As heads of companies, we want to stay in business for the long haul, but how do you do that in a time of uncertainty?

Opti/Write sat down with Jay Tambuting, an industry leader and managing director of ABBA Insurance Brokers as he talks about how small to medium enterprises can achieve longevity.

Part of the journey to becoming an enduring business is acting on new ways to recover revenues, but also getting to rebuild stronger and mitigate better.

Understandably, SME owners want to get expert guidance on how to better forecast and prepare for business risks, but given the options available, how do you decide?

Jay starts by answering common questions about partnering with an insurance broker.

An insurance broker basically represents the client, not the insurance agency.

Brokers have access to the offers of multiple insurance companies, and thus, can compare offers with unbiased eyes.

For ABBA specifically, we deal with the top non-life insurance and HMO companies, plus a few up and coming companies that offer aggressive rates and top-notch coverage. 

This can be answered using ABBA’s 3 main thrusts: convenience, flexibility, and service.

Convenience

A company usually has multiple insurance needs: CGL, fire insurance, motor vehicle insurance, retreading, and HMO, to name a few. A broker who has visibility and access to several insurance companies, can offer all of these. By speaking to ONE insurance broker, you have the advantage of getting quotes on multiple needs of your business.

One more thing about convenience: not all insurance policies are created equal. An untrained eye may not be able to detect the intricacies of each plan and may make mistakes in their conclusions.

With an insurance broker like ABBA, you’d have an expert partner who can explain, simplify, and directly compare each and every policy against each other. What’s more, since we focus on SMEs, we speak your language and can understand where you are coming from, and how you want your business covered.

Flexibility

Brokers are able to create fully customizable plans because we are not bounded by a specific insurance company and its products.

Brokers are also able to provide a competitive rate and are able to extend more forgiving payment terms, especially for priority clients. An HMO premium, for example, is usually paid up front, but with ABBA, as long as we have an established relationship, we can arrange semi-annual payments.

Service

The last and most important thrust is service. For this, I can only speak for our experience at ABBA. Our goal as a company is to make the lives of our clients easier — from policy selection to claims.

I understand that a business owner’s life is very busy. Thus, we are prepared to assist with everything, insurance-wise. Our aim is to be a solid partner should the unwanted happen so we support the client in getting requirements, processing and dealing with respective insurance companies, especially when processing claims.  

ABBA has been in the business for 20 years. It was founded by my father-in-law, Archit Bartolome, who has a very strong financial background as he has led and chaired several large banks as well as founding a local rural bank. Luckily, his daughter, Angelica, my wife, shares his father’s passion and acumen in finance and combined with my management background, ABBA is here to stay.

Our goal: Leave no SME uninsured and we do that by providing the right coverage with a service that emphasizes convenience, flexibility, and personalization.

I know the importance of protecting the business you worked so hard for, having been entrusted to manage several long-standing businesses myself. With ABBA, I enjoy the opportunity to help other business owners, most especially at this time.  

Did you know that some of my friends don’t even know that I’m into insurance brokerage? Instead of calling them up one by one to tell them about it, I thought that well, maybe there’s a better way. A way where I don’t only tap my friends, but also a wider range of business owners. And so I thought, why not LinkedIn? My market is there. 

I know that putting yourself out there, especially when you are in the field of insurance, is not appealing to some. I know that there is still a certain stigma in insurance. People, particularly business owners, usually put it aside because they feel like it’s an unnecessary expense and they just don’t want to deal with it.

That is also the reason why I got Opti/Write to help me with my campaign. I resonate with their aim of helping more Filipino business owners become game-changers on LinkedIn.

At the same time, I appreciate how they put efforts to strategize and carry out both marketing and client outreach so I can get my message across. For someone who is new to the LinkedIn platform, they were able to patiently walk me through the process which led me to have weekly conversations with businesses whom I want to help.

Business longevity is not just a matter of surviving the latest disruption or major economic challenge. It is also being prepared to evolve in the face of change, which would require facing what’s uncomfortable. The key here is to leverage experts to help you navigate beyond your comfort zones. 

Getting to support an industry leader like Jay Tambunting in executing his noble vision, we at Opti/Write are strengthened by the resolve of Filipino #business owners to adapt and succeed in the #nextnormal

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About Opti/Write

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