and Jay provided as we moved along the interview.

When asked what their views were of the General Insurance industry and where opportunities could be, Leonard shared that he believed ‘opportunities come to those who are willing to adapt and accept. If I were to really pinpoint then it’s the direction of Fintech. The magnitude of changes through the years is extraordinary’.

‘opportunities come to those who are willing to adapt and accept. If I were to really pinpoint then it’s the direction of Fintech. The magnitude of changes through the years is extraordinary’

Jay added that while the pandemic has not been pleasantly for anyone in the industry, he maintained a positive attitude towards it, sharing that there intermediaries should take advantage of the digitalisation efforts of insurers and capitalise on the ‘opportunity to upskill agent’s product knowledge and also to enhance digital platforms and capabilities’.

Speed and efficiency are the buzzwords

This thus came as no surprise that both Leonard and Jay were early adopters of Surer and the tech solution it provides.

‘In today’s world of digitalisation, speed & communication is key. We believe that Surer is there to serve us to our next level.’ Leonard shared.

‘In today’s world of digitalisation, speed & communication is key. We believe that Surer is there to serve us to our next level.’

Echoing this theme, Jay added the effectiveness and efficiency of a solution is what matters the most to the intermediary. 

However, he also cautioned that this requires intermediaries to want to adapt as well.

Network collaborations is what they liked about Surer

Of course, we had to also take the opportunity to ask for both their thoughts on Surer.

Leonard was enthusiastic about the network collaborations that Surer drove for him.

‘Through Surer’s platform, it helps to build our network as agents gather. This alone generates leads and in turn, converts in closure of sales.’ said Leonard

‘Through Surer’s platform, it helps to build our network as agents gather. This alone generates leads and in turn, converts in closure of sales.’

This was heartening for the Surer team to hear, as it echoes the mission to breakdown silos and indeed, it is network collaborations that will do that.

‘I like that the audience spectrum was huge with a high number of quality users coming from a wide variety of backgrounds.’ added Jay as he spoke about the other intermediaries on Surer, of whom might have expertise in different fields of general insurance, that they have had the chance to work with.

No surprises that their mottos echo their attitude towards the industry

When asked if they had any motto that they lived by, their answers gave a nice summary to the world Leonard and Jay gave us the opportunity to peek into for this feature.

‘Opportunities favours the prepared’ was Jay’s motto

‘Opportunities favours the prepared’ 

We cannot but feel how apt this was. Essentially, if you are prepared to adapt and leverage what is available, then you are positioning yourself to reap success.

For Leonard, it was ‘No business is small business. We believe in creating value.’ and he really believes in this; you can see how Leonard has shared this across many of the online platforms they use to market their services, including Facebook and their website. 

‘No business is small business. We believe in creating value.’

And this motto of Leonard’s perhaps echos their enthusiasm in adopting technology – to be able to not only help their clients swiftly, but to do so with quality and bringing added value.