Interview of the Peloponnese Regional Director of SOFOS Insurance Agency SA with Dimitris Rouhotas
The innovative services, the excellent service, the knowledge and organizational skills of the head of SOFOS Insurance Agency AE, but above all the human nature of the Company were the reasons why Mr. Ilias Lalakos chose to work with it, as he points out in the interview of.
Having the duties of the Peloponnese Regional Director of the Company, he does not fail to mention the experienced team of professionals that make up his office in Kalamata and the principles according to which he chooses his partners and serves his clients. Although it operates in a mainly touristic and rural area, where the main volume of insurance portfolios consists of motor liability, his office, "due to the access to powerful "tools" provided by SOFOS Insurance Agency S.A. , has managed to penetrate into portfolios characterized by high interest risks", as he typically emphasizes.
Mr. Lalakos, how did you start working in the insurance market and how did you decide to cooperate with Sofos Insurance Agency AE and to carry out the duties of the Regional Director of Peloponnese today? What characteristics of her inspired you?
H.L.: My professional career began in 2000 as an employee (claims officer) of a large insurance company, at its branch in Kalamata. In 2006, I took over the management of the branch and its network service.
Having studied and listened to the insurance market and seeing the innovative benefits offered by SOFOS Insurance Agency S.A., in 2014 I started working with it, deciding to be a part of this special idea.
The chairman of the Board of Directors of SOFOS Insurance Agency SA, Mr. Christos Sofos, I knew him from his activity in the insurance market. I appreciated his knowledge of insurance matters and his organizational skills. I believed that what he organized in the insurance market was modern and met its needs. This was also the starting point of our cooperation.
SOFOS Insurance Agency S.A. fulfills every need that an intermediary has for concluding insurance contracts. It provides protection and advice to intermediaries and excellent service. It has the best online insurance coverage platform and every broker finds the coverage that their client needs. Belonging to the network of SOFOS Insurance Agency S.A. he can only feel trust, solvency and what we all stand for, real security. After 3 years of working with the company, I find that despite the fact that it is a constantly growing company, it still maintains its human character.
It is important not to forget that the economic crisis has created a feeling of insecurity in society. For insurance professionals this development must be a challenge as it is our duty to reverse this climate.
Tell us about your Office and specifically about its human resources staffing. What service do you provide to your partners and what provisions do you undertake for their educational-professional information? Is recruiting/attracting new partners high on your priorities?
H.L.: Our office operates within the organizational and operational structure of SOFOS Insurance Agency S.A., always seeking to provide quality services to the insured. Innovation, pioneering and development is what characterizes us.
My partner Menelaos Geronikolos and I have staffed our office with a team of experienced professionals, ready to support the network of partners, each in their own field. Our team consists of a legal advisor, a training manager, a financial advisor, a social media manager and a marketing manager.
When it comes to recruiting-attracting new partners, it is always high on our priority list, as long as principles such as honesty, integrity and will are served, principles that permeate our office.
From the composition of your portfolio, would you say that there are risks that attract more insurance interest in the region where you operate?
H.L.: The portfolios of great interest in the province, for all intermediaries, are limited. This is mainly due to the structural characteristics of the local economy, but also to the lack of education and correct ways of approaching these portfolios. The risks that gather the most interest in the region where I operate are those of civil liability from motor vehicles.
We should not forget, however, that our office operates in a geographical area, whose economy has a specific structure. We address a touristic and rural area, which means that the portfolios mainly concern tourism businesses (hotels, cafes, restaurants, even yachts) and agricultural activities (olive mills, olive trees, greenhouses, etc.). Thus, despite the fact that the number of industries-factories in our region is small, they are also part of our portfolio.
Our office, however, due to access to powerful "tools" provided by SOFOS Insurance Agency SA, has managed to penetrate portfolios characterized by risks of great interest. There is already a demand for insurance products related to health, pensions and the Life sector and we are now effectively moving in these directions, based on the partnerships that SOFOS Insurance Agency S.A. has secured for us.
Belonging to the SOFOS Insurance Agency network SA can't help but to feel trust, solvency and what we all stand for, the real thing security.
For your part, what would you say are the criteria for customers to choose and retain you as their insurer? Do you have recommendations from your already insured customers for other customers, so that the response of their satisfaction with your services can also be seen?
H.L.: The bulk of our customers are people with whom we have a strong relationship of trust. Our clients have tested and judged our services through the rigors of time and have verified the high level of our services. I dare to tell you that our relationship with our customers is not primarily linked to financial benefit, but to trust.
In this context, we consciously do not only provide service for the products that customers have purchased, but we also act as consultants for everything that has to do with the term insurance.
Finally, it is true that our portfolio is based on customer recommendations. We believe this feature is a byproduct of the trusting relationship we have developed with our existing customers. In fact, I believe that this specific element strengthens us and differentiates us in the market.
Both in Kalamata, where you are based, and in the other cities where your partners are active in the Peloponnese, what is the prevailing climate among your fellow insurance agents (do you maintain contacts for information and cooperation, exchange information, are there issues that differentiate you)? Do you have relations with the collective representative bodies of insurance intermediaries?
H.L.: Where there is rivalry, there is also victory, that is, where there is rivalry, there is also victory. I believe that the above saying should be applied by all colleagues, because we all look forward to a common goal: to strengthen and develop our profession. We and our partners strive to maintain excellent relationships by exchanging information on issues in our industry, learning or communicating to our colleagues the developments in the insurance market, avoiding unfair competition and acting in a spirit of cooperation and camaraderie.
Regarding the issue of collective representative bodies, I believe that, especially in the province, there is a deficit. This is a parameter that must concern us all, in order to find feasible solutions, which will either create collective bodies, or activate the existing ones, with the ultimate goal of having a substantial intervention in the markets of the province.
The insurance industry in Greece –belatedly it is true- tries to develop, takes steps forward, but he needs modernization of benefits, simplification of the terms of insurance policies, more clarity in coverage, better organization and specialized human resources, and faith in consumer protection.
What are your takeaways for the present and future of the insurance industry? Do you think that the institution of insurance is progressing in the consciousness of the Greek consumer? What are your expectations for the development of the insurance industry, given the economic crisis?
H.L.: The insurance industry in Greece – belatedly it is true – is trying to develop, it is taking steps forward, but it needs modernization of the benefits, simplification of the terms of the insurance policies, more clarity in the coverages, better organization and specialized human resources, and faith in the protection of consumer.
I believe that the Greek is slowly gaining insurance awareness, he realizes that the institution of insurance is focused on securing him (himself, his family and his property) and he understands the importance of the insurance institution.
It is important not to forget that the economic crisis has created a feeling of insecurity in society. For insurance professionals this development must be a challenge as it is our duty to reverse this climate. I am convinced that our contribution to the "cultivation" of a safety climate in society as a whole can be a first-class opportunity for the development of the insurance market.
We must, at a time when state insurance benefits are disappearing and discredited, to meet the insurance needs of society by making known the huge range of insurance products that insurance companies have. However, this must be done in a reliable and methodical manner, in good cooperation between companies and institutions.
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