When Adam Masojada joined Accelerant in September 2022, he pioneered the role, Head of Customer Experience. He joined Accelerant because he was inspired by the potential of its Risk Exchange to change the specialty insurance market by better connecting capacity to specialty underwriters. Adam appreciated the opportunity to enable agile entrepreneurs and small business owners to grow their companies. Prior to Accelerant, he was the Head of Insurance for Deloitte Ventures, responsible for building new products and services for large insurance clients.
We spoke to Adam about Accelerant’s dedication to building an exceptional customer experience, tangible solutions to Members’ problems, and modern initiatives that help Members write more and better business.
How did you set the parameters for your role as the first Head of Customer Experience?
Customer experience differs from company to company. Accelerant is a data-driven risk exchange connecting specialty underwriters with risk capital. So our customers are both speciality underwriters, who we call Members, and Risk Capital partners. Therefore at Accelerant the role of Customer Experience is to make sure that all of our customers have the best possible experience with us.
One of the key values at Accelerant is that we are Member-obsessed. I understood immediately the level at which we needed to perform, so all that came next was collaborating with our distribution, underwriting, and actuarial teams in supporting our Members.
We put this into action by taking an outward approach, speaking with Members to identify the problems and opportunities they’re facing day-to-day and how we can help them overcome or achieve them. We continue to speak to Members as much as we can to find out new ways we can help them.
What were your takeaways from the conversations with Members?
A delightful surprise was the desire Accelerant Members had for more connections. It seemed Members loved the chance to learn from each other. They’re entrepreneurs all seeking to grow their businesses, so it was valuable for them to link up not only during our in-person events but also throughout the year. We successfully took the idea for a digital community and created a space to network, share insights and grow professionally, making it operational within only six months. This community grows every day and has helped to forge several new connections between our members.
What consistent themes emerged in the challenges Members were facing?
Over the past few years, everyone has been operating in an uncertain macro environment, facing challenges from COVID-19 to interest rate changes. Throughout this our Members have shown how agile and resilient they are with an ability to weather all the changes thrown at them and come out on top. We are just here to support them as best we can.
What impact does Accelerant’s focus on customer experience have on the Member network?
When we say we are Member-obsessed, we mean it. We listen to the problems Members are experiencing and develop products, initiatives, and services in direct response to this feedback.
For example, some UK Members were having issues accessing good peril scoring services. Over the last six months, we’ve done an analysis of all vendors in the sector and set up our own peril scoring service for Members with a best-in-class platform. This is now live with several Members in the UK and Ireland and we will be rolling it out across other geographies later this year.
Our goal is always to pinpoint the true growth roadblock, act quickly, and deliver.
How does Accelerant’s approach to customer experience differ from the industry?
It’s not only Accelerant that differs — it’s our Members too!
We hear most of the insurance industry parroting that it’s important to listen to your customers, but the reality is most don’t. Great customer experience comes from listening first. The unique proximity our Members have to their customers means they understand them better than anybody else and can therefore provide an exceptional experience. We’re here to help our Members know and support those customers while writing more (and better) business.
Why is it difficult for many in the insurance industry to provide good customer service?
It’s remarkably difficult to do because this level of attentiveness demands focus and actionability on an institutional level, not just feedback for the sake of process. When legacy tech or in some cases no tech is involved, it’s hard to move quickly to respond to customer concerns as well as the smaller, more nimble MGA market can.
What trends are impacting Accelerant’s current and future goals?
I’m excited about the possibilities of AI. In the next 20 years, AI will make a massive impact, not just in insurance but across global sectors. We are running experiments for use cases that best harness AI’s power as the technology evolves, and our hope is it will enable us to run our business processes more efficiently and effectively.
What is the role of customer experience in shaping the future of specialty insurance?
We keep a relentless focus on our customers to serve them as best as we can. There will be differences in how we do it, but that focus will never change.
Industries take a long time to change, the insurance industry being one of the worst culprits of this lag. It is a several thousand year old industry! So even as the industry gradually shifts, our unwavering dedication to customer experience will continue to be a differentiator.
What customer experience accomplishments from the past year would you like to highlight?
The launch of the Community and peril scoring services. In addition, and one that I am particularly excited about, we’re leveraging our scale to deliver savings for our Members. We have preferred rates negotiated with vendors across the U.S. and Europe—including actuaries, lawyers, accountants, software providers, data companies, etc—and we’re continuing to grow this initiative.
What are your team’s goals for the next year?
Our goal is—and always will be—to enable our Members to have the best possible experience. We enable them to focus on the priorities that improve their bottom line.
At what cadence do you meet with Members?
Most of my role involves conversations. I spend a lot of time on the phone and on the road meeting with people. Though remote work offers more efficiency, it can’t replace the depth of face-to-face connections. I do a minimum of four in-person meetings per week, often times more. I also travel to the U.S. for meetings with Members, the Accelerant team, and suppliers.
What else would you like Members to know?
Customer experience is not one dimension or one sided. We’re always open to a conversation. If anyone has ideas, business problems they’re facing, or vendors they’d like us to add to the preferred rates initiative, please reach out!